“Get a Job” by the Silhouettes*

A post from: MissBackInTheDayUSA

“Get a Job” is a song by the Silhouettes released in November 1957. It 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.^[2] The four members of the group shared the credit, jointly creating the “sha na na” and “dip dip dip dip” hooks later imitated by other doo-wopgroups.

The song was recorded at Robinson Recording Laboratories in Philadelphia in October 1957. Rollee McGill played the saxophone break, and the arranger was Howard Biggs. Intended as the B-side to “I Am Lonely”,^[3] “Get a Job” was initially released on Kae Williams‘ Junior label; Williams, who was also a Philadelphia disc-jockey, was the Silhouettes’ manager.^[4][5] Doug Moody, an executive at Ember Records, acquired the rights to the song for that label where it was licensed for national distribution.

In early 1958, the Silhouettes performed “Get a Job” several times on American Bandstandand once on The Dick Clark Show, appearances that contributed to the song’s success by exposing it to a large audience.^[6][a] Ultimately the single sold more than a million copies.