She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . On Bandstand, she became lifelong friends with one of the celebrity guests, straight Annette Funicello, of Mickey Mouse Club and Beach Party fame. They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. Arlene Sullivan, one of the most popularAmerican Bandstandregulars, presents another perspective on the shows closeted world. ", 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.". Joyce Shafer talks about herself and her dance partner, Norman Kerr, Norman was one of a kind, always making people laugh. While the American series has aired sixteen seasons, its format was also replicated worldwide, from Norway (Dansefeber) to Australia (So You Think You Can Dance Australia). 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. Were goin hopin today June Bouche on November 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm . We were like sisters. The show was American Bandstand, and Dick Clarks clean-cut style meant the program had parents stamp of approval. However, advertisers do to enable personalized ads. View Our Classic TV Shows Directory I started going out to straight clubs.. For now, Dick Clark on ABC, so long. We would roar, roll over with pain from laughing so hard. 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 were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. Kenny Rossi and Arlene Sullivan, Bunny Gibson and Eddie Kelly, Pat Molittieri, Carmen Jimenz, Joyce Shafer. When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. They werent playing football. REGULARS Gallery 2. . Broadcast only on Saturdays after 1963, American Bandstand lost the homegrown vitality of the daily program in West Philadelphia. We may earn a commission from links on this page. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. , Puppy love Never, did I ever think that I would be with him, holding his hand when he passed away. SWIMSUITS of the regulars. A Philadelphia, PA 19133, BONUS PAGE We call him Namron and yes, if you spell his name backwards it spells, Norman. However unethical his behavior may have been, his federal income tax records seemed to be in order. Teenagers dance on an episode of Dick Clark's television program, 'American Bandstand,' 1950s. Sullivan says Bandstand host Dick Clark knew most of the cast was gay, but was determined to keep it under wraps for the sake of the show. Or sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers! It was horrible.. ", 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.". I imitated all the dance steps, sometimes with the refrigerator door as a partner. A storybook ending to a tale that began with American Bandstand, albeit 40 years ago. 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.. Other performers including Brandy, members of KISS, Dennis Quaid and his band The Sharks, Cher, and Stevie Wonder also performed to remember the iconic program.[41]. The Twist the first dance to come out where people danced separately and the Monkey and Jerk came out after Id left.. 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. But . When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. EARLY BANDSTAND VIDEOS. , True love [Clark] was a cool professional with an agenda from the beginning, an agenda for success that made him rich; he was a millionaire by the end of the 1950s. The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. 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. 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. I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight. . Duke is a premier photographer of the martial arts as well as being an expert. She acknowledges that some of the other girls she knew on the show were also gay. "It is with much sadness that we have lost one of the most loving and beautiful souls - Carole Scaldeferri Spada has passed away," Bunny Gibson, who identified herself as a "Bandstand buddy," posted on Facebook. I hope you've had a good half-hour. We have lived in NJ ever since. Clark regularly asked teenagers their opinions of the songs being played, through the "Rate-a-Record" segment. 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. Everybody knew the names of The Regulars on Bandstand. . Elgart's version was released as a single in March 1954 (Columbia 40180) as well as Curb's theme (by "Mike Curb & The Waterfall") in October 1969 (Forward 124). 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. 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. Norman had a very, very unique sense of humor, which made him so popular with all that knew him. The Saturday show would run until 1960. "Bandstand's Backyard". Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. Clark moved the show to California in 1964, but many fans remember it as a Philadelphia phenomenon. . Making matters worse, on September 13, 1986, ABC reduced Bandstand from a full hour to 30 minutes;[13] at Clark's request, the 2,751st and final ABC installment[14] (with Laura Branigan[15] performing "Shattered Glass"[16][17]) aired on September 5, 1987. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. At 74, Sullivan still dances once a week at a party thrown by another Bandstand dancer. The TV exposure, plus the profiles some of the dancers were given in Teen magazine in the late 1950s, made them instant celebrities. 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. And while more openly gay performers are comfortable taking the stage these days, it's good to know we've always been thereeven if in silence. . For a brief time in 1973, Bandstand alternated its time slot with Soul Unlimited,[10] a show featuring soul music that was hosted by Buster Jones. 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 shows were usually produced in either Stage 54 or Stage 55 at ABC Television Center. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. They were hurting him. TV Ratings - US & UK, Quiz Shows Clark, known as Americas oldest teenager, knew. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. . She calls it her one night out.. Race and American Bandstand, The Seven-Year Itch: West Philly Loses American Bandstand, Report accessibility issues and request help. Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. Mrs. Spada attended West Catholic Girls High School. It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical actover the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to RunD.M.C.usually appeared in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Determined, Don got Bunnys number from one of the regulars and he met his dream girl. This first national broadcast of American Bandstand was filmed in the Starlight Ballroom in Wildwood, NJ. American Bandstand will be back someday, I assure you. "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. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. American Bandstand played a crucial role in introducing Americans to such famous artists as Prince, Jackson 5, Sonny and Cher, Aerosmith, and John Lydon's PiLall of whom made their American TV debuts on the show. Browse 1,010 american bandstand dancers stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Carol Highsmith, photographer, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. This more-familiar version of Bandstand debuted on October 7, 1952, in "Studio 'B'", which was located in their just-completed addition to the original 1947 building in West Philadelphia.mw-parser-output .citation{word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}^ , and was hosted by Horn, with Lee Stewart as co-host until 1955. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company. But it was not easy on the mean streets of Philadelphia to be a Bandstand regular suspected of being gay. Unsure and fearful about her true sexual identity, Sullivan tried passing as straight. [1] John A. Jackson,American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock n Roll Empire(New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), chaps. I kissed a girl, and I liked it! Sullivan, now 74 and long out of the closet, reveals in a fascinating self-published book, Bandstand Diaries billed as The Book Youve Waited Over 50 Years to Read!. You want to know about the guy! . Once when Sullivan and Rossi visited another show regular in North Philadelphia, "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, she recalls. They were hurting him. Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. 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 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. Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? He spoke of his youth, of Bandstand and his favorite gal, Bunny. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. 1950s/1960s POLLS. "Two or three times during the show, Clark would introduce singers or groups who would lip-sync their latest hits." 2. 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. AB WALLET PHOTOS. And in her early 20s, she actually tied the knot with a young man. Michael Jackson, a frequent Bandstand guest, performed I never had a crush on her. e9 = new Object(); . It was briefly shot in color in 1958 when WFIL-TV began experimenting with the new technology. It preceded The Guy Mitchell Show. The rest is American Bandstand history. In August 1963, ABC reassigned American Bandstand to Saturday afternoon. 2023 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. It became a staple in homes and heavily influenced American society culturally, musically, and socially. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. It became a national institution and Dick Clark a celebrity. [42], Bandstand "regulars" from the Philadelphia years, Move from ABC to syndication and the USA Network, AMERICAN BANDSTAND (1987 Closing Credits - ABC Finale), Laura Branigan - Shattered Glass & Interview - AB (1987). 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. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson. Very sadly, Bob passed away 2 . 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. ", "I was shaking like a leaf," Colanero recalled. As WFIL grew financially and the account became less important, Stewart wasn't needed and was eventually dropped from the program. Years later, when Clark was asked whether any of the dancers had died of AIDS, he stated that one had, Smith recalled. . Once the program went national upon its move to Los Angeles, new host Dick Clark decided that integration was the most responsible move. [2] Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110. 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. ". Fundraiser for the renovation of the original American Bandstand Studio Floor By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. Many other Bandstand alumni from the show's Philadelphia era were overcome with a rush of memories Wednesday. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. I went to coffee shops, but I also hung out in Rittenhouse Square and so did many of the dancers. While occasionally black teens were allowed into the studio, they were generally boys. There were occasional shows that were not hosted by Clark, in which case a substitute host (among them Rick Azar) was brought in.[6]. She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Bandstand Diaries shares some public information and photos about Frani (page 84). "Dangerous". But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. The show stayed on the air until 1989. You eventually get cancelled.. 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. 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. "He made sure the guys wore suits and we were dressed properly. 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. He retained his youthful looks through the 1980s, burnishing his reputation as Americas Oldest Living Teenager. Dick Clark died at age 82 in Santa Monica. This set and theme music were used until September 1974, with the arrival of a brand new set and the second, updated version of "Bandstand Boogie". History goes back and forth with the timing and motives of the integration, but nevertheless, American Bandstand socially impacted teenagers' opinions regarding race. ", Meet the Global Glamazons of 'Queen of the Universe' Season 2. Who will walk away with the crown this time around? In front of the camera, Clark called the shots. In Philadelphia, however, WFIL opted to tape-delay the game show for later broadcast in another time slot, and to continue on with Bandstand, though only for the local audience. This version was canceled after 26 weeks, and its final show (with The Cover Girls performing "My Heart Skips a Beat" and "We Can't Go Wrong") aired on October 7, 1989,[37] thus ending the show's 37-year run.[38][39]. Larry Elgart, a bandleader who, with his brother, Les, recorded the theme song for the long-running television dance show "American Bandstand," and who later scored a surprise hit with "Hooked on Swing," a medley of swing classics set to a disco beat, died on Tuesday in Sarasota Fla.He was 95. We'll see you then. He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". He had other irons in the fire. We followed their dance steps on TV and their personal lives in Teen magazines. The program was permanently shot in color starting on September 9, 1967. 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 says. 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. 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