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Local Area Info: The Five Satins

The group, formed in New Haven, Connecticut, consisted of leader Fred Parris, Lewis Peeples, Stanley Dortch, Ed Martin and Jim Freeman and Nat Mosley in 1954. With little success, the group reorganized, with Dortch and Peeples leaving, and new member Al Denby entering. The group then recorded "In the Still of the Night", a very 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 25 on the pop charts. 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. An August 1958 release, "A Night To Remember" (Ember 1038), got some Boston airplay. During late 1959 (in San Francisco, CA) and early 1960 (in both San Antonio, TX and Rochester, NY), 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 one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. A case of painfully bad timing affected the group's lead singer. Uncle Sam had come calling, and Parris entered the Army very soon after the huge 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, however, as this lineup immediately hit big with another timeless, very successful effort, 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), 3/60; "Your Memory" (Cub 9071), 7/1960; "The Time" (Ember 1066), 10/60; "These Foolish Things/A Beggar With A Dream" (Cub 9077), 12/60; "Till The End" (United Artists 368), 11/61; "The Masquerade Is Over" (Chancellor 1110), 7/62; "Remember Me" (Warner Brothers 5367), 8/63; and "Ain't Gonna Dance" (aka "Ain't Gonna Cry", Roulette 4563), 7/64. In total, the group appeared on an unusually high number of record labels, even for their era, when such label-hopping was far more of a common practice.

In 1965, Parris retooled his band, and started a three-year run of getting substantial airplay almost exclusively inside his home state of Connecticut, as Fred Parris and the Restless Hearts. Songs included "No Use In Crying" (Checker 1108), 5/65; "Blushing Bride/Giving My Love To You" (Green-Sea 106), 8/66; "Bring It Home To Daddy" (Atco 6439), which hit #1 locally in 10/66; "I'll Be Hangin On" (Green-Sea 107); a #11 local hit in 4/67; and ending this career phase with an updated version of their classic hit, "(I'll Remember) In The Still Of The Night "67"" (Mama Sadie 1001), in 8/67.