THE SILHOUETTES - “GET A JOB“ (1957)

The Silhouettes were formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1956, at first using the name The Thunderbirds. Their classic hit “Get A Job“ - originally the B-side to “I Am Lonely“ - was issued by their manager Kae Williams on his own Junior Records label before being sold to the nationally distributed Ember label in late 1957. It reached number 1 on both the R&B and pop charts in U.S. and the group performed it on television’s American Bandstand. The song sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold record. The lyrics of “Get a Job“ are notable for the depiction of a household in tension because of unemployment, despite the man’s desperate attempts to find work, all delivered in a relentlessly upbeat style. A second release, “Heading for the Poorhouse“, continued the economic theme. It was one of the few songs to allude to inflation, the trip to the poorhouse being because “all our money turned brown“. This single and all their subsequent singles sold poorly and the group never entered the national charts again, making them a classic example of “one hit wonders“. The Silhouettes toured with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Clyde McPhatter and others but the group never reached the top of the charts again. They disbanded in 1968, but the four original members reformed the group in the 1980s and continued to work until 1993. “Get a Job“ is one of the best known doo-wop songs of the 1950s. Recorded by The Silhouettes in October 1957, the song reached the number one spot on the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts in February 1958. “When I was in the service in the early 1950s and didn’t come home and go to work, my mother said ’get a job’ and basically that’s where the song came from,“ said tenor Richard Lewis, who wrote the lyrics. The four members shared the credit, jointly creating the “sha na na“ and “dip dip dip dip“ hooks later imitated by other doo-wop groups. The song was recorded at Robinson Recording Laboratories in Philadelphia in October 1957. Rollie McGill played the saxophone break and the arranger was Howard Biggs. It was released on the Junior label and Doug Moody who later formed Punk/Thrash label Mystic Records brought it to Ember Records where it was licensed for national distribution. Moody then worked with Dick Clark to get the group on American Bandstand. The Silhouettes performed the song several times on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in early 1958, the single sold more than a million copies. The song was later featured in the soundtracks of the movies American Graffiti, Stand By Me, the end credits for Trading Places and Joey (in which the group also performed it). The revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song’s catchy doo-wop introduction. “Get a Job“ inspired a number of answer songs, including “Got a Job“, the debut recording by The Miracles. In 1999, this song was parodied in a Car Body Shop commercial, prior to that the UK recruitment agency, Brook Street Bureau, used the song in their two TV commercials although they replaced “get a job“ with “better job“. The Brook Street commercial was devised by Saatchi and Saatchi Garland Compton and cost over £1m in 1985 It was also covered by Neil Young & Crazy Horse on their 2012 album Americana.