With American Bandstand being originally located in Philadelphia, segregation easily affected the concentrated area. Colanero danced from 1959 to 1961. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. Weekday afternoons were spent with the kids in Philly, the kids on American Bandstand. In 2004, Dick Clark, with the help of Ryan Seacrest, announced plans to revive the show in time for the 2005 season; although this did not occur (due in part to Clark suffering a severe stroke in late 2004), one segment of the revived Bandstanda national dance contesteventually became the series So You Think You Can Dance. Bandstand originally used "High Society" by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of Charles Albertine's "Bandstand Boogie", including Les Elgart's big-band recording remembered by viewers of the daily version. . The show stayed on the air until 1989. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. NEW PAGE! They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. James Morgan, who danced 17 times on Bandstand and stayed interested in it over the years, said Mrs. Spada had run a beauty parlor in the suburbs. Hes a heckuva good dancer who does a mean jitterbug! The 50 record albums are packed away for safekeeping., Normans passing 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. 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. 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! 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. And he has the one criteria required to attract Bunny Gibson. Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. 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. 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. His name is, Champion Polar Images Namron O My-Joy, as recorded with the AKC. Norman was born on January 18, 1944. Those "American Bandstand" days were the best for all of us teenagers who followed the program, the regulars, the dances, the performers, etc. 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". Brancaccio says thats what attracted him to it. 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. Id see these kids dancing and instinctively I knew I could fit in with them. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company. 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. ", California residents do not sell my data request. Hosted by Bob Horn as a television adjunct to his radio show of the same name on WFIL radio, Bandstand featured short musical films produced by Snader Telescriptions and Official Films, with occasional studio guests. Jerry Oppenheimer is a best-selling author. I was so afraid that I started trying to talk myself into being straight. ABC gave Clark a choice: divest his music-related interests or step down as host of the show. Clark chose to continue withBandstand.3. They are extending the honeymoon in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where Duke has called home. He still had that in him until the evening before he passed away. 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. She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . Ray Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. As two or three stations grab it off, you get less clearance, therefore you get less rating, and its an endless cycle. 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. The American Bandstand Regulars tell us what Studio B means to them today and yesterday, with special guest appearance by the American Bandstand Fan Club pre. The segment gave rise to the catchphrase "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it. A Midlothian-based freelance writer, Martha Steger has received national awards for her journalism, essays, short fiction and poetry. 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. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. 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. Like nostalgia? American Bandstand will be back someday, I assure you. ", 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.". No way I will get in his way! Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. 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. In 1989, Clark, aged 59, retired fromAmerica Bandstand, and the show ended that year. In late spring of 1957, the ABC television network asked their O&O's and affiliates for programming suggestions to fill their 3:30p.m. (ET) time slot (WFIL had been pre-empting the ABC programming with Bandstand). American Bandstand started life as a Philadelphia TV show in 1952, with Bob Horn as master of ceremonies. 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. e9 = new Object(); 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. She and her husband, Richard Spada, lived in Philadelphia and Lansdowne before moving to Newtown Square. 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 "ab" logo was replaced with the iconic stylized "AB" logo (shown at the top of this page) used for the remainder of the show's run. These experienced Regulars considered an infrequent participant or a first time visitor an amateur. I wonder what they would have thought about a kid in TV Land, practicing the new steps in front of her bedroom mirror and praying to God her little brother didnt catch her at it. Although the Regulars didnt perform in the South, Sullivans memory of a personal visit to Fort Worth, Texas, stuck with her: My friend Barbara [a fellow Regular] and I were visiting Barbaras friend there. The use of videotape allowed Clark to produce and host a series of concert tours around the success of American Bandstand and to pursue other broadcast interests. From 1977 to September 6, 1986, the show opened and closed with Barry Manilow's rendition of "Bandstand Boogie",[7] which he originally recorded for his 1975 album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. . Unlike Smith, she expresses no animosity toward Clark. Clark weathered the hearings by not being fully transparent, and he avoided being indicted for criminal behavior. ABC gave Bandstand color cameras and launched it on its network of 67 stations in August of 1957. "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. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. The new legislation effectively ended payola in the music business.2, American Bandstandtoo weathered the payola storm. Charlette Russo danced on American Bandstand from 1955-1959. "That really annoyed me," said Smith, "Because quite a few of. 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. We've received your submission. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. The reality behind the scenes ofAmerican Bandstandwas quite different than what viewers saw on national television. 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. I never had a crush on her. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. Hundreds of kids lined up each day hoping to be one of the few lucky ones who got to dance alongside the Regulars and share part of the magic that was American Bandstand. REGULARS Gallery 1. 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. 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. So Bandstand really did change her life in many ways. Reply. As the books highlight, Ray Smith and Arlene Sullivan provided two thoughtful and unadornedBandstandmemoirs. Sullivan, 74, wrote Diaries with Ray Smith, another dancer who was closeted during his Bandstand years. That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. . Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. Attempts continue to launch a successful game show or sitcom", "Final American Bandstand: The Cover Girls", http://nicestkids.com/nehvectors/nicest-kids/bandstands-backyard, "Remembering American Bandstand's 50th [Photos]", Son of Svengoolie - 'Good Morning, Sven' (Opening,Show #218) (verse occurs at the 1:35 mark), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Bandstand&oldid=1140855641, American Bandstand's 20th Anniversary (1973), American Bandstand's 25th Anniversary (1977), American Bandstand's 30th Anniversary (1982), American Bandstand's 33 1/3 Celebration (1985), American Bandstand's 40th Anniversary (1992), American Bandstand's 50th Anniversary (2002), The show was featured prominently in the 20022005, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 03:03. 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. Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi on the cover of Teen magazine in 1959. The TV exposure, plus the profiles some of the dancers were given in Teen magazine in the late 1950s, made them instant celebrities. 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 Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. She was one of five brothers and sisters; had a huge family vacation home in Sea Isle City where Regulars visited: and dated Frank Levins and Denny Dziena. Mixed REGULARS Galleries. Many factors were involved in this, particularly the launch and rise of MTV and other music programs on television, and along with that, the number of ABC affiliates opting to pre-empt or delay the program. Michael Jackson, a frequent Bandstand guest, performed 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. LGBT identities were hidden on the shows dancefloor. 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. 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. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. It was a local show Philadelphia, Jersey, the Lehigh Valley [Pennsylvania]. . 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. Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. We also surmise that her mother was an Italian immigrant (she refers to her Italian mom), and her father of Irish descent. 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. She acknowledges that some of the other girls she knew on the show were also gay. 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. Sullivan was most frequently paired with a boy named Kenny Rossi, who was straight, but still subject to attacks for appearing on the show: 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. Fiorentino, whose mother died when he was 12, said Clark became a role model. 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