In the Still of the Night (The Five Satins song)

The song was recorded in the Saint Bernadette Catholic School basement in New Haven, Connecticut in February 1956. Marty Kugell produced the song. The saxophone solo was played by Vinny Mazzetta of New Haven. The rhythm section was Doug Murray (bass), Bobby Mapp (drums) and Curlee Glover (piano). It was originally released on Kugell's Standord label with the B-side "The Jones Girl", a play on the Mills Brothers' 1954 hit, "The Jones Boy". Although the single was only a moderate hit after it was reissued on the Ember label, peaking at No. 24 on the national pop charts and No. 3 on the R&B "race" charts (Billboard's chart designation for R&B at the time), its reputation came to surpass its original chart placement. For three decades, the single almost always topped the influential Top 500 Songs countdown on oldies radio station WCBS-FM. The track sold over 10 million copies in 1987 and 1988 as part of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. The song was included on the highly influential 1959 LP Oldies But Goodies on Original Sound.

"In the Still of the Nite" is the only song to have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 three separate times, by the same artist with the same version each time. After initially reaching No. 24 in 1956, it was released again in 1960 and reached No. 81. Then more than a year later in 1961 it reached No. 99.

"In the Still of the Nite" is one of two songs that may lay claim to being the origin of the term doo-wop. The plaintive doo wop, doo wah refrain in the bridge has often been suggested as the origin of the term to describe that musical genre. The other contender for the honor is "When You Dance" by the Turbans, in which the chant "doo-wop" can be heard.

"In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)"
Single by Boyz II Men
from the album The Jacksons: An American Dream Original Soundtrack and Cooleyhighharmony (1993 re-issue)
B-side	"Snippets from 'An American Dream'"
Released	October 13, 1992 (airplay) November 10, 1992
Format	CD, CD maxi, 7" single
Recorded	1992
Genre	A cappella, doo-wop
Length	2:51
Label	Motown
Songwriter(s)	F. Parris
Producer(s)	Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men singles chronology
"End of the Road" (1992) "In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" (1992) "Let It Snow" (1993)

Boyz II Men recorded an a cappella arrangement (a full step below the original version, in E) of the song for the soundtrack to the television miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream. This version reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on January 16, 1993. It also debuted at No. 1 in New Zealand—becoming the band's second chart-topper there—and charted strongly in Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. It was later added to the 1993 re-release of their album Cooleyhighharmony.

The original recording briefly hit the charts again in 1960 and 1961; an instrumental version by Santo & Johnny charted in 1964, and a version from the album Exitos De Paul Anka by Paul Anka did likewise in 1969. None of these releases reached the top half of the Billboard Hot 100, however.

The Crests recorded a version titled "I Remember (In The Still of the Night)" for their 1960 album The Crests Sing All Biggies on Coed Records.

The Fleetwoods released a version of the song on their 1961 album The Fleetwoods Sing the Best Goodies of the Oldies.

The Tokens released a version in 1961.

Dion DiMucci released a version on his 1961 album Runaround Sue.

The song was spelled as "In the Still of the Nite" to avoid confusion with Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night". The Five Satins rock and roll standard is at times also spelled in that manner. The song was also used in the Disney attraction The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management).

The song was recorded by Jan & Dean as a single in 1968 and was planned to be released on their album Carnival of Sound that same year. Carnival of Sound was not released until 2010.

In 1972, Sha Na Na recorded a version faithful to the original on their album The Night Is Still Young, with Johnny Contardo singing lead.

"In the Still of the Nite" was also recorded by the Beach Boys on their 1976 album 15 Big Ones. Lead vocals were by drummer Dennis Wilson.

Songwriters Mike Reid and Troy Seals incorporated the song in the 1985 song "Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night)", performed by Ronnie Milsap. Milsap's song was a number one country hit that year.[23]

Debbie Gibson recorded the song transposed to C major during her Atlantic-years concert tours and recorded the same arrangement for the Atlantic soundtrack album The Wonder Years - Music from the Emmy Award-Winning Show and its Era (LP 82032).

The original Five Satins version of the song featured prominently in Martin Scorsese's 2019 epic crime film The Irishman, including the opening scene and end credits. It is the first track on the film's soundtrack album, released by Sony Music on November 8, 2019.

The original song also appeared in its entirety in David Cronenberg's 1988 psychological thriller film Dead Ringers.

It also appears briefly in a very moving and yet violent scene in the TV series Gotham. Butch Gilzean confesses about stealing some meat and not being equal about the shares to his gang friend, Savianno. Right after the confession he shoots at him in the head, killing him right away. The track is heard prior and during Butch's confession and right after the shots. After he exits Saviannos' vehicle, the song shuffles to "It's All in the Game" by Tommy Edwards.

• "In the Still of the Nite". Rolling Stone.
• Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Five Satins". Allmusic.
• Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Singles 1955-1999. Menomonee Falls, WI, 2000.

• "The Five Satins: In The Still of the Nite" at Discogs (list of releases) (original release)
• "Santo & Johnny: I'll Remember (In The Still of the Night)" at Discogs (list of releases) (1964 version by Santo & Johnny)
• "Boyz II Men: In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" at Discogs (list of releases) (1992 version by Boyz II Men)
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics