[1] He was born in Dallas, Texas, and moved to New York City in 1951, attempting to find work as a songwriter.
[2] Initially released on the XYZ label set up by Slay and Crewe, "Silhouettes" became a top ten pop hit in the US for both the Rays (#3) and the Diamonds (#10), and was re-recorded successfully by Herman's Hermits in 1965 (#5 US, #3 UK), and Cliff Richard in 1990 (#10 UK).
The song "Daddy Cool" – originally on the B-side of the Rays' single – became a #6 hit in the UK in 1977 for Darts.
[3] Slay and Crewe also wrote hits for Billy & Lillie, including "La Dee Dah" (covered in the UK by Jackie Dennis), and Freddy Cannon, for whom "Tallahassee Lassie" became a top ten hit in 1959.
[2] As well as producing many of Freddy Cannon's records, he also had a minor hit under his own name in late 1961, "Flying Circle", an instrumental adaptation of the traditional song "Hava Nagila", which reached #45 on the Billboard pop chart credited to Frank Slay and his Orchestra.