Silhouettes (The Rays song)
| "Silhouettes" | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Rays | |
| B-side | "Daddy Cool" |
| Released | 1957 |
| Format | 45 rpm single |
| Recorded | 1957 |
| Genre | Doo-wop |
| Length | 2:45 |
| Label | XYZ; Cameo |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay |
| Producer(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay |
| "Silhouettes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Cliff Richard | ||||
| from the album From a Distance: The Event | ||||
| B-side | "The Winner" | |||
| Released | 13 August 1990 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", Cassingle, CD Single | |||
| Recorded | 16–17 June 1989 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay | |||
| Producer(s) | Cliff Richard | |||
| Cliff Richard singles chronology | ||||
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"Silhouettes" is a song made famous by the doo-wop group The Rays in 1957. A competing version by The Diamonds was also successful. In 1965 it was a number 5 hit for Herman's Hermits, and in 1990 it was a number 10 hit in the UK for Cliff Richard.
In May 1957, songwriter Bob Crewe saw a couple embracing through a windowshade as he passed on a train. He quickly set about turning the image into a song. Frank Slay, who owned the small Philadelphia record label XYZ with Crewe, added lyrics, and they soon had a complete song ready to record. The story has frequently been reported that Slay heard The Rays audition for Cameo-Parkway Records, for which he worked, and immediately decided that they were the perfect group for "Silhouettes". However, Slay and Crewe were actually already familiar with the group, as "Silhouettes" was their third single with them.
The song received a break when popular local disc jockey Hy Lit fell asleep with a stack of newly released records on his record player. "Silhouettes" happened to be the last to play, and so it repeated until he woke up. He began to play the song on his show. It became popular enough that Cameo-Parkway picked it up for national distribution, and it eventually reached number 3 on Billboard Top 100, while also hitting the top five on both the sales and airplay charts. It was the group's only top 40 hit.
The Canadian pop group The Diamonds, who had experienced success with cover versions of other doo-wop records, quickly put out their own version of the song. They even used the same song, "Daddy Cool", on the b-side of their record as The Rays had. Their version received widespread radio play, also reaching the top ten of the Billboard airplay chart. However, it did not reach Billboard's sales chart, and only hit number 60 on the Top 100.
In 1963, The Four Seasons also recorded this song on the album titled Ain't That A Shame And Twelve Others.
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