In an online page marking her 68th birthday on Nov. 23, 2011, Bandstand "documentarian" Charles W. Amann III posted: "The name Scaldeferri and American Bandstand go hand-in-hand. 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. Director Goran Stolevski talks assembling his gay indie's stellar soundtrack, from The Cardigans to Nelly Furtado and more. "This man had the strongest personality that I had ever seen as a young boy," he said. 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. I didnt know what I was doing and decided I cant do this, and I called my dad and asked him to come get me, she says. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. "Two or three times during the show, Clark would introduce singers or groups who would lip-sync their latest hits." 2. 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. NEW PAGE! And, for me, the kids on Bandstand were all I aspired to be. 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. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. On all the music they play On the Bandstand.! 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. 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. Artists would sing naturally to the studio audience over a background of their own disc, while viewers at home would hear only the original recording. He was a brilliant man. As two or three stations grab it off, you get less clearance, therefore you get less rating, and its an endless cycle. They are extending the honeymoon in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where Duke has called home. 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 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. We only had three channels in those days. 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 and 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. One friend of mine was kicked out of the house.. How a Beloved Tori Amos B-Side Transformed 'Of An Age'. This incarnation was an early version of the music video shows that became popular in the 1980s, featuring films that were the ancestors of music videos. Anna Russo, 2800 North 7th Street, Apt. From 1969 to 1974, "Bandstand Theme", a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show. "He wasn't no Bob Horn," Fiorentino said. 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. As WFIL grew financially and the account became less important, Stewart wasn't needed and was eventually dropped from the program. Hey, our thanks to Laura Branigan for joining us here on American Bandstand today. So fearful of the kids real behavior, [Clark] imposed a strict dress code: jackets and ties for boys, and nothing tight for girls. Not only was it extremely intelligent, but there was something moving about the mans story. We were like sisters. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. Clark was known for integrating his audiences as well as his performers unusual in the late 50s. 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. He will never forget one of his first days on Bandstand. Reply. LGBT identities were hidden on the shows dancefloor. 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. Tony Mammarella was the original producer with Ed Yates as director. Score: 4.4/5 (45 votes) . We ended up spending weekends together when she came to New York and D.C. to perform We went to lunch together and had fun, but Annette had to rest and perform, so we didnt have time for anything else., Sullivan never felt like a superstar, even when the Regulars averaged 100 to 150 fan letters a day. 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.. 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. e9 = new Object(); 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. Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. However unethical his behavior may have been, his federal income tax records seemed to be in order. Sadly we also lost: THIS & THAT 50s/60s. She says she never had a crush on a straight dancer, and was close friends with celebrity guest Annette Funicello. In addition to appearances by big pop stars of the day, Sullivan's on-screen romance with Kenny Rossi was a huge draw for the show. When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. "I kissed a girl, and I liked it!. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. . ", 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.". Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. All rock'n roll and most owned by Dick Clark himself. 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. They accepted me. 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. [36] Clark remained as executive producer. 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. We have lived in NJ ever since. 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. The increase in competition hurt Bandstand and the variety of options for music on TV decreased its relevance. News Shows We'll see you then. Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. A Midlothian-based freelance writer, Martha Steger has received national awards for her journalism, essays, short fiction and poetry. In 2014, the National Enquirer interviewed Frank Brancaccio and Eddie Kelly, other series regulars. 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. But overall, their meet-ups remained a sanctuary. Zach Shallcross Struggles to Watch Himself Dancing Terribly on The Bachelor, Alison Brie on Sex Scenes: 'We Are Actors, This Is Our Job'. 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. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Another time, a dancer was thrown onto the subway tracks. Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. A half-hour evening version of American Bandstand aired on Monday nights from 7:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. (ET), beginning on October 7, 1957. 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. 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. This started with "'65", then "'66", "'67", "'68" and "'69" when each year arrived. 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. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. KENNY AND ARLENE. It was no secret. She wasnt immediately successful, but with the help of a new southwest Philly friend, she eventually got in. But back in the Bandstand days, Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. The shows were usually produced in either Stage 54 or Stage 55 at ABC Television Center. 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. [8] On September 7, 1963, the program was moved from its weekday slot and began airing weekly every Saturday afternoon, restored to an hour, until 1989. Stewart was the owner of a TV/Radio business in Philadelphia and even though he was an older gentleman, his advertising account was a large one for WFIL-TV, so he was put on the program to appease the account. Remember, these Regulars werent paid actors or dancers. And whereas 135 ABC-affiliated stations carriedAmerican Bandstandon a revenue-sharing basis in 1960, the stations were bailing out of this relationship in 1963. In August 1963, ABC reassignedAmerican Bandstandto Saturday afternoon. [3] Jackson,American Bandstand, quote from unpaginated photo section. Give me some Thumbs UP!This is Bunny Gibson and the American Bandstand Regulars live at Sesame Park outside of Philadelphia on July 21,. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. 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. As the books highlight, Ray Smith and Arlene Sullivan provided two thoughtful and unadornedBandstandmemoirs. 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. She never saw much of Clark outside of the studio. Give me some Thumbs UP!This is Bunny Gibson and the American Bandstand Regulars live at Sesame Park outside of Philadelphia on July 21, 1997 as recorded by OnlineTV.com and Rick Siegel.The Regulars were there to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of American Bandstand and the parties were relentless as were the memories. 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.. The rest, as they say, is history. It became a staple in homes and heavily influenced American society culturally, musically, and socially. 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. 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