The Silhouettes

The Silhouettes

The Silhouettes are a US doo wop and R&B group from Philadelphia, active from 1956 to 1993. The classic line-up includes Earl Beal, Raymond Edwards, Bill Horton, Richard Lewis and John "Bootsie" Wilson. The group forms in Philadelphia in 1956 and first uses the name The Thunderbirds before becoming The Silhouettes.

Career and recordings

The group is best known for “Get a Job”, a song that begins as the B-side to “I Am Lonely” and is issued by their manager Kae Williams on his Junior Records label before being sold to Ember. The record reaches number 1 on both the Billboard R&B singles chart and the pop singles chart in 1958, sells more than one million copies and earns a gold record. The song’s subject is unemployment, and it becomes their signature hit. A follow-up single, “Heading for the Poorhouse”, keeps to the same economic theme but does not repeat the success of “Get a Job”.

After that hit, the group’s later singles sell poorly and they do not return to the national charts. They tour with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Clyde McPhatter among others, and appear on television’s American Bandstand. “Get a Job” also appears in the films American Graffiti, Trading Places and Stand By Me, and the group performs in the 1986 film Joey. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na takes its name from the song’s lyrics.

Later years

The Silhouettes disband in 1968. The four original members then reform the group in the 1980s and continue performing until 1993.