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In the Still of the Night

Fred Parris, ‘In the Still of the Night’ Songwriter and Five Satins Frontman, Dies at 85

Fred Parris, frontman for The Five Satins, a doo-wop group whose smash 1956 ballad “In the Still of the Night” became an enduring standard and was prominently used in movies including Dirty Dancing and The Irishman, died Thursday after a brief illness. He was 85. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I never expected it to have so much of an impact,” Parris told the New Haven Register in 2014. “I didn’t know if they were going to listen to it 15 minutes later, let alone 50 years.” On Feb. 19, 1956, Parris and one of his bandmates, Al Denby, were at home on military leave in New Haven, Conn., when they recorded “In the Still of the Night” in the St. Bernadette Catholic Church basement. It was the heart of the doo-wop era, when groups such as Frankie ...