Philly’s Very Own One-Hit Wonders

The musical underdogs that made it big, once.

The Silhouettes: "Get a Job" In 1957, a doo-wop group in Philadelphia called the Silhouettes recorded a song called "Get a Job" at the Robinson Recording Studios in Philadelphia. Like "Ice Ice Baby" many years later, "Get a Job" was actually a B-side that DJs preferred to the single. The song caught fire on local radio, and the group eventually performed the song on American Bandstand (which, at the time, was recorded in Philly). The song was soon a national sensation, selling more than three million copies and shooting to the #1 spot on the Billboard pop chart. Sadly, like many performers of that era, the Silhouettes were completely taken advantage of by the record companies, and they made almost nothing off of the song. Finally, after years of fighting in court, in 1987, songwriter and group member Rick Lewis won his case, and received some of the money he deserved from writing one of the most memorable hits of the doo-wop era. (You can read more about the Silhouettes here.)

Whiskey Cures Asthmatic Canaries. Handstands Save Choking Men

Flea market find yields helpful advice, recipes from 1890s Philadelphia.

I went to a flea market on Sunday, and picked up some almanacs created by the old Philadelphia Record newspaper in the 1880s and '90s. Needless to say, these things are chock-full of excellent advice that can still be used today. Let’s look at some of the handy tips found in these books. (All quotes are absolutely word for word from the book, no matter how crazy it sounds.) Let’s say that your child has developed an earache, and you are preparing to pour some milk down the child’s ear. Not so fast!

Care of Child’s Ears. Never put milk, fat or any oily substances into the ear for relief of pain, for they soon become rancid.

Too late. I already put lard in my child’s ear and now a bug has flown into it and gotten stuck. What to do now?

Is It Ever OK to Cheer When an Athlete Is Injured?

Also, rules for when you can and can’t boo Jimmy Rollins.

A lot of ethically questionable things going on in the Philly sports world lately, from Philly fans cheering when Joakim Noah got hurt to, uh, Philly fans cheering when Jayson Werth got hurt, so it's a great time to check the mail bag. And by "mail bag," I mean "questions I've written to myself and will attach fake names to." I've brought along a special guest to help me answer the questions: Jason Weitzel, who runs the excellent Philles blog, Beerleaguer. Let's get to our first question. JaMarcus from Jenkintown asks: "Is there a code of conduct that sports fans should follow when watching a live event, and have people's morals gotten worse at sporting events in the past couple of decades?"

Music Videos Tour Philly’s Famous Sites

A history/rap lesson.

Many local rappers have lately been paying homage to the city's iconic locales. Here are a few of my favorites. ARTIST: Reef the Lost Cauze SONG: "Philly Cousins" VENUES: Broad Street Line, FDR Park We start with my favorite rapper in Philadelphia, Reef the Lost Cauze. Charisma, talent, intelligence, sense of humor, this guy has got it all except a large ego. Super nice dude. If you want to feel good about supporting a local artist, then by all means, follow Reef.

5 Plans That Could’ve Changed Philly Forever

But never happened.

One thing that's fun about history is that there is an alternate history that invisibly runs alongside of it, the history of things that never were. Today we look at plans that were on the table that would have changed the future of Philadelphia forever, some for the better and some for the worse. 1. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1986, Philly was one of the six finalists for the HOF. Mayor Wilson Goode and other city bigwigs wined and dined the HOF Committee. A crowd of hundreds rallied at City Hall. As for sites? According to a 1986...

Phillies Trivia: Which Players Might Have Been Football Stars?

Impress your friends with random team facts.

A few weeks ago, in "10 Phillies Facts Every Real Fan Should Know," I reached back to the past, as far back as 1883 (for best nickname in team history: Bob “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson). This week, I've got some interesting things you might not know about this year's team. 1. Shane Victorino was a track star in high school. He once ran the 100-meter dash in 10.5 seconds and the 200 meters in 21.3 seconds, and won state gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters his senior year.

Ozzie Guillen’s Respect for Fidel Castro Is Not a National Crisis

Why we prefer our sports figures on mute.

In 1989, the Dallas Cowboys unceremoniously fired Tom Landry and brought in Jimmy Johnson. After the move, I said to my dad, "Why would they hire a guy like Jimmy Johnson? He's such an asshole." My dad replied, "They're not paying him to be a nice guy. They're paying him to win ballgames." But in today's sports world, it's imperative that sports figures be both winners and nice guys. Otherwise, there is universal moral outrage (apologize to us, Tiger, for what you did to your wife. We bought Gatorade!) and righteous indignation (I can't believe he got a DUI. He's a football coach, for heaven's sakes!). We've somehow established a strange notion that all sports figures are not only great athletes but also perfect human beings, and when they inevitably let us down (since they happen to be human beings) sportswriters and fans get to jump all over them, and thus get a chance to prove their moral superiority.

Neal Pollack Talks Jews and Basketball, Philadelphia Nazis, and E-Books

Amazon re-released the writer’s self-published Jewball last week.

In October, former Philly Mag writer Neal Pollack released his sixth book, Jewball—self-published for Amazon's Kindle. No contracts, no marketing outside of his Facebook and Twitter, and a few interviews. The book stalled out after selling 500 copies. But Neal believed in the book and pitched the work to a VP at Amazon. Last week, Amazon re-released the book, about a Jewish basketball team in Philadelphia (the SPHAs) in the 1930s that battled the Bund, an American Nazi organization. I talked to Neal about Philly hoops in the '30s, the future of book publishing, and why there are so few Jews playing in the NBA today. What initially got you turned onto this story idea? I belong to a Jewish organization called Reboot, a collection of Jewish intellectuals that meets in the mountains of Utah. I'm not even kidding. It was 2005, and I was in a steam room with a couple of guys, including a Jewish history professor. The NBA playoffs were going on, and they started talking about the history of Jewish basketball, and I had never heard of it before. So I went home and did some research and saw that this was a reality, and that the SPHAs were big news of the time. I saw this as an opportunity to write about Philly without having to write about my time in Philly, which wasn’t that fun.

10 Phillies Facts Every Real Fan Should Know

Or, a list to help you fake it at Citizens Bank Park.

1. The movie The Natural was based on a member of the Phillies. First baseman Eddie Waitkus received a note when he returned to his hotel on June 14, 1949 from a woman who said she needed to see him. Being a ballplayer, he decided to go to the woman’s room. When he arrived, she grabbed a .22 and shot him in the stomach, saying, “If I can’t have you, nobody can.” Waitkus barely survived the shooting, but returned to the Phillies the next year, and helped the Whiz Kids win the 1950 pennant. His story was the inspiration for a Bernard Malamud novel that was later turned into a Robert Redford movie. (You can read the full story here.)