Clark decided to pitch the show to ABC president Thomas W. Moore, and after some negotiations the show was picked up nationally, becoming American Bandstand on August 5, 1957. (7/21/2011) I just received this from Bunny Gibson and certainly thought it was appropriate to mention here: Anna Russo, formerly Anna Banani, went to American Bandstand 1963 until AB left Philly for Los Angeles, lost both of her legs to diabetes and is in need. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. The 1960 amendments to the 1934 Federal Communications Act put heavy constraints on payola, requiring full public disclosure when a record company or its agent pays a broadcaster to play records on the air. The 1960 amendments criminalized any action that breached the disclosure rule. 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 . Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? "He made sure the guys wore suits and we were dressed properly. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. We'll see you the next time on American Bandstand. 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. Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. WFIL reverted to the TK-10s two weeks later when ABC refused to carry the color signal and management realized that the show lost perspective without the extra cameras. A storybook ending to a tale that began with American Bandstand, albeit 40 years ago. Never, did I ever think that I would be with him, holding his hand when he passed away. The short Snader and Official music films continued in the short term to fill gaps when dancers were changed during the showa necessity, because the studio could not fit more than 200 teenagers. Clark was determined to keep the homosexuality of popular Bandstand regulars a secret, Smith said. "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. "Saturday Bandstand retained the proven format of the now defunct weekday show, but it sustained a crucial loss of spontaneity as a result of being taped instead of shown live. She calls it her one night out.. The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and British series Top of the Pops. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. 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 only allowed dancers from 14 to 18. But this one was different. That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. We'll see you then. Home Yesteryear Nostalgia Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? She says she never had a crush on a straight dancer, and was close friends with celebrity guest Annette Funicello. The Buddy Deane Show aired on WJZ-TV until January 4, 1964. She was one of the great stars of the Philadelphia years. 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.. The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. 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. Yes, yes, I know. The segment gave rise to the catchphrase "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it. Sullivans co-author, Ray Smith, recently retired after 40 years as an Emmy-winning Today show producer. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. In fact, she was "the first female car racer at Cecil County Drag Strip," according. She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Arlene Sullivan, a star on Bandstand, is now 74. This development created a sometimes heated rivalry between Dick Clark and Buddy Deane, when performers who appeared first on Deane's program were refused booking on American Bandstand. I still have my HI-FI sitting against a wall between my living room and dining room. LOS ANGELES - APRIL 1960: Host of the television show 'American Bandstand' Dick Clark appears in a scene with Michael Callan from the movie 'Because They're Young' which was released in April 1960. Charlette Russo danced on American Bandstand from 1955-1959. 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. Carol Highsmith, photographer, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. At first, not knowing how to enter the show, she walked to the door the actors and singers used and announced to Bob the Cop, "I came here to dance." After Bandstand, Charlette became an accountant and was a business manager. Regardless, the music historian John Jackson calls it the gravest crisis in his professional career.1, At all events, the payola hearings spurred action by Congress. In 2014, the National Enquirer interviewed Frank Brancaccio and Eddie Kelly, other series regulars. 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. They even invented a few the Stroll, the Circle and the Chalypso. Clark looked like one of the kids." (Horn was 40 when he left Bandstand and Clark was a babyfaced 27.) In August 1963, ABC reassigned American Bandstand to Saturday afternoon. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. A case in point is Arlene Sullivan, a popular Regular who has described her own emerging lesbian sexual orientation, which she says was masked by her dance partnerships with boys. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. 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. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. As previously mentioned, during the 1978 season of Bandstand, Donna Summer became the only music artist in Bandstand's history to co-host the program. The most memorable day for Norman and me was April 13, 1961, the day we won second place in the Pony Dance Contest. Instead of shortening or moving Bandstand, ABC opted to just begin Bandstand at 3pm, cut away to Who Do You Trust? "He presented himself as such a grown-up.". They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. In 1964 Dick Clark took Dick Clark Productions and American Bandstand to Hollywood, Los Angeles in search of new markets for his myriad projects. [2] Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110. Hey, our thanks to Laura Branigan for joining us here on American Bandstand today. But overall, their meet-ups remained a sanctuary. He had other irons in the fire. He was a brilliant man. They joined Arlenes and Kennys fan clubs. The Monday-night version aired its last program in December 1957, but ABC gave Clark a Saturday-night time slot for The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show, which originated from the Little Theatre in Manhattan, beginning on February 15, 1958. Browse 1,010 american bandstand dancers stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. My friends went to church dances every Friday and Saturday night. Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. Featured artists typically performed their current hits by lip-syncing to the released version of the song. "If you got in front of the camera too much, he'd call you back and tell you to circulate. . And whereas 135 ABC-affiliated stations carriedAmerican Bandstandon a revenue-sharing basis in 1960, the stations were bailing out of this relationship in 1963. Due to the size of the studio, the need to have as much dance space as possible, and the size of the cumbersome color camera compared to the black-and-white models, it was only possible to have one RCA TK-41 where three RCA TK-10s[4] had been used before. Barbara Levick was a very popular young lady who was a Regular who danced on American Bandstand in the late 50s/very early 60s. Thats all we did dance and every part of the city had its own style. Clark weathered the hearings by not being fully transparent, and he avoided being indicted for criminal behavior. Special Features: The Twist the first dance to come out where people danced separately and the Monkey and Jerk came out after Id left.. I think [the shows success] even surprised Dick Clark.. Or sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! Later, in hindsight, I guessed that made me the first white Rosa Parks. at 3:30pm, then rejoin Bandstand at 4pm. From the late 1950s and most of the 1960s, Clark's on-camera sidekick was announcer Charlie O'Donnell, who later went on to announce Wheel of Fortune and other programs hosted or produced by Clark, such as The $100,000 Pyramid. 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.. Like nostalgia? unsold game show pilots). Goes from a daily to a weekly Saturday show in Philadelphia: 9/7/1963, Broadcast from Los Angeles: Begins 2/8/1964, Produced by Anthony Tony Mammarella and Dick Clark, Dick Clark Host When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Broadcast only on Saturdays after 1963, American Bandstand lost the homegrown vitality of the daily program in West Philadelphia. Dancing was a major feature of 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. After dispelling rumors of his death, which circulated on social media on Thursday, Blavat's representative confirmed in a Facebook post on Friday morning that he had died at 3:45 a.m. at. She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. My mother thought I was nuts. Kelly said he avoided Rittenhouse Square, knowing if he were seen there, theyd be banished, but it was an open secret that most of the boys on the show were gay. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. Id see these kids dancing and instinctively I knew I could fit in with them. As WFIL grew financially and the account became less important, Stewart wasn't needed and was eventually dropped from the program. On July 9, 1956, Horn was fired after a drunk-driving arrest, as WFIL and dual owner Walter Annenberg's The Philadelphia Inquirer were then American Bandstand will be back someday, I assure you. Clark was out for Clark, says Brancaccio. Duke is a premier photographer of the martial arts as well as being an expert. This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. from CBS in November 1957, they renamed the program as Who Do You Trust? From September 13, 1986, to September 5, 1987, Manilow's version was replaced at the close of the show by a new closing theme arranged by David Russo, who also performed an updated instrumental arrangement of "Bandstand Boogie" when Bandstand went into syndication. 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. In front of the camera, Clark called the shots. TV Ratings - US & UK, Quiz Shows Teenagers dance on an episode of Dick Clark's television program, 'American Bandstand,' 1950s. Don married Bunny. . Fiorentino was known on the show as "Nicky Blue.". Were goin hopin today 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. We were like sisters. But if you subscribe and leave a comment you want to see the parade, I will do it.Remember to SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED AS I UPLOAD MORE FROM MY ARCHIVES! . They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. Many local Philadelphia teenagers became household names by appearing and dancing on American Bandstand on a regular basis from the '50s to the early '60s: As Bandstand moved towards the 1980s, the ratings began to decline. To many of you, it was about the music and the artists. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson. Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 and moved with the show to Hollywood in 1964. At the time, being open about their sexuality would have meant the end for these young performers with stars in their eyes. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. //-->. When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. The Village People performed their legendary song, "YMCA" for the audience in Pasadena, California. Clark moved the show to California in 1964, but many fans remember it as a Philadelphia phenomenon. Unsure and fearful about her true sexual identity, Sullivan tried passing as straight. I knew I was different early on, but being with all these [Bandstand] friends, I came to terms with my feelings. KENNY AND ARLENE. 1950s/1960s POLLS. 8-9; quote from unpaginated photo section. While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. On all the music they play On the Bandstand.! Director Goran Stolevski talks assembling his gay indie's stellar soundtrack, from The Cardigans to Nelly Furtado and more. EARLY BANDSTAND VIDEOS. From 1969 to 1974, "Bandstand Theme", a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show. His name is, Champion Polar Images Namron O My-Joy, as recorded with the AKC. ABC gave Bandstand color cameras and launched it on its network of 67 stations in August of 1957. . From 1974 to September 6, 1986, Bandstand featured another instrumental at its mid-show break: Billy Preston's synth hit "Space Race". July 9th, 1988", "Retro Request: Sat 10/31 & 11/7 and Sun 11/1, 1987", "AB now in syndication: Jody Watley, Dan Hill, David Spade", "Clark ends long-playing spin on bandstand", "On 'Bandstand,' Dick Clark Says Goodbye", "AGELESS CLARK STILL STANDS FOR THE 'AMERICAN' BAND", "Hits Prove Hard to Find at Dick Clark Productions: Entertainment: Performance has been mediocre since the company went public in 1987. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. NEW PAGE! The only singer to ever co-host the show with Dick Clark was Donna Summer, who joined him to present a special episode dedicated to the release of the Casablanca film Thank God It's Friday on May 27, 1978. By then, he was a big-time television producer. In another format shift, it was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. It also was a prototype for musical television properties including cable channel MTV and Fox's reality-competition show American Idol. "I kissed a girl, and I liked it!. Those "American Bandstand" days were the best for all of us teenagers who followed the program, the regulars, the dances, the performers, etc. He promoted the couples on the show to mask the fact that so many guys were gay.5. I was SO mixed up., Today, Arlene Sullivan lives with a partner and, despite having suffered strokes, still loves to dance. Barbara finally came back and said I had to come to the front because the back was only for colored people. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED! They were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. M Marsha Early American Bandstand Wallet type photos of Dancers/Regulars Sisters Mary Rosalie Susan 50s Susan Beltrante (on left) and Mary Beltrante on the right. The other reason was that American Bandstand was pre-empted on many occasions by televised college football games (which expanded greatly in number in the wake of a court-ordered deregulation in 1984) which were becoming huge ratings successes, as well as occasional special presentations (i.e. 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. "Dangerous". The increase in competition hurt Bandstand and the variety of options for music on TV decreased its relevance. JUSTINE AND BOB. 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. It was briefly shot in color in 1958 when WFIL-TV began experimenting with the new technology. When Gibson moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in the 1980s, she paid Clark a call at his office. "[40] WFIL defended these local associations in order to maintain support. [6] Jackson,American Bandstand, 71; Jacksons description of Arlene Sullivan. Many other Bandstand alumni from the show's Philadelphia era were overcome with a rush of memories Wednesday. Race and American Bandstand, The Seven-Year Itch: West Philly Loses American Bandstand, Report accessibility issues and request help. One market not telecasting Bandstand was Baltimore, Maryland, as local affiliate WAAM (now WJZ-TV) elected to produce a local dance show in the same afternoon time slot. Reply. 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