The Platters - The Great Pretender

NOTE: The video here is The Platters performance of The Great Pretender from the 1956 film 'Rock Around the Clock' that also featured Bill Haley and His Comets, Alan Freed, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. I've upscaled and colorized the original black and white film.

Written and composed by Buck Ram, The Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management, THE GREAT PRETENDER was recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955.

A follow-up to their first hit, "Only You," Ram worked fast, writing the lyrics in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where the group was performing.

The song reached #5 on the UK charts.

This was the first ever doo wop #1 in the USA, and it also made The Platters the first R&B group to have a #1 on the pop charts.

The act went through several personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor.