1967 Bob Crewe Generation – Music To Watch Girls By
Bob Crewe and Frank Slay Jr. met and began writing music together in 1953. They co-wrote and Bob produced the song Silhouettes for the Rays. Their single reached #3 on the Hot 100 in 1957 and also reached #5 in 1965 when Herman’s Hermits covered the song.
The pair signed with Swan Records and wrote hit records for Billy and Lillie and Freddie Cannon.
Bob tried releasing songs himself, but the best he managed through the first half of the sixties was a version of The Whiffenpoof Song that stalled at a dismal #96 on the Hot 100 in 1960.
Bob met and began co-writing songs with Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons, beginning in 1962 with the song Sherry. The pair knocked out a long string of hits for the group.
In 1965, Bob heard a demo for a Pepsi commercial that contained music by Sid Ramin and was inspired to release a single based on the jingle.
He credited his instrumental single to The Bob Crewe Generation. It reached #15 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Ah Hirt also released a single for the song, but his version didn’t reach the Hot 100. It did, however, make it to #31 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Tony Velona added lyrics to the song. A single sung by Andy Williams peaked at only #34 on the Hot 100 in 1967.
A Fiat commercial in the UK used part of Andy’s recording in 1999. The commercial helped spur the re-release of his single, which then reached the top ten in the UK.
Bob released singles and albums both as solo projects and as the Bob Crewe Generation through the mid-seventies, but never again reached the top forty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Crewe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_to_Watch_Girls_By
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