(noted 9/12/21) . Clark now eyed California as where the action is. And in February 1964 Clark moved to Los Angeles, where it would continue until 1989, though lacking its West Philadelphia spontaneity. Indeed. putting buyers and sellers in touch with auction houses who have set worlds record.contact auctionmarketnews@yahoo.com with your Auction dates,want lists ,prices realized. Don Travarelli, from South Philly, watched American Bandstand in 1961 and spotted Bunny Gibson dancing. . (Twentieth Century Fox), Soft Science extends that legacy on its third album, Maps (Test Pattern), and adds its own twists. As Sullivan puts it: The boys danced. Shore, Michael, with Dick Clark. The first book party was in November in where else? The dancers, as Teen wrote, were the "most famous unknowns on TV today. From 1963 to 1987 Bandstand was on only once a week, on Saturday. Another component of the show was its Rate-a-Record segmentwhere people evaluated a record on a scale of 35 to 98which originated the saying, Its got a good beat and you can dance to it. For this eras music industry, American Bandstand was arguably the most significant television venue in the country. He would dance on the show until early 1960. The show stayed on the air until 1989. Sullivan and the other dancers often congregated in Rittenhouse Square, the historic epicenter of what is known as the City of Brotherly Loves Gayborhood. There even was chatter and fear that Clark, who died at 82 in 2012, sent members of his production staff to spy on them and report back the names of the suspected gay regulars. He needed a group to show up every day, she says, and nobody got paid. Movies. He was 89 years old. He will never forget one of his first days on Bandstand. Where things are poppin'(Pop!) So fearful of the kids real behavior, [Clark] imposed a strict dress code: jackets and ties for boys, and nothing tight for girls. And then they leave the show, go up on the El, go home to their neighborhoods, they then had to run to their door because somebody was always waiting there to beat them up.. Most of us would love her to do a Spotlight Dance once again and tell us know how she is doing today. The big teenybopper magazines of the era Sixteen and Teen plastered Bandstand dancers on their covers and wrote glowing, gossipy stories about their lives in Philadelphia, where Dick Clark produced the show. But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. His name was Dick Clark and in the next year the show was transformed from a local show to a syndicated. Variety Shows Black & White/Color (9/9/1967), Dick Clarks first day as host: 7/9/1956 . Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. Let the good times roll! "He presented himself as such a grown-up.". Support+971+2+5530548 Email: sales@mazoutdft.com. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. But it was not easy on the mean streets of Philadelphia to be a Bandstand regular suspected of being gay. Known as the Regulars, they became the nation's first reality stars. Filmed in the cramped quarters of the WFIL Studios at 46th and Market Streets in Philly, Bandstand is such a part of Americana that Dick Clarks podium now resides in the Smithsonian.
The History of "American Bandstand" - LiveAbout Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. But . A few, burned by previously unsuccessful attempts by some to write books about the program, were reluctant to share their memories with her. The show, hosted by Dick Clark, sounds like it was both a community of welcome amongst the teens and a repressive construct from higher ups.
American Bandstand Regulars Interview - YouTube Bob's bio in Bandstand Diaries was very candid. e9.size = "300x250"; American Bandstand Day: Dick Clark receives a proclamation designating Market Street as Bandstand Boulevard. Reply. Carole made the world a better place," Gibson wrote on a Facebook page called America's Original Bandstand Dancers. This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. But this one was different. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. Cutler will be appearing Monday to talk about her book atMax and Benny's restaurant in Northbrook.
"American Bandstand" goes national - History Clark's sunny smile and cuteness masked a strong will and iron determination. I purchased this from Historic Photos. Two of the regulars, Arlene Sullivan and Ray Smith, published the volume asBandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963,with Sharon Sultan Cutler as a non-Bandstand-member co-author. Squeaky clean commercial pitchman and deejay Dick Clark inherited Bob Horns locally broadcastBandstandin July 1956 and revamped it for a national audience of teenage consumers as ABCsAmerican Bandstand, which first aired in August 1957. //-->. The two sides were "Drive in Movie " and "Dream Girl." Dick Clark never played either song on American Bandstand. In fact, it was dangerous. I knew when couples broke up. American Bandstand (1952-89) was a massively popular music television program with strong Philadelphia roots, storied national success, and the power to shape the music industry and society. My husband and I met on a blind date and six months later on April 12, 1964 we were married.
Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years 1956 to 1963 - Facebook She would gobble down some cookies and milk and turn on the TV. There were quite a few Regulars crossing over at that time. On a sociological front, the show helped popularize rock and roll and make it acceptable to many adults (i.e., parents). In February 2020, it was announced that Henderson had contracted kidney cancer and opted not to receive treatment. We also surmise that her mother was an Italian immigrant (she refers to her Italian mom), and her father of Irish descent. I think after several decades he actually believed the myth. EARLY BANDSTAND FASHIONS. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963.
A Tribute to Bob Clayton | American Bandstand Diaries The Philly Years Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi on the cover of Teen magazine in 1959. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, "The Pony" and "The Monkey"; others were named for . That was an emotional moment for both of us.". Clark pulled him within two feet of the camera and told America, "Steve is our newest regular, and he's going to lead us off with a spotlight dance. He practiced dancing with his niece, Robin, but when he went down to the show, they wouldnt let him in because he was over the age of 18. American Bandstand aired five days a week in live national broadcast until 1963, when the show moved west to Los Angeles and began a 24-year run as a taped weekly program with Dick Clark as host . My mother thought I was nuts. She was 36. Throughout its Philadelphia years, the show was so popular that it transformed average local-area teens into national celebrities. Normally, I do not forward mail to the Regulars. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. Unlike Smith, she expresses no animosity toward Clark. He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. I kissed a girl, and I liked it! Sullivan, now 74 and long out of the closet, reveals in a fascinating self-published book, Bandstand Diaries billed as The Book Youve Waited Over 50 Years to Read!. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, she said. 1st song played on the national edition was Jerry Lee Lewis Whole Lotta Shaking Goin On.1st Guests: Billy Williams, ChordettesLast song on the ABC network was Laura Branigans Shattered Glass., See above pictureThe Stroll recorded by The Diamonds in 1958. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. Determined, Don got Bunnys number from one of the regulars and he met his dream girl.
The A,B,C,'s of American Bandstand: Part 3 Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. Arlene Sullivan, a star on Bandstand, is now 74. Five-foot-two, brown-eyed, brown-haired Arlene and handsome Kenny, a year younger, were among the TV music shows elite, its stars, the vaunted regulars along with another couple often on camera pert, blond Justine Carrelli and suave Bob Clayton. The kids designated as American Bandstand Regulars in some cases struggled with their sexual identity. However, advertisers do to enable personalized ads. For More Bunny click here to go to Bunny Gibson.com, Bunny Gibson discusses the 50th celebration of American Bandstand. "He made sure the guys wore suits and we were dressed properly. 28 talking about this. In 1962, ABC trimmed the shows airtime from 90 to 60 minutes. They knew what was going on, but they never asked the question., Sullivan says there were at least four other popular girl dancers on Bandstand who she quickly learned were lesbians and we all started hanging out together. First called Bandstand, the program premiered October 6, 1952, hosted by Philadelphia radio DJ Bob Horn (1916-66). Sharon Sultan Cutler, who grew up in New York and now lives in Chicago, is co-author of Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years 1956-1963.. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. And while Smith knew he was gay, he was shocked to learn that most of the guys on Bandstand, so many of them, were gay, he told The Post. He debuted in Studio 3B at WFIL-TV, near the El train stop in West Philadelphia, in 1956 when he was a 13-year-old junior high school student. Fabian and Bobby Rydell Hang With American Bandstand Regulars By Rick SiegelFabian, the teenagers heart throb from the 50's, hob knobs along with the America. In order to help establish a clean-cut image for the show, guys were required to wear ties with suit jackets or sweaters, while girls dressed in good taste, for example a high-cut blouse with a dress or skirt. sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! Thats all we did dance and every part of the city had its own style. He retained his youthful looks through the 1980s, burnishing his reputation as Americas Oldest Living Teenager. Dick Clark died at age 82 in Santa Monica. "If you got in front of the camera too much, he'd call you back and tell you to circulate. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****..
Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The Philadelphia high school Regulars who danced on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the late 1950s and early 1960s became national celebrities and America's first reality stars. In other parts of the country, if you were a gay kid growing up, you were probably the only one in town who was gay, Sullivan said. In July 1956, Dick Clark, a commercial pitchman and deejay with an unsullied reputation, inherited WFIL-TV's Bandstand from scandal-tainted Bob Horn and revamped it for a national audience of teenage consumers as ABC's American Bandstand, which first aired in August 1957.Clark's daily afternoon program pioneered in musical television by showcasing a range of black and white pop music . Ohio, great article, in the late 1950s i wouldnt miss watching the show for anything , I still have some of those records that bring back a lot of memories, my boyfriend and i won a lot of dance contests at Marietta high dancing to the "Mashed Potatoe" by Dee Dee Sharp and the Twist by Chubby Checker: really love your column in the Marietta Times every Monday , keep up the great articles. Remember hurrying from school in the 50's and turning on that old black and white tv at 4'oclock to watch all those kids dance on "American Bandstand" live from Philadelphia, The show first began as a local program in the cramped quarters of Studio B at WFIL Tv channel 6 at 46th and Market streets in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. Thank you "C" Group for continuing the "Philly Saga". I didnt know what I was doing and decided I cant do this, and I called my dad and asked him to come get me, she says. Duke is a premier photographer of the martial arts as well as being an expert. The news hit hard. TV Ratings - US & UK, Quiz Shows OnAmerican Bandstandsdance floor, Sullivan was first partnered famously with Kenny Rossi (1957-58), a multitalented Italian-American student at West Catholic Boys High School, and such was her national popularity that her fan mail eventually totaled some 500 letters weekly. Henderson remained the chief newsreader for Australia's Channel 9 until finally announcing his retirement in 2002. . Filled with 700-some photographs, both old and new, it is handsomely designed and co-written with Ray Smith, who danced on the show for a short time, and Arlene Sullivan, who became one of the stars of the show, with her own international fan club for a time. In 1989, Clark, aged 59, retired fromAmerica Bandstand, and the show ended that year. 1 (2012): 89-113. We were like sisters. They werent playing football. She and her husband, Richard Spada, lived in Philadelphia and Lansdowne before moving to Newtown Square. Of Clarks behind-the-scenes behavior at Studio B, Ray Smith writes unsparingly: The irony about Clark is that he was not the goody-two-shoes he projected: he smoked, cursed, and for a while teetered on the edge of alcoholism. And whereas 135 ABC-affiliated stations carriedAmerican Bandstandon a revenue-sharing basis in 1960, the stations were bailing out of this relationship in 1963. Never, did I ever think that I would be with him, holding his hand when he passed away. Dancer - AB65 Regular 1 episode, 1964 Jocelyn Lane . I still really didnt know who I was. Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. She would learn their names but, like all of us and them, she would mature, and those images on the screen and her affection for "those kids" would fade. . Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing.
Bandstand (Australia) - Nostalgia Central The reality behind the scenes ofAmerican Bandstandwas quite different than what viewers saw on national television. He spoke of his youth, of Bandstand and his favorite gal, Bunny. Reading the book, one easily grasps or is reminded what an impactful cultural phenomenon "American Bandstand" was for a couple of generations of TV-watching kids. Clark claimed that the affiliates got greedy and took the time back to put their own material on where they got 100 percent of the revenue. Ray Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. AMERICAN BANDSTAND BLOG. Clark, known as Americas oldest teenager, knew. The show epitomized many important aspects of ever-evolving American popular culture: mass communication, popular music, youth culture, dance and fashion trends, as well as race and gender relationships. In an interview with the New York Post, Sullivan says that she and many of the gay male dancers would congregate in the Gayborhood, Rittenhouse Square, and there were rumors that Clark sent producers to spy on them. However, musicians such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Sam Cooke all made national appearances on American Bandstand during the late 1950s. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, said Sullivan. Covering Auction Houses who specialize in Buying and Selling Antiques & Collectibiles from A-Z, Art-Rare Books-Comics-Coins-Records-Postcards-Autographs-Jewelery-Watches-Guns- Glass-Pottery- Toys-Dolls-Cookie jars-Decoys-Fenton glass- . Mrs. Spada attended West Catholic Girls High School. "When I walked through those doors, that was the only place I wanted to be," said Gibson, 66, an actress who now lives in Los Angeles. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 and moved with the show to Hollywood in 1964. She acknowledges that some of the other girls she knew on the show were also gay. She told me she got so many letters from fans who thought I looked like her and [with our dark hair], we did look alike. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson. We may earn a commission from links on this page. The soft, almost cooed vocals of singer Katie Haley bring a pop veneer. Such white Philadelphia-area teens (many from South Philadelphia or near the shows production site in West Philadelphia), among others, regularly appeared on American Bandstand. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. They were real kids from Philly, and if you watched every day, you could tell who was breaking up and who was making up. They accepted me. ), Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. To many of you, it was about the music and the artists. These experienced Regulars considered an infrequent participant or a first time visitor an amateur. I wonder what they would have thought about a kid in TV Land, practicing the new steps in front of her bedroom mirror and praying to God her little brother didnt catch her at it. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. After working in insurance in Philadelphia, and studying acting and dance, Ray moved to New York City . In the early years of American Bandstand, African Americans were rarely seen on television. love your blog keep up the great articles , G.R.
DICK CLARK AND AMERICAN BANDSTAND: THE EARLY DAYS Random Thoughts Learning how American Bandstand made rock n roll respectable. We followed their dance steps on TV and their personal lives in Teen magazines. Don and Bunny had two daughters: Angel and Maria and four grandchildren: Lea & Christopher Di Vello, Alexis Karanzalis & Nicole Weiss. She was 13 but lied about her age. Many other Bandstand alumni from the show's Philadelphia era were overcome with a rush of memories Wednesday. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter We have lived in NJ ever since. Ohio. That really annoyed me, said Smith, Because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS., According to Brancaccio, Clark didnt want racial integration on his show either. The Twist the first dance to come out where people danced separately and the Monkey and Jerk came out after Id left.. They werent playing basketball. They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show.
Sharon Sultan Cutler, of Chicago, talks about "Bandstand Diaries," the book she co-authored with Ray Smith and former American Bandstand participant Arlene Sullivan remembering the shows early days. But back in the Bandstand days, Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. They were hurting him. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 shares the fascinating story of how Dick Clark's American Bandstand and its millions of viewers catapulted its teenage dancers (called "the Regulars") to fame. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. At least three factors are important to note regarding the last three years ofAmerican Bandstandin West Philadelphia: the 1960 payola scandal, the reality behind the shows happy faces, and developments in the pop music industry that affected the show and compelled its relocation in 1964 to Los Angeles in a reduced version. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. I can honestly say that I was the most blessed person in the world the day I met Norman and he and I became steady dance partners., Meeting Norman