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. 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.. 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. These Regulars . Norman and I met in January 1959 while standing outside of the studio waiting to get inside. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*ggot, dancer Frank Brancaccio told the National Enquirer in 2014. To the left youll find original pictures of some of the Regulars. Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. Her husband, Richard Spada, said Mrs. Spada was recovering from a minor stroke she had suffered earlier when she became ill on the way to church. What they didnt know was that Arlene and several of the other female dancers, and most of the handsome teen boys, were gay. Clark "was a good man, but he wasn't as friendly with us as people may think," Colanero said. In front of the camera, Clark called the shots. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. . "Dick Clark introduced records, and the camera followed teenagers as they selected partners to dance," writes historian Matthew Delmont. Don married Bunny. LogoTV and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. Like the rest of us, the 'Drag Race' Season 15 queen is crushing on Pedro Pascal. Watch video clips of the American Bandstand dancers here. American Bandstand Regulars Interview Frank Spagnuola 280 subscribers Subscribe 746 Share 82K views 5 years ago This is the interview with Arlene, Kenny, Frank and Carole about their days on. In 1960, in an episode that seems incredibly tame by todays standards of greed and corruption, the two major television networks, NBC and CBS were exposed as having rigged their wildly popular primetime quiz shows. 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. While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. Oddly enough, I have never checked with the other Regulars to get their feedback. [2] Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110. 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. 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 "Studio 'B'" measured 80 by 80 by 24 feet (24.4m 24.4m 7.3m), but appeared smaller due to the number of props, television cameras, and risers that were used for the show. ABC gave Clark a choice: divest his music-related interests or step down as host of the show. Clark chose to continue withBandstand.3. Or sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. They wrote. The Top 40 hits that everyone heard were matched with fun routines performed by relatable teenagers. Instead of shortening or moving Bandstand, ABC opted to just begin Bandstand at 3pm, cut away to Who Do You Trust? Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. They even invented a few the Stroll, the Circle and the Chalypso. When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Thanks for contacting us. The program was permanently shot in color starting on September 9, 1967. I lived in very tough South Philadelphia, he says. Come and join us two weeks from today for an hour version of American Bandstand on Saturday, September 19. But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. A storybook ending to a tale that began with American Bandstand, albeit 40 years ago. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. . unsold game show pilots). In fact, she was "the first female car racer at Cecil County Drag Strip," according. How a Beloved Tori Amos B-Side Transformed 'Of An Age'. 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 . Barbara Levick was a very popular young lady who was a Regular who danced on American Bandstand in the late 50s/very early 60s. Kenny Rossi and Arlene Sullivan, Bunny Gibson and Eddie Kelly, Pat Molittieri, Carmen Jimenz, Joyce Shafer. When WFIL-TV moved to a new facility on City Line Avenue (one that did not have a studio that could accommodate the show), ABC moved production of Bandstand to the ABC Television Center (stage 5) in Los Angeles (now known as The Prospect Studios) on February 8, 1964, which coincidentally was the day before the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. This historical marker recalls Dick Clarks American Bandstand, which was broadcast from West Philadelphia from 1957 to 1964. I said, In that case, Im staying. I was shocked. Rossi was straightbut Sullivan, many of her female co-stars, and most of the young male dancers were not. Dick Clark never played either song on American Bandstand. The Slop. We call him Namron and yes, if you spell his name backwards it spells, Norman. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. The Hand Jive. 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. Broadcast only on Saturdays after 1963, American Bandstand lost the homegrown vitality of the daily program in West Philadelphia. The Saturday show would run until 1960. 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. 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. Sullivan, 74, wrote Diaries with Ray Smith, another dancer who was closeted during his Bandstand years. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. Brancaccio says thats what attracted him to it. But this one was different. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. But for the gay kids, the abuse at home was worse: When one dancer's parents learned he was gay, she told the Post, "they put a drinking cup in front of him and said, This is your cup, and youre the only one who will use this cup." Another was thrown out of the house. 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. She calls it her one night out.. Tony Mammarella was the original producer with Ed Yates as director. EARLY BANDSTAND VIDEOS. But he vividly recalls that one of his fellow gay dancers was thrown onto the El tracks outside the studio, and another popular regular who was gay and often danced with Sullivan was dangled over an elevator shaft.. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED! Clark was a disc jockey at the student-run radio station at Syracuse University (1951), and he worked at radio and television stations in Syracuse and Utica . 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! The young dancers on American Bandstand were the reality stars of the 1950s and '60skids nationwide rushed home to watch their every move and chatter about their relationships and exploits. TV Ratings - US & UK, Quiz Shows At the time, unless a broadcaster failed to report under-the-table income (federal income tax evasion), payola wasnt illegal in federal law. 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. American Bandstand Fundraiser Pictures, To my knowledge, no VHS tape of American Bandstand is commercially available. Local radio disc jockey Buddy Deane was chosen as the host of The Buddy Deane Show on Channel 13, and began a daily two hour broadcast on September 9, 1957. 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. "If you got in front of the camera too much, he'd call you back and tell you to circulate. 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. Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 03:03, The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show, Top of newscast salutes to Clark deserved, "Did the Beatles kill America's radio stars? But I didnt have any crushes on any of the straight girls. 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. Barbara finally came back and said I had to come to the front because the back was only for colored people. We were like sisters. Acts debuting on Bandstand appeared on Deane's program, but were asked to not mention their previous appearance with Clark while on the Baltimore show. 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. . That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. . However, the couple will shortly be returning to Los Angeles, which will be their permanent residence. 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. 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. Bob Horn Host (Bob Horns Bandstand), Bandstand Boogie 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. Sullivans last appearance onAmerican Bandstandwas in 1960.7, In the early 1960s, a new collection of teen regulars succeeded Arlene Sullivans generation onAmerican Bandstandsdance floor. There were even allegations that Clark conducted witch hunts, sending production staff to Rittenhouse Square, at the center of Philadelphia's gayborhood, to see if any of the young stars were there. Colanero danced from 1959 to 1961. 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. 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. [18][19][20] Dubbed as The New American Bandstand and distributed by LBS Communications, the series' tapings were moved from the ABC Television Center to the Hollywood studios of Los Angeles's PBS member station KCET,[21] with a new set was similar to that of Soul Train. (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. It also was a prototype for musical television properties including cable channel MTV and Fox's reality-competition show American Idol. I'm David Hirsch and, on behalf of American Bandstand, I bid you, for the last time, goodbye. But 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.. I think [the shows success] even surprised Dick Clark.. Words by Barry Manilow and Bruse Sussman, Were goin hoppin (Hop!) SaturdayBandstandretained 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. Browse 1,010 american bandstand dancers stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. She was 36. I went to coffee shops, but I also hung out in Rittenhouse Square and so did many of the dancers. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. Dick Clark later stated that he knew the prime-time edition would fail because its core audience teenagers and housewives was occupied with other interests in the evenings. 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. 8-9; quote from unpaginated photo section. American Bandstand first aired 5 August 1957 in the 3-4:30 afternoon slot. Dick Clark took over as host in 1956, and the show made its network debut on ABC-TV on Aug. 5, 1957. We'll see you then. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, died Sunday, Dec. 8, of congestive heart failure at a Springfield hospital. They are extending the honeymoon in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where Duke has called home. you could do in half time - the hop, the bop, and the stomp," she wrote. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. All rock'n roll and most owned by Dick Clark himself. Despite that sense of community, the show's starsgay and straight alikewere targeted in Philadelphia, and even physically attacked in some cases, just for being dancers. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 and moved with the show to Hollywood in 1964. As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. 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