Your next reaction to the Platters should be either “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” or “Twilight Time.”

Top of the line class group from the 50s. Hit after hit thanks to Tony Williams' voice and the group's harmony.

Glad you are discovering some really great songs and groups

The Manhattan's. Kiss and Say Goodby

Great words, great reaction ❤

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awesome video that a great song

A superb reaction 😎! I see 👁👁you have reacted to The Platters before: Only You (And You Alone). The Great Pretender was released as a non-album single by The Platters in 1955. The song was latter included on The Platters' 1958 album: Only You. It was written and produced by Buck Ram. Plas Johnson played tenor saxophone on the song. The song reached #1 on the R&B chart and #1 on the Hot 100. In was the best selling R&B single and 12th best Pop selling single of 1956. In the 1956 film: Rock Around The Clock, The Platters participated with two songs: "Only You (And You Alone)" and "The Great Pretender". That film is where this live performance was taken from. Tony Williams is the lead singer. The female, Zola Taylor, was portrayed by Halle Berry in the 1998 film: Why Do Fools Fall In Love, as one of Frankie Lymon's wives. The song describes a man who deals with his heartbreak by denying it - he's mastered the art of smiling through the pain. It was written by The Platters' producer, Buck Ram, who needed a follow-up to the group's first hit, "Only You." Working fast, he wrote the lyrics in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where the group was performing. Buck Ram had boasted to music producer Bob Shad that he had an even better song than: "Only You (And Only You)", and when pressed by Bob Shad on the name of the song, Ram quickly replied "The Great Pretender". He said the song would be a hit even before he had written the song to go with the title. This was the first ever Doo-Wop #1 Pop chart song in the USA, and it also made The Platters the first R&B group to have a #1 on the Pop charts. The music was not known as "Doo-Wop" at the time - it was categorized as Rock or R&B. Around 1970, Gus Gossert, who was an oldies DJ on radio station WCBS in New York City, started using the term "Doo-Wop" to describe this type of music. Gus Gossert didn't come up with the term however - a record collector named Stan Krause did. Stan Krause helped produce Gus Gossert's radio shows and gave him song information to use on the air. The song was covered by Freddie Mercury, whose 1987 song version reached #4 on the UK charts. Sam Cooke's 1960 cover of the song is believed to have inspired Chrissie Hynde to name her band The Pretenders. The song has been covered by many other artists including 📻: The Stylistics, Dolly Parton, Adriano Celentano, Gene Pitney, Anne Shelton, Roy Orbison, Lester Bowie, Ina Bellé Jimmy Parkinson, Rod Stewart, Victor Wood, Kathy Young And The Innocents, Pat Boone, Steve Wingfield, Tiny Tim, Bobby Vinton, Ray Stevens and more. The song has been featured in some TV shows-TV Movies including 📺: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2023), The Wizard Of Lies (2017), Empire (2015), Turks & Caicos (2014), Alcatraz (2012), The Wire (2003), Happy Days (1974) and more. The song has been featured in some films including 📽: Gunpowder Milkshake (2021), Braid (2018), Brooklyn's Finest (2009), Hollywood Land (2006), Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998), Foreign Student (1994), Night And The City (1992), For Sasha (1991), Book Of Love (1990), Paper Mask (1990), Heart Of Dixie (1989), The Buddy Holly Story (1978), American Graffiti (1973), Brothers (1973), Rock Around The Clock (1956) and more. Legacy 🛡: In 2002, "The Great Pretender", by the Platters on Mercury Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, the song was ranked 360th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Lyrics 🗒: Oh-oh, yes, I'm the great pretender Pretending that I'm doing well My need is such, I pretend too much I'm lonely, but no one can tell Oh-oh, yes, I'm the great pretender Adrift in a world of my own I played the game but to my real shame You've left me to grieve all alone Too real is this feeling of make-believe Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal Yes, I'm the great pretender Just laughin' and gay like a clown I seem to be what I'm not, you see I'm wearing my heart like a crown Pretending that you're still around Too real is this feeling of make-believe Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal Yes, I'm the great pretender Just laughin' and gay like a clown I seem to be what I'm not, you see I'm wearing my heart like a crown Pretending that you're still around (Still around) The Platters Info 📰: The Platters formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1952, and were initially managed by Federal Records A&R man Ralph Bass. The original group consisted of Herb Reed, Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunter and Joe Jefferson. Herb Reed named the group while sitting around a kitchen table with group members. He was inspired by the "turntable" of an old phonograph machine and the "platter" that spun the vinyl records. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early Rock and Roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-Rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act has gone through multiple line-ups over the years, earning it the branding tag "Many Voices One Name", with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, founder and naming member Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor. The group had 40 charting singles on the Hot 100 between 1955 and 1967, including four #1 Pop hits. In June 1953, Cornell Gunter left the group to join The Flairs and was replaced by lead vocalist Tony Williams. The band then released two singles with Federal Records, under the management of Ralph Bass, but found little success. Bass then asked his friend, music entrepreneur, and songwriter Buck Ram, to coach the group in the hope of getting a hit record. Buck Ram made some changes to the lineup, most notably the addition of female vocalist Zola Taylor and, in autumn 1954, the replacement of Alex Hodge by Paul Robi. Despite their lack of chart success, The Platters were a profitable touring group, successful enough that The Penguins, coming off their #8 Pop single: "Earth Angel", asked Buck Ram to manage them as well. With The Penguins in hand, Buck Ram was able to parlay Mercury Records' interest into a 2-for-1 deal. To sign The Penguins, Buck Ram insisted, Mercury Records also had to take The Platters. One song recorded during their Federal Records tenure: "Only You (And You Alone)", originally written by Buck Ram for The Ink Spots, was deemed unreleasable by the record label, though copies of this early song version do exist. Convinced by Jean Bennett and Tony Williams that the song had potential, Buck Ram had The Platters re-record the song during their first session for Mercury Records. Released in the summer of 1955, it became the group's first Top Ten hit on the Pop charts and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The follow-up single: "The Great Pretender", exceeded the success of their debut and became The Platters' first national #1 Pop hit. "The Great Pretender" was also the act's biggest R&B hit, with an 11-week run atop that chart. In 1956, The Platters appeared in the first film: Rock Around The Clock, and performed their songs: "Only You (And You Alone)" and "The Great Pretender". A string of hit singles followed, including three more national #1 hits: "My Prayer" (1956), "Twilight Time" (1958) and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" (1958). As well as, more modest chart successes including: "(You've Got) The Magic Touch" (#4) in 1956, "I'm Sorry" (#11) and "He's Mine" (#23) in 1957 and "Enchanted" (#12) in 1959. The Platters soon hit upon the successful formula of updating older standards, including: "My Prayer" (#1), "Twilight Time" (#1), "Harbor Lights" (#8), "To Each His Own" (#21), "If I Didn't Care" (#30), and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" (#1). This latter single released topped both the American and British Pop music charts in The Platters-style arrangement. As a group, The Platters began to have difficulties with the public after 1959, when the four male members were arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio, on drug and prostitution charges. Although no one was convicted, their professional reputation was seriously damaged and US radio stations started removing their records from playlists, forcing the group to rely more heavily on European bookings. In 1960, lead vocalist Tony Williams left the group in order to pursue a solo career and was replaced by tenor Sonny Turner. Mercury Records refused to issue further Platters' releases without Tony Williams on lead vocals, provoking a lawsuit between the record label and the group's manager Buck Ram. As a result, the record label spent two years releasing old Tony Williams-era material until the group's record contract lapsed. The group's line-up splintered further when in 1964 Zola Taylor left and was consecutively replaced by Beverly Hansen Harris, Barbara Randolph and, in 1965, by Sandra Dawn. 1965 also saw the departure of Paul Robi, who was replaced by Nate Nelson, former lead voice of The Flamingos. In 1967, baritone Bob White toured with group until 1971. This splintering of the group's line-up led to wrangling over The Platters' name, with injunctions, non-compete clauses, and multiple versions of the act touring at the same time. Tony Williams, Paul Robi, and Zola Taylor led their own Platters' groups and for a short while, Zola Taylor, Paul Robi, and David Lynch joined forces as "The Original Platters" with Tony Williams-clone Johnny Barnes as their lead singer. ****CONTINUE BELOW****