S.O.D. "In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins

4/11/2015     This 1956 single is one of the two songs that became the origin of the music genre "Doo-wop."  The Turbans' "When You Dance" is the other tune with the Doo-wop claim to fame.  On the charts it just seemed to keep coming back as it charted three times in three different years on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the only song in history to do so recorded by the same artist and the same version.  Featured on quite a few movie soundtracks, it made a strong come back in 1987 on the "Dirty Dancing" score and sold over 10 million copies between '87 and '88.  Many cover versions have been recorded with perhaps the most notable by Boys II Men in 1993 and titled "In the Still of the Night (I'll Remember)".  

     Recorded as an a cappella number, it became part of The Jackson's miniseries: "An American Dream" and climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay.  When first released in 1956, the original version  peaked at #24 on the national charts.  

     The tune was first recorded in the Saint Bernadette Catholic School basement in New Haven, Connecticut and was to be the B side to "The Jones Girl" which was soon reversed.  For nearly 3 decades the tune almost always topped the influential Top 500 Countdown on oldies station WCBS-FM.  Rolling Stone Magazine has ranked it at #90 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Definitely a good pick for a romantic evening.