In the Still of the Night (1954 song)
Encyclopedia
"In the Still of the Night" is a song written by Fred Parris and recorded by his Five Satins
.
basement in New Haven, CT in February, 1956. Marty Kugell produced the song. The saxophone solo was played by Vinny Mazzetta, of New Haven. It was originally released as a B-Side (to "The Jones Girl", a play on the Mills Brothers' 1954 hit, "The Jones Girls") on Kugell's "Standord Records" label. Although the single was only a moderate hit (after it was reissued on the Ember label), peaking at #24 on the national pop charts and #3 on the R&B "race" charts (Billboard's chart designation for R&B during that time), its reputation came to surpass its original chart placement. For three decades, the single almost always topped the influential Top 500 Songs countdown on oldies
radio station
WCBS-FM
. The track sold over 10 million copies in 1987 and 1988 as part of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack
. It is ranked #90 on the Rolling Stone
magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". (Clearly, one of the primary reasons why the song became such a standard was its inclusion in the highly influential 1959 LP "Oldies But Goodies" on Original Sound.)
"In the Still of the Night" is one of two songs that may lay claim to being the origin of the term doo-wop
. The plaintive "doo wop, doo wah" refrain in the bridge has often been suggested as the origin of the term doo-wop to describe that musical genre. (The other contender for the honor is When You Dance by The Turbans
, in which the chant "doo-wop" can be heard.)
version by Santo & Johnny
charted in 1964, and a version from the album Exitos De Paul Anka by Paul Anka
did likewise in 1969. None of these releases reached the top half of the Billboard
Hot 100
, however.
The Crests
recorded a cover version, titled "I Remember", for their 1960 album "The Crests Sing All Biggies" on Coed Records
.
Deborah Gibson
performed a cover version
, transposed to C major, during her Atlantic-years concert tours and recorded the same for the Atlantic
soundtrack album The Wonder Years
- Music from the Emmy Award-Winning Show and its Era (LP 82032).
The song was spelled as "In the Still of the Nite" to avoid confusion with Cole Porter's
"In the Still of the Night
". The Five Satins rock and roll standard is at times also spelled in that manner. The song was also used in the Disney attraction The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)
.
"In the Still of the Night" was also covered by The Beach Boys
on their 1976 album 15 Big Ones
. Lead vocals were by drummer Dennis Wilson
.
recorded an a cappella
cover
(a half step below the original version, in E) of the song for the soundtrack to the television miniseries
The Jacksons: An American Dream
. This version reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100
and the Hot 100 Singles Sales
on January 16, 1993 and February 6, 1993, respectively. It also reached #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay
on December 12, 1992. It was later added to the 1993 re-release of their album Cooleyhighharmony
.
CD maxi
) (1992 version by Boyz II Men
) (TMGCD 1415 - 1992 version by Boyz II Men) (PODT-1013 - 1992 version by Boyz II Men)
The Five Satins
The Five Satins are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1956 million-selling song, "In the Still of the Night."-Career:The group, formed in New Haven, Connecticut, consisted of leader Fred Parris, Lou Peebles, Stanley Dortch, Ed Martin and Jim Freeman in 1954. With little success, the...
.
Background
The song was recorded in the Saint Bernadette Catholic SchoolSaint Bernadette Catholic School
Saint Bernadette School is a private, catholic elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut founded in 1956 and is merged with Saint Bernadette Catholic Church. It provides education for ages 3–14 and usually stays within 150-200 kids in the school. The current principal is Dr...
basement in New Haven, CT in February, 1956. Marty Kugell produced the song. The saxophone solo was played by Vinny Mazzetta, of New Haven. It was originally released as a B-Side (to "The Jones Girl", a play on the Mills Brothers' 1954 hit, "The Jones Girls") on Kugell's "Standord Records" label. Although the single was only a moderate hit (after it was reissued on the Ember label), peaking at #24 on the national pop charts and #3 on the R&B "race" charts (Billboard's chart designation for R&B during that time), its reputation came to surpass its original chart placement. For three decades, the single almost always topped the influential Top 500 Songs countdown on oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM is a CBS-owned radio station in New York City. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the Empire State Building....
. The track sold over 10 million copies in 1987 and 1988 as part of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack
Dirty Dancing (soundtrack)
Dirty Dancing is the original soundtrack of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The album became a huge commercial success in the USA. It spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales charts and went multi-platinum. It spawned a follow-up album entitled More Dirty Dancing . Executive Produced by...
. It is ranked #90 on the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". (Clearly, one of the primary reasons why the song became such a standard was its inclusion in the highly influential 1959 LP "Oldies But Goodies" on Original Sound.)
"In the Still of the Night" is one of two songs that may lay claim to being the origin of the term doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
. The plaintive "doo wop, doo wah" refrain in the bridge has often been suggested as the origin of the term doo-wop to describe that musical genre. (The other contender for the honor is When You Dance by The Turbans
The Turbans
The Turbans were an African American doo-wop group, who formed in Philadelphia in 1953. The original members were: Al Banks , Matthew Platt , Charlie Williams , and Andrew "Chet" Jones...
, in which the chant "doo-wop" can be heard.)
Cover versions
The original recording briefly hit the charts again in 1960 and 1961; an instrumentalInstrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version by Santo & Johnny
Santo & Johnny
Santo & Johnny were an Italian-American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, New York, comprising brothers Santo and Johnny Farina.They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released...
charted in 1964, and a version from the album Exitos De Paul Anka by Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
did likewise in 1969. None of these releases reached the top half of the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, however.
The Crests
The Crests
The Crests were a New York R&B doo-wop group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most popular song was "16 Candles", which rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. It sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. The interracial group had three black members , one Puerto...
recorded a cover version, titled "I Remember", for their 1960 album "The Crests Sing All Biggies" on Coed Records
Coed Records
George Paxton and Marvin Cane formed Coed Records, Inc. in New York City in 1958, and had offices at 1619 Broadway in the Brill Building. George Paxton produced many of the songs on this label, most of which were of the East Coast Doo-wop group style, and some of these became hit songs of the day...
.
Deborah Gibson
Deborah Gibson
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. In 1987 she was pronounced the youngest artist to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, with her song "Foolish Beat" and she remains the youngest female to write, record, and...
performed a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, transposed to C major, during her Atlantic-years concert tours and recorded the same for the Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
soundtrack album The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
- Music from the Emmy Award-Winning Show and its Era (LP 82032).
The song was spelled as "In the Still of the Nite" to avoid confusion with Cole Porter's
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
"In the Still of the Night
In the Still of the Night (1937 song)
"In the Still of the Night" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the MGM film Rosalie sung by Nelson Eddy and published in 1937....
". The Five Satins rock and roll standard is at times also spelled in that manner. The song was also used in the Disney attraction The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)
The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)
The Enchanted Tiki Room , was an updated version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland, which was an attraction located in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.-History:...
.
"In the Still of the Night" was also covered by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
on their 1976 album 15 Big Ones
15 Big Ones
-Singles:* "Rock And Roll Music" b/w "T M Song" , 24 May 1976 US #5; UK #36* "It's O.K." b/w "Had to Phone Ya" , 9 August 1976 US #29* "Everyone's In Love With You" b/w "Susie Cincinnati" , 1 November 1976...
. Lead vocals were by drummer Dennis Wilson
Dennis Wilson
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
.
Boyz II Men version
Boyz II MenBoyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
recorded an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
(a half step below the original version, in E) of the song for the soundtrack to the television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
The Jacksons: An American Dream
The Jacksons: An American Dream
The Jacksons: An American Dream is a five-hour American miniseries broadcast in two halves on ABC and originally broadcast on November 15 through November 18, 1992...
. This version reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and the Hot 100 Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
on January 16, 1993 and February 6, 1993, respectively. It also reached #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
on December 12, 1992. It was later added to the 1993 re-release of their album Cooleyhighharmony
Cooleyhighharmony
Cooleyhighharmony is the 1991 debut album by Motown group Boyz II Men. Executive produced by Michael Bivins of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe, the album features the hit singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday", a G.C...
.
Track listings
7" single- "In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" (LP version) — 2:51
- "Snippets from 'An American Dream'" by The Jacksons
CD maxi
- "In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" (LP version) — 2:51
- "Snippets from 'An American Dream'" by The Jacksons
- "Medley" ("I Want You Back" (live) / "ABC" (live)) by The Jacksons
Peak positions
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
11 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
24 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
69 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
27 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
4 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (1993) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
External links
(1964 version by Santo & JohnnySanto & Johnny
Santo & Johnny were an Italian-American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, New York, comprising brothers Santo and Johnny Farina.They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released...
) (1992 version by Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
) (TMGCD 1415 - 1992 version by Boyz II Men) (PODT-1013 - 1992 version by Boyz II Men)