They werent playing football. 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.. Barbara finally came back and said I had to come to the front because the back was only for colored people. 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. Determined, Don got Bunnys number from one of the regulars and he met his dream girl. American Bandstandsrelegation to a weekly schedule stripped it of much of its power as a potential hit song exposer, writes the music historian John Jackson. 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. e9.size = "300x250"; Words by Barry Manilow and Bruse Sussman, Were goin hoppin (Hop!) , Puppy love . Self - Interview 1 episode, 1965 . Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. 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. From that dance on we became steady dance partners until I had to leave the show on my 18th birthday, which was in August of 1961., The Pony Contest Rock, Roll and Remember. Many subsequently became celebrities (albeit temporarily), appearing in other media, receiving fan mail, and starting fashion trends. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. The 50 record albums are packed away for safekeeping., Normans passing . Thank you "C" Group for continuing the "Philly Saga". On a sociological front, the show helped popularize rock and roll and make it acceptable to many adults (i.e., parents). With his death, she said, it is "important that Dick is honored for what he did for rock-and-roll and for the impact he had on all the lives of his dancers from Philly to L.A.", Clark, Gibson said, led "the first teenage revolution, and we were part of it. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. 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. Jerry Oppenheimer is a best-selling author. 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. 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. This included dances the Bop, the Twist, the Jitterbug, and the Stroll. "After that, it was history.". I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight. I never had a crush on her. He still had that in him until the evening before he passed away. We may earn a commission from links on this page. 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. After school in the late 1950s, millions of American teenagers raced home to watch the gyrations of fellow teens on their parents tiny black-and-white televisions in the living room. "He made me feel that if you want something in life, you have to be serious about it.". Dick Clark 1929 2012, Dick Clark with Johnny Crawford. Those "American Bandstand" days were the best for all of us teenagers who followed the program, the regulars, the dances, the performers, etc. The Bop. And whereas 135 ABC-affiliated stations carriedAmerican Bandstandon a revenue-sharing basis in 1960, the stations were bailing out of this relationship in 1963. I did notice the studio was not as full, allowing the Regulars much more camera time. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. 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. [2] Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Paylola and Sponsorship Identification, Federal Communications Act, Amendments, 1960. The program that preceded Dick Clarks American Bandstand at WFIL-TV was deejay Bob Horns locally popular Bandstand. But most have fond memories of their short time in the spotlight and of its lingering effect. NEW PAGE! Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. You want to know about the guy! His name is, Champion Polar Images Namron O My-Joy, as recorded with the AKC. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Delmont, Matthew. e9 = new Object(); This is the official Facebook of American Bandstand. From its earliest days, the show featured young people dancing to a rock-and-roll soundtrack or other popular genres of the day. Colanero danced from 1959 to 1961. Delmont, Matthew F. The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock n Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia. 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. They wrote thousands of letters. In its later years the show was challenged by the diversifying tastes of fragmented audiences. One time, Kenny and I went to visit one of the other regulars up in North Philadelphia, and we were leaving her apartment and were headed to the El, and I heard car doors slamming, and I looked back, and all these guys were coming up the steps, and they started beating up on Kenny, Sullivan says. Who died from American Bandstand? 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. BUT he was out for Clark., Sullivan claims there were four other popular girl dancers on the show whom she knew to be lesbians, and they hung out together. He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? Dick Clark (1929-2012) replaced Horn as host in 1956, just before the show was renamed American Bandstand, shortened to ninety minutes, and expanded to a national ABC audience on August 5, 1957. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 When she heard the news of Clark's death Wednesday, Gibson immediately headed to Hollywood to be with other former Bandstand regulars at Clark's star on the Walk of Fame. Briefly it was part of the USA Network with new host David Hirsh but went off the air in 1989. 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. This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. 18 talking about this. Surprise: A Lot of the Teens On American Bandstand Were Gay - Jezebel Broadcast only on Saturdays after 1963, American Bandstand lost the homegrown vitality of the daily program in West Philadelphia. Via this network, which advertised itself as WFIL-adelphia, the show reached almost six million viewers in the Delaware Valley, the nations third-largest market at the time. We have lived in NJ ever since. Then it was hosted by Bob Horn and was called Bob Horns Bandstand.On July 9 of 1956 the show got a new host, a clean-cut 26 year old named Dick Clark. They accepted me. He was six weeks shy of his 47th birthday. (Test Pattern). 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 Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. I did get to know Annette Funicello [a Mouseketeer on the original Mickey Mouse Club], who came to the show. 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. KENNY AND ARLENE. "But more than worth it.". Bob Clayton died November 6, 2016. SURPRISING DICK CLARK ON THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW! | American Bandstand 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 1962, ABC trimmed the shows airtime from 90 to 60 minutes. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. One night at a party I met a girl who was one of the stars on American Bandstand I was blown away.. A Midlothian-based freelance writer, Martha Steger has received national awards for her journalism, essays, short fiction and poetry. I said, In that case, Im staying. I was shocked. As music styles evolved, American Bandstand incorporated more emerging genres. . How to Be a SuperAger in The SuperAging Revolution, Jumble for Kids and Adults: Cartoons and Twins. . Not only was it extremely intelligent, but there was something moving about the mans story. Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. I think after several decades he actually believed the myth. She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Variety Shows Special Features: However, the couple will shortly be returning to Los Angeles, which will be their permanent residence. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. We would roar, roll over with pain from laughing so hard. About Us - American Bandstand Diaries The Philly Years Where Unsure and fearful about her true sexual identity, Sullivan tried passing as straight. 28 talking about this. AMERICAN BANDSTAND BLOG. While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. 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. In August 1963, ABC reassignedAmerican Bandstandto Saturday afternoon. "He presented himself as such a grown-up.". [6] Jackson,American Bandstand, 71; Jacksons description of Arlene Sullivan. 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. His name was Dick Clark and in the next year the show was transformed from a local show to a syndicated. Read the review. On each broadcast day the line of teens hoping to appear on the show snaked around the block; some were granted entry and others denied. A funeral director in Newtown Square confirmed Monday night that Mrs. Spada had died, but declined to divulge the details before meeting with her family. First called Bandstand, the program premiered October 6, 1952, hosted by Philadelphia radio DJ Bob Horn (1916-66). American Bandstand was an immediate success, with an estimated audience of twenty million viewers. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. May, 1961. We elevated them into celebrities. Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. 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. ", California residents do not sell my data request. That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. He said funeral services are pending. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter . June Bouche on November 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm . . Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. I knew I was different early on, but being with all these [Bandstand] friends, I came to terms with my feelings. Sullivan was raised in a rowhouse in a working-class neighborhood; we surmise from her writing that it was somewhere in Southwest Philly (she attended John Bartram High School), although Sullivan doesnt specify a home address. American Bandstand Dancers - Legacy.com My favorite dance was the Jitterbug the last dance where people danced together. When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Dick Clark, host of the influential "American Bandstand,' dies | CNN He will never forget one of his first days on Bandstand. 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." 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.. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. 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. Being featured on the show all but guaranteed a spike in popularity; even before it moved to a national platform American Bandstand offered a remarkably large audience base for musicians, often generating national popular demand for a new group or single. . Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. MEMORIALS - marshasvintage.com Teenagers and young adults ran home from school to watch them jitterbug and stroll while they copied their fashions, fads and dance moves. Wagon Train Website,