The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/R&B group whose single “Get A Job” was a number 1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song’s lyrics. “Get A Job” is included in the soundtracks of the film American Graffiti, Trading Places and Stand By Me. The Silhouettes performed in the 1986 movie Joey. (More from Wikipedia)
I have written of Ritchie Valens already; he was the first Hispanic rock star and grew up in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima. Despite his Anglicized name (his birth name was Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes), Valens was proud of his heritage and was expressing an interest in making music at the age of 5. He taught himself to play guitar and, at 16, was hired by a local band called the Silhouettes (not the same as the doo-wop group the Silhouettes); he became the frontman when the lead singer moved on. The Silhouettes had a remarkable diversity among its membership, including African-American and Japanese-American members; he shared vocalist duties with two women. Under the name Richard Valenzuela, he was becoming known as the “Little Richard of San Fernando”.
(June 2013/1)
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