The Drifters were a black doo-wop group of the mid-late 50s to the mid 60s. Members of the group were (early 1950s): Clyde McPhatter (lead singer), Gerhart Thrasher, Andrew Thrasher, and Bill Pinkney. In 1958, the Drifters' manager, George Treadwell, disbanded that group and brought in the former Five Crowns. From this point on, the main lead singers of the Drifters were: Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, and Johnny Moore. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988. Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King went solo, and Rudy Lewis died of a heart attack. Johnny Moore died in December 1998. Sole surviving original Drifter Bill Pinkney continues to tour regularly with his group.
Below is a list of hit singles. If a single peaked at #1 or #2, the number in parentheses indicates the number of weeks the single stayed at #1 or #2.
| SONG | PEAK # | YEAR | WEEKS ON CHART There Goes My Baby | 2(1) | 1959 | 14
| Dance With Me | 15 | 1959 | 9
| (If You Cry) True Love | 33 | 1959 | 5
| This Magic Moment | 16 | 1960 | 6
| Save Last Dance For Me | 1(3) | 1960 | 14
| I Count The Tears | 17 | 1960 | 7
| Some Kind Of Wonderful | 32 | 1961 | 6
| Please Stay | 14 | 1961 | 8
| Sweets For My Sweet | 16 | 1961 | 9
| When The Little Girl Is Smiling | 28 | 1962 | 4
| Up On The Roof | 5 | 1962 | 11
| On Broadway | 9 | 1963 | 8
| I'll Take You Home | 25 | 1963 | 5
| Under The Boardwalk | 4 | 1964 | 12
| I've Got Sand in My Shoes | 33 | 1964 | 5
| Saturday Night At The Movies | 18 | 1964 | 7 | |
1. There Goes My Baby (2:10; Ben lead) - This is a pretty slow song about a girl that leaves him and goes off with some other guy. He wants her back so he can prove to her that he loves her more than the other guy even though he broke her heart before. He wants to get her back, but for now he just has to watch her go by with another guy.
2. If You Cry (True Love, True Love) (2:20; Johnny Lee Williams) - That may sound like Clyde on lead, but he was drafted into the army in 1955, then became a solo singer in '56. Anyway, this song, somewhat faster than moderate, features orchestral strings and chimes. If the narrator's girlfriend cries, so would he; perhaps he'd even die. My favorite feature of this song is the scat vocals "bom bom bom."
3. Dance With Me (2:23; Ben) - To a moderate tempo, the narrator asks his girlfriend to dance with him; as the dance progresses, he asks her to hold him closer and tighter, and also to let her lips meet his.
4. This Magic Moment (2:26; Ben) - The tempo is moderately fast. I like the opening rapid plays of the violins that give a magical sound. Although the Drifters sang this song first, it was a bigger hit for Jay and the Americans.
5. Save The Last Dance For Me (2:26; Ben) - This is a moderate song that has a guy take a girl to a dance. He tells her she can dance with anyone she wants except on the last dance he wants to dance with her. He says "'Cause don't forget whose taking you home and in whose arms your going to be, so darling, save the last dance for me."
6. I Count The Tears (2:26; Ben) - This moderately fast features bells and orchestral strings. The narrator counts the tears he cries every night, the lies his girlfriend told him; it seems like he has cried 1000 years. Now that she's with a new man, the narrator predicts that someday she'll leave him also. Apparently, the "na na na" scat singing here was the inspiration for the chorus to the Grass Roots' "Let's Live For Today."
7. Some Kind Of Wonderful (2:35; Rudy) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator "can't express this feeling of tenderness," but all it takes to make him happy is for his girlfriend to touch his hand, embrace him, or even just look at him.
8. Up On The Roof (2:35; Rudy) - This is a moderate-fast song. It says how the narrator just wants to go and sit on his roof and watch the stars "put on a show for free." He likes to go there because it doesn't cost any money to go there and he wants to get away from it all.
9. On Broadway (original version 3:00, Rudy lead; 1990s stereo version 2:58) - This is a slow song. It tells that a couple friends of his went to Broadway and really liked it. He decides to go there and finds out he should have stayed home because it wasn't much to see. His friends tell him "the girls are something else on Broadway." He replies by saying that "looking at them just gives me the blues." They tell him the "neon lights are bright on Broadway", but that doesn't mean very much to him.
10. Under The Boardwalk (2:39; Johnny Moore) - This is a moderate-fast moving song about a place where the narrator and his girlfriend like to go to love each other and just to have fun. He expresses his love for her by taking her there as much as he can. This song features a lot of background instruments.
11. I've Got Sand In My Shoes (2:46; Johnny) - This song is a sequel to the previous one, with the same tempo and similar music. Castanets play in the left speaker. The boardwalk is now empty and the ferris wheel stands still, but the narrator's shoes still have the sand from the day he and his girlfriend lay beneath the walk.
12. Saturday Night At The Movies (2:29; Johnny) - This fast song features a tambourine in the right speaker and horns in the left. At 8 PM on Saturday, the narrator is gonna take his girlfriend to a movie. But no matter what movie it is, they always pick seats in the balcony's rear-most row and are more interested in kissing each other than in watching the movie.