I think [the shows success] even surprised Dick Clark.. I still really didnt know who I was. In their new self-published memoirs Bandstand Diaries, series regulars Arlene Sullivan, Ray Smith, and Sharon Sultan Cutler reveal that though fans loved to gossip and fantasize about the shows heterosexual pairings, many of their favorites were young gay men and women putting on a show for the cameras. ", A musical about the 'Miracle' Cubs? She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. The show was American Bandstand, and Dick Clarks clean-cut style meant the program had parents stamp of approval. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. The Philadelphia way Were goin drop in (Drop!) This is the interview with Arlene, Kenny, Frank and Carole about their days on American Bandstand and their experiences with the Golden Boys. Brancaccio says thats what attracted him to it. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. Titled "The Rise of the Salesman" and written by Smith, it captures the wildly successful and influential career of Clark from "American Bandstand" host to media mogul: "Dick Clark may not have known much about music, but he knew how to cultivate it, spread it, and make it work for the masses.". In 1960, he attended Penn State as an English major. "He presented himself as such a grown-up.". AMERICAN BANDSTAND BLOG. To the left youll find original pictures of some of the Regulars. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Like nostalgia? sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. Broadcast only on Saturdays after 1963, American Bandstand lost the homegrown vitality of the daily program in West Philadelphia. The followed the trend of solo ("open") dancing started by Chubby Checker and "The Twist.". In the early 1960s, a new collection of teen regulars succeeded Arlene Sullivan's generation on American Bandstand's dance floor. 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.. . . The two sides were "Drive in Movie " and "Dream Girl." Dick Clark never played either song on American Bandstand. And in her early 20s, she actually tied the knot with a young man. His name was Dick Clark and in the next year the show was transformed from a local show to a syndicated across-the-nation program and its name was changed from "Bandstand" to "American Bandstand," airing five days a week. I was SO mixed up., Today, Arlene Sullivan lives with a partner and, despite having suffered strokes, still loves to dance. Fiorentino was known on the show as "Nicky Blue.". during those wonderful days. Thank you "C" Group for continuing the "Philly Saga". We went downtown, and I ran to the back of the bus the way I always did in Philly but Barbara and her friend kept telling me to come to the front. A Midlothian-based freelance writer, Martha Steger has received national awards for her journalism, essays, short fiction and poetry. EARLY BANDSTAND VIDEOS. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. In February 2020, it was announced that Henderson had contracted kidney cancer and opted not to receive treatment. She was a senior.and luckily on the Honor Roll. Throughout its Philadelphia years, the show was so popular that it transformed average local-area teens into national celebrities. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. For More Bunny click here to go to Bunny Gibson.com, Bunny Gibson discusses the 50th celebration of American Bandstand. 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. We have lived in NJ ever since. In 1964, he joined the National Guard and did basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. A show where well-dressed teens gently bop around to the big hits while maintaining an appropriate distance apart hardly seems like it would be a hot bed of sexual experimentation, but American Bandstand apparently featured a crew of Philadelphia kids who had more than dancing in common. The show stayed on the air until 1989. BANDSTAND DIARIES is a coffee-table book that offers readers a nostalgic walk through those halcyon, memory-filled days when rock n roll became the soundtrack of a generation, when television was in grainy black and white and when a 45 RPM record cost less than 70 cents. Dancer - AB65 Regular 1 episode, 1964 Jocelyn Lane . There is another chapter about Clark. Ray Smith says he was upset when Dick Clark claimed only one of the dancers had died from AIDS when asked about it in an interview. She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . At the height of its popularity, it was watched daily by 20 million people (by contrast, "Dancing With the Stars" drew 13 million viewers weekly last season), with an estimated half of them adults; its teenage dancers got as many as 45,000 fan letters a week. In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. In 2019, a trio of formerAmerican Bandstandregulars assembled a book on their experiences on the popular show. 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. Remember, these Regulars werent paid actors or dancers. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. We followed their dance steps on TV and their personal lives in Teen magazines. Self - Interview 1 episode, 1965 . 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. The followed the trend of solo (open) dancing started by Chubby Checker and The Twist. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, The Pony and The Monkey; others were named for motions, for example, The Mashed Potato and The Loco-Motion. Two of the biggest record hits of the early 1960s, both of which received a huge boost from airtime onAmerican Bandstand, were Dee Dee Sharps Mashed Potato Time and Freddy Cannons Palisades Park.8, YetAmerican Bandstandsseven-year stint in West Philadelphia was about to end. American Bandstand was an immediate success, with an estimated audience of twenty million viewers. Parents across America would never, NEVER have allowed their kids to put Bandstand on, she writes. First called Bandstand, the program premiered October 6, 1952, hosted by Philadelphia radio DJ Bob Horn (1916-66). We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. 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. On the other hand, they had each other. So Bandstand really did change her life in many ways. ", California residents do not sell my data request. On a sociological front, the show helped popularize rock and roll and make it acceptable to many adults (i.e., parents). When cute young teenagers Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi slow danced together on American Bandstand back in the late 50s and early 60s, kids across the country swooned. You eventually get cancelled.. By Jordan McClain and Amanda McClain | Reader-Nominated Topic. REGULARS Gallery 3. . Many subsequently became celebrities (albeit temporarily), appearing in other media, receiving fan mail, and starting fashion trends. While occasionally black teens were allowed into the studio, they were generally boys. Asked By : Francisco Allen Dick Clark, affectionately known as the "world's oldest teenager," has died. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. Throughout its run the show featured various types of popular music, such as rock-and-roll, R&B, Motown, British rock, psychedelic rock, disco, new wave, and more. Years later, when Clark was asked whether any of the dancers had died of AIDS, he stated that one had, Smith recalled. 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. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune). Some solo dances had animal names, for example, "The Pony" and "The Monkey"; others were named for . "It was in the original TV studio and it was amazing," says Cutler. From its earliest days, the show featured young people dancing to a rock-and-roll soundtrack or other popular genres of the day. We elevated them into celebrities. My favorite dance was the Jitterbug the last dance where people danced together. I never had a crush on her. This investigation targeted the practice of payola, and it was most likely triggered by rumors circulating that charged Dick Clark with promoting records in which he held a financial stake onAmerican Bandstandand taking kickbacks from record companies to include their records on the shows playlist. The parents of one kid on the show found out that he was gay . "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson. I will be working on a mult-pictorial page for Bob. New York: Popular Library, 1976. NEW PAGE! Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? 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. //-->. Ray Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. "If you got in front of the camera too much, he'd call you back and tell you to circulate. . . The kids designated as American Bandstand Regulars in some cases struggled with their sexual identity. It was a local show Philadelphia, Jersey, the Lehigh Valley [Pennsylvania]. The rest is American Bandstand history. The kids who showed up every day (Bandstand aired every weekday afternoon for the first six years) knew all the most popular steps. In August 1963, ABC reassignedAmerican Bandstandto Saturday afternoon. It got me out of my shell, but I learned I was a regular teenager who happened to dance on a show that unexpectedly became very popular. That might have had something to do with the scandal that surrounded the departure of his predecessor, Bob Horn, who faced a drunken-driving arrest and morals charges. My husband and I met on a blind date and six months later on April 12, 1964 we were married. He discussed his brief stay in Hollywood trying to become an actor after he and Justine Carrelli cut a 45 rpm record together. 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. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. Don Travarelli, from South Philly, watched American Bandstand in 1961 and spotted Bunny Gibson dancing. June Bouche on November 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm . The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. Dick Clark was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, in 1993 as a non-performer. Numerous black and white performers who appeared on American Bandstand during its seven-year heyday in West Philadelphia are also memorialized in this building. It was horrible.. It could happen, How Jimmy Stewart's war service affected 'It's a Wonderful Life', Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." ", Songs she liked to dance to, Mrs. Spada wrote online in June 2010, included "Little Darlin'," "Sixteen Candles," "Tears on my Pillow," "Splish Splash," "Never on Sunday," and "Let's Do The Stroll.". West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, Jersey you learned the different styles of the same dances., The Regulars did the Pony, Jitterbug, Calypso, Cha-cha and a slow dance that she says wasnt exactly a waltz: The kids didnt stand in one spot. Broadcast icon Dick Clark, the longtime host of the influential "American Bandstand," has died, publicist Paul Shefrin said. Thats all we did dance and every part of the city had its own style. Ohio. Whose Culture? Fiorentino, whose mother died when he was 12, said Clark became a role model. One chapter in the book, "Tributes to the Regulars," features short sketches of some of those dancers who have died. 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 . As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. 10/7/1957 9/5/1987 ABC 60 minutes He would dance on the show until early 1960. I lived in very tough South Philadelphia, he says. 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. In an online page marking her 68th birthday on Nov. 23, 2011, Bandstand "documentarian" Charles W. Amann III posted: "The name Scaldeferri and American Bandstand go hand-in-hand. 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. 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. On all the music they play On the Bandstand.! Many of the shows female dancers wore Peter Pan collarsa feature of their Catholic school uniformsand at one point this even sparked a nationwide trend imitating the look. Reply. Millions of kids from Brooklyn to Beverly Hills ran home from school every weekday to watch them dance, imitate their styles and fantasize about their lives. These Regulars went on to receive mail, have fan clubs, feature magazine articles and dancer contests just like the previous groups. He needed a group to show up every day, she says, and nobody got paid. He danced on the show until Christmas 1959. Bob Horn Host (Bob Horns Bandstand), Bandstand Boogie "That really annoyed me," said Smith, "Because quite a few of. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. The 50 record albums are packed away for safekeeping., Normans passing Delmont, Matthew. In the wake of the quiz show scandal, however, a subcommittee of the House of Representatives set up hearings to determine if the practice should be made illegal. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. Hes a heckuva good dancer who does a mean jitterbug! Jerry Lee Lewis was the first guest on the national show and it would over the decades feature the TV debuts of such stars as Prince, the Jackson 5, Aerosmith, Sonny and Cher and dozens of other performers. (noted 9/12/21) . She and her husband, Richard Spada, lived in Philadelphia and Lansdowne before moving to Newtown Square. EARLY BANDSTAND FASHIONS. . Not only does Bandstand Diaries detail Smith's and Sullivan's personal experiences, it also includes interviews with more than 40 Bandstand regulars, reveals Dick Clark's back story and . . But about four years ago, after a lifetime filled with journalistic and entrepreneurial achievements, Cutler began to wonder what had happened to all those kids, those celebrities of her youth, and she went about the business of trying to find them. I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight. Fundraiser for the renovation of the original American Bandstand Studio Floor . 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. Learning how American Bandstand made rock n roll respectable. As two or three stations grab it off, you get less clearance, therefore you get less rating, and its an endless cycle. In the early years of American Bandstand, African Americans were rarely seen on television. Variety Shows Yes, yes, I know. They were real kids from Philly, and if you watched every day, you could tell who was breaking up and who was making up. "He made sure the guys wore suits and we were dressed properly. ABC gave Clark a choice: divest his music-related interests or step down as host of the show. Clark chose to continue withBandstand.3. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. Teresa Bowling. She was one of the great stars of the Philadelphia years. They were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. [3] Jackson,American Bandstand, quote from unpaginated photo section. But it was obvious to the teen dancers that he was set on a trajectory that would take him far from Studio B in West Philly. That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi on the cover of Teen magazine in 1959. In 1988, the National Park Service listed 4548 Market Street on the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. I was saddened to hear about Norman. Rock Obituaries: Knocking on Heavens Door. Despite changes over the years, the show continued to embody and represent evolutions in American music, fashion, dance, and other sociocultural norms. Race and American Bandstand, The Seven-Year Itch: West Philly Loses American Bandstand, Report accessibility issues and request help. Bob Clayton died November 6, 2016. Huge DiscountsThere are savings on everyday items you already buy, and savings on the things youve been waiting for a sale on to spoil your pet with. Normally, I do not forward mail to the Regulars. News Shows Famously, Buddy Holly made his last television appearance on the program, miming "It's So Easy" and "Heartbeat" on August 7, 1958, just months before the . KENNY AND ARLENE. American Bandstand Day: Dick Clark receives a proclamation designating Market Street as Bandstand Boulevard. 1 (2012): 89-113. It originally aired as simply "Bandstand" in 1952, shot at WFIL-TV's studios in Philadelphia and airing locally. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. James Morgan, who danced 17 times on Bandstand and stayed interested in it over the years, said Mrs. Spada had run a beauty parlor in the suburbs. we were like a little family together, and we all had something in common, and we all stuck together, and that made it easier for us.. It was horrible., Smith says he was lucky to have escaped a beating. But Sullivan, who lives in New Jersey, did trust her, agreed to collaborate on the book and paved the way to meet and interview dozens of other regulars who once were dancing kids. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, she said. In addition to his other ventures, Clark maintained a virtual lock on New Years Eve television withDick ClarksNew Years Rockin Eve. PAT MOLITTIERI GALLERY IN LOVING MEMORY OF PAT MOLITTIERI - passed away at much too young an age Pat kissing her mother You can see her with her Dad in the thumbnail gallery. Emphasizing this sentiment, Philadelphian John Oates (of musical duo Hall & Oates) said, The show had such an impact on the music business, it set the tone and the pace for teenage style and attitude and everything else across America., Jordan McClain is Assistant Teaching Professor of Communication at Drexel University. 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. View Our Classic TV Shows Directory The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. 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. He kept his distance, she says. Elmhurst Blotter: Man charged with battery for allegedly punching a security guard at a bar, Hinsdale police blotter: multiple thefts reported by patients at Hinsdale Hospital, Glenview police blotter: Harwood Heights woman charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. We were like sisters. ), Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. They were hurting him. "But more than worth it.". Happy tears. Pat Molitteeri was credited with inventing the dance, "The Hop" by combining elements of the Slop and the Bop, Pat died in the mid -1970s of a heart attack at age 36, Carmen Jimenez still lives in Philadelphia today and recollects the fun she had being on the show. . They wrote. Particularly during the shows prime Philadelphia years (1952-63), Philadelphia youth culture became American culture through American Bandstand. California residents do not sell my data request. He was 21 and she was 16. (Twentieth Century Fox), Soft Science extends that legacy on its third album, Maps (Test Pattern), and adds its own twists. They joined Arlenes and Kennys fan clubs. "For all those who knew her throughout her life and for those who watched her dance on American Bandstand, Carole was full of love and full of God. As Sullivan puts it: The boys danced. She is a Marco Polo member of the Society of American Travel Writers, a past president of Virginia Professional Communicators and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. 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. In a nice way, he'd discipline us.". But most have fond memories of their short time in the spotlight and of its lingering effect. "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. Clark felt such conventions helped boost the perception of rock-and-roll, which in the 1950s was a controversial genre often disliked by older generations. He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. "After that, it was history.". In fact, she was "the first female car racer at Cecil County Drag Strip," according. She never saw much of Clark outside of the studio. 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. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. Teenagers and young adults ran home from school to watch them jitterbug and stroll while they copied their fashions, fads and dance moves. Conceivably, this helped promote racial equality and intercultural understanding. We also surmise that her mother was an Italian immigrant (she refers to her Italian mom), and her father of Irish descent. Most of those kids recruited from area high schools and compelled to "retire" from the show when they turned 18 are now in the 70s and their lives have had ups and downs. He was 89 years old. In her memoir forBandstand Diaries, she writes frankly and poignantly of her youthful struggle with her emerging identity as lesbian, a sexual orientation she would fully embrace as an adult. Clark, known as Americas oldest teenager, knew. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. We sent some 15,000 fan letters each week. Most of us would love her to do a Spotlight Dance once again and tell us know how she is doing today. We ended up spending weekends together when she came to New York and D.C. to perform We went to lunch together and had fun, but Annette had to rest and perform, so we didnt have time for anything else., Sullivan never felt like a superstar, even when the Regulars averaged 100 to 150 fan letters a day.
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