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." They were formed in 1954 and continued performing until 1994. When it was formed, the group consisted of six members, which was eventually cut down to five. The group is in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.The group, formed in New Haven, Connecticut in 1954, consisted of leader Fred Parris (March 26, 1936 – January 13, 2022), Lewis Peeples, Stanley Dortche, Ed Martin, Jim Freeman, Nat Mosley. With little success, the group reorganized, with Dortche and Peeples leaving, and new member Al Denby entering. The group then recorded "In the Still of the Night", a big hit in the United States, which was originally released as the B-side to the single "The Jones Girl". The single was initially issued on the tiny local "Standord" label (45 stock 200) and after some local Connecticut sales, it was released the following year on the New York label Ember (45 stock 1005), and "In the Still of the Night" ended up charting at number three on the R&B chart and number 24 on the pop chart.Two singles later, the follow-up track "Pretty Baby (That's Why I Sing)" (Ember 1025) got weeks of airplay on powerful CHUM in Toronto, in November 1957. The August 1958 release "A Night to Remember" (Ember 1038) got some Boston airplay. During late 1959 (in San Francisco) and early 1960 (in both San Antonio, Texas and Rochester, New York), their classic 45 side garnered renewed current airplay, becoming a Top 10 hit in all three listed markets. "In the Still of the Night" became an even bigger hit when it appeared as the lead track on Original Sound Records' Oldies But Goodies Vol. 1. The series eventually ran to 15 volumes. The series has been in continual print in one form or another since that first volume was released in 1959. In total, their signature track sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold disc.A case of painfully bad timing affected the group's lead singer. Parris entered the United States Army soon after the success of "In the Still of the Night", forcing the group to reorganize again, with Martin, Freeman, Tommy Killebrew, Jessie Murphy and new lead Bill Baker. Baker quickly proved to be a highly capable replacement as this lineup immediately had success with Billy Dawn Smith's "To the Aisle" (Ember 1019), in September 1957.Upon Parris' return from the Army, a new lineup was assembled, consisting of Parris, Lewis Peeples (who was in a previous incarnation of the Five Satins), Sylvester Hopkins, Richie Freeman and Wes Forbes. The group would be briefly known as "Fred Parris and the Scarlets", until the Baker-led group split up. At this point, they reverted to the Five Satins name. According to old radio survey repository ARSA, the following 45 sides charted in some markets: "I'll Be Seeing You" (Ember 1061); "Your Memory" (Cub 9071); "The Time" (Ember 1066); "These Foolish Things/A Beggar With a Dream" (Cub 9077); "Till the End" (United Artists 368); "The Masquerade Is Over" (Chancellor 1110); "Remember Me" (Warner Brothers 5367); and "Ain't Gonna Dance" (aka "Ain't Gonna Cry", Roulette 4563). In total, the group appeared on an unusually high number of record labels, even for their era.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.