Ohio. The show then aired at 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, corresponding with the typical school days end. Clark's sunny smile and cuteness masked a strong will and iron determination. The dark-complexioned, wavy-haired Sullivan6bolstered American Bandstands image as a show dominated by Italian-American teens. They were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. 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. Clark suffered a heart attack while at St. John's. Particularly during the shows prime Philadelphia years (1952-63), Philadelphia youth culture became American culture through American Bandstand. Norman and I met in January 1959 while standing outside of the studio waiting to get inside. The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. He died on 5 August 2021 at his home in Sydney. This is the official Facebook of American Bandstand. This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. On Bandstand, she became lifelong friends with one of the celebrity guests, straight Annette Funicello, of Mickey Mouse Club and Beach Party fame. ), Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. 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. 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. Ripley W.va, Great article Larry love your antiques blog . I have a Champion Samoyed show dog. The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. So fearful of the kids real behavior, [Clark] imposed a strict dress code: jackets and ties for boys, and nothing tight for girls. Arlene Sullivan, one of the most popularAmerican Bandstandregulars, presents another perspective on the shows closeted world. Let the good times roll! Mickey Mouse Club 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. I do hope you continuing writing about the bandstanders. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. I had asked Norman to dance when it was a ladies choice. The Twist the first dance to come out where people danced separately and the Monkey and Jerk came out after Id left.. American Bandstand Dancers - Legacy.com From its earliest days, the show featured young people dancing to a rock-and-roll soundtrack or other popular genres of the day. It's handled with sensitive delicacy. Really enjoyed reading your article Larry , I also grew up in the 50s watching American Bandstand, your article brought back so many memories of the good ole days growing up. 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. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. 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. 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. 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. Asked By : Francisco Allen Dick Clark, affectionately known as the "world's oldest teenager," has died. Television host Dick Clark presides over the set of his show American Bandstand in 1957. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. 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. They accepted me. 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. "We all did. REGULARS Gallery 3. . 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. We also surmise that her mother was an Italian immigrant (she refers to her Italian mom), and her father of Irish descent. Cutler will be appearing Monday to talk about her book atMax and Benny's restaurant in Northbrook. His latest book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, will be published in September. . The Regulars - American Bandstand Diaries The Philly Years Where While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. My friends went to church dances every Friday and Saturday night. 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. Norman was born on January 18, 1944. We've received your submission. I still have my HI-FI sitting against a wall between my living room and dining room. Although, unlike some others, Carole never really had a steady dancing partner, she danced with all the good-looking Italian boys and that one special non-Italian whom everyone loved - Harvey Robbins. Once a week, she goes to a hop thrown by another Bandstand original, 76-year-old Philadelphia radio and TV personality Jerry Blavat, who bills himself as The Geator with the Heater and The Boss with the Hot Sauce.. I knew I was different early on, but being with all these [Bandstand] friends, I came to terms with my feelings. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. American Bandstand (TV Series 1952-1989) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. 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. She was 13 but lied about her age. 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. Dottie The program moved production in 1964 from Philadelphia to Hollywood, months after it began airing once per week. 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. Teen idol Bobby Rydell, whose music career is still going strong 60 years after American Bandstand, wrote the books introduction; but former Regular Arlene Sullivan, who shares her memories and personal images, is a standout as well as a co-author of the book. He would dance on the show until early 1960. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter The show stayed on the air until 1989. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. The show also incorporated appearances by acts like Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Connie Francis, who would lip-sync performances. June Bouche on November 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm . Dancing with the American Bandstand Stars Fundraiser, July 15, 2009 They were real kids from Philly, and if you watched every day, you could tell who was breaking up and who was making up. ), Lew Klein papers and Evening Bulletin Photographs Collection, Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries, Charles Library, Eye to Eye: American Bandstand (CBS News, YouTube), Interview with Lew Klein, executive producer of American Bandstand (Temple University Television), Lesson Plan: A New "Twist" on Race Relations (ExplorePaHistory.com). http://dickclark.com She was one of the great stars of the Philadelphia years. One older brother survives Norman. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. Known for her perky personality, Pat Moliterri is credited with inventing the dance, the Hop, by combining elements of the Slop and the Bop.Sadly, Pat died in in the mid-seventies of a heart attack. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. American Bandstand Fundraiser Pictures, To my knowledge, no VHS tape of American Bandstand is commercially available. Many other Bandstand alumni from the show's Philadelphia era were overcome with a rush of memories Wednesday. Mrs. Spada attended West Catholic Girls High School. 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. As music styles evolved, American Bandstand incorporated more emerging genres. 8-9; quote from unpaginated photo section. Unlike Smith, she expresses no animosity toward Clark. We would roar, roll over with pain from laughing so hard. In 1989, Clark, aged 59, retired fromAmerica Bandstand, and the show ended that year. MEMORIALS - marshasvintage.com Talevski, Nick. In the early 1960s, a new collection of teen regulars succeeded Arlene Sullivan's generation on American Bandstand's dance floor. ", 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.". Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. And the one thing that really shocked me was that those boys who were 14 and 15 and 16 were sleeping with each other.. Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? The kids who showed up every day (Bandstand aired every weekday afternoon for the first six years) knew all the most popular steps. The kids designated as American Bandstand Regulars in some cases struggled with their sexual identity. e9.size = "300x250"; Photo taken on October 27, 1981. For a time, she dated a neighborhood boy, Danny Rapp, lead singer of Danny & the Juniors, who had the hit song At the Hop., I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight, Sullivan says. They were on the cover of "Dick Clark's American Bandstand " and have done many Documentaries R.I.P. It was like a high school reunion and some people even had tears in their eyes. Indeed. Carol Highsmith, photographer, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. They werent playing basketball. 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. 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. In a nice way, he'd discipline us.". I went to Bandstand because I was gay and I was a misfit in my neighborhood. How to Be a SuperAger in The SuperAging Revolution, Jumble for Kids and Adults: Cartoons and Twins. 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. The first book party was in November in where else? We moved around the floor the way our parents did in the 40s. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. By then, he was a big-time television producer. He held nothing back. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). [7] The Diary of Arlene Sullivan, in Sullivan, Smith, and Cutler,Bandstand Diaries, 43-63. I was saddened to hear about Norman. The program that preceded Dick Clarks American Bandstand at WFIL-TV was deejay Bob Horns locally popular Bandstand. First called Bandstand, the program premiered October 6, 1952, hosted by Philadelphia radio DJ Bob Horn (1916-66). . American Bandstand Day: Dick Clark receives a proclamation designating Market Street as Bandstand Boulevard. Reply. I lived in very tough South Philadelphia, he says. Using social media, Cutler contacted some of the show's regulars. Brancaccio says thats what attracted him to it. What they didnt know was that Arlene and several of the other female dancers, and most of the handsome teen boys, were gay. Carole Scaldeferri Spada, 'Bandstand' dancer, dies at 70 - Inquirer.com 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.". However, advertisers do to enable personalized ads. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. That was an emotional moment for both of us.". 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. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. 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. 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. About Us - American Bandstand Diaries The Philly Years Where Known as the Regulars, they became the nation's first reality stars. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. In February 2020, it was announced that Henderson had contracted kidney cancer and opted not to receive treatment. you could do in half time - the hop, the bop, and the stomp," she wrote. In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. The Slop. Many subsequently became celebrities (albeit temporarily), appearing in other media, receiving fan mail, and starting fashion trends. Nicholas Fiorentino, 67, a South Philly native now living in Cherry Hill, said it was clear even to Bandstand teenagers that Clark was going places. "He made sure the guys wore suits and we were dressed properly. I never had a crush on her. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. "It was arduous at first," she says. However, musicians such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Sam Cooke all made national appearances on American Bandstand during the late 1950s. We elevated them into celebrities. In 1964, he joined the National Guard and did basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. To many of you, it was about the music and the artists. The rest, as they say, is history. 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.. When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. 4/8/1989 10/7/1989 Syndicated Dick Clark 1929 2012, Dick Clark with Johnny Crawford. 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. Like Smith, she believes that if her true sexual preference and that of others on the show had become public in the days before Stonewall and todays LGBT power, Bandstand would have been taken off the air. Throughout its Philadelphia years, the show was so popular that it transformed average local-area teens into national celebrities. 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. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. 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. Clark was out for Clark, says Brancaccio. It was shot live from Studio B at Forty-Sixth and and Market Streets, where the two . When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. 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. By Jordan McClain and Amanda McClain | Reader-Nominated Topic. Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 and moved with the show to Hollywood in 1964. Don married Bunny. They married during her Thanksgiving vacation from Northeast High School. Thanks for contacting us. Bob Clayton died November 6, 2016. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 Most of us would love her to do a Spotlight Dance once again and tell us know how she is doing today. 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. Clark, Dick, and Richard Robinson. 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. However unethical his behavior may have been, his federal income tax records seemed to be in order. In 1964 Dick Clark took Dick Clark Productions and American Bandstand to Hollywood, Los Angeles in search of new markets for his myriad projects. As the music historian John Jackson observes, from the 1970s on American Bandstandno longer served as Clarks primary video outlet. For the next several decades, Clark would achieve high national visibility as a popular gameshow host and as the impresario of periodic primetimeAmerican Bandstandhit-song reunions (not to mention a spate of video cassettes and books) that fed on white Americas nostalgia forAmericanBandstandsdays in West Philadelphia, evoked in Barry Manilows Bandstand song with Manilows homage to The Philadelphia Way.. In 1962, ABC trimmed the shows airtime from 90 to 60 minutes. Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy, TheEncyclopedia 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. 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. Surprise: A Lot of the Teens On American Bandstand Were Gay - Jezebel 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. But most have fond memories of their short time in the spotlight and of its lingering effect. At the time, unless a broadcaster failed to report under-the-table income (federal income tax evasion), payola wasnt illegal in federal law. 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. The couple first honeymooned on the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the famed railway that was immortalized by Glenn Miller and was the first to run South to North. [1] John A. Jackson,American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock n Roll Empire(New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), chaps. Interracial couples were not allowed on camera, so they sat on the sidelines. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. 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. Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . Rock, Roll and Remember. 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 . (noted 9/12/21) . Dick Clarks tight control on the sexual expression of his cast extended to a denial years after the show had ended. Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. The soft, almost cooed vocals of singer Katie Haley bring a pop veneer. As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. My mother thought I was nuts. 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 They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. She would gobble down some cookies and milk and turn on the TV. . He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". They werent playing football. The A,B,C,'s of American Bandstand: Part 3 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. ", In a Time.com obituary for Dick Clark, who died April 18, 2012, a reporter wrote: "Lou DeSera, Carmen Jimenez, Carole Scaldeferri, Rosemarie 'Little Roe' DiCristo: they may sound like characters on The Sopranos, but they were just ordinary kids, with extraordinary luck of being in Philadelphia at the moment the old town lit the fuse for the rock explosion.". I went to coffee shops, but I also hung out in Rittenhouse Square and so did many of the dancers. Normally, I do not forward mail to the Regulars. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. In its later years the show was challenged by the diversifying tastes of fragmented audiences. https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Rock%20%27n%27%20Rock%20West%20Coast%20.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Bandstand%20historical%20marker%20%281%20of%201%29.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/National%20Register%20of%20Historic%20Places.JPG, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Bandstand%20Regulars%20Marker.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Rock%20and%20Roll%20Hall%20of%20Fame.jpg, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, American Bandstand: West Philadelphia's Seven-Year Wonder 1957-1964, American Bandstand, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Starting Local: WFIL-TV, Bob Horn, and Philadelphia's Bandstand, Going National: Dick Clark and ABC's American Bandstand, Whose Music, Whose Dances? While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. 1 (2012): 89-113. Some solo dances had animal names, for example, "The Pony" and "The Monkey"; others were named for .
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