They even invented a few the Stroll, the Circle and the Chalypso. His latest book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, will be published in September. TV Ratings - US & UK, Quiz Shows Never, did I ever think that I would be with him, holding his hand when he passed away. While occasionally black teens were allowed into the studio, they were generally boys. I think after several decades he actually believed the myth. 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. It was a local show Philadelphia, Jersey, the Lehigh Valley [Pennsylvania]. Don and Bunny had two daughters: Angel and Maria and four grandchildren: Lea & Christopher Di Vello, Alexis Karanzalis & Nicole Weiss. The rest, as they say, is history. 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originally used "High Society" by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of Charles Albertine's "Bandstand Boogie", including Les Elgart's big-band recording remembered by viewers of the daily version. //-->. 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. "That really annoyed me," said Smith, "Because quite a few of. She was 13 but lied about her age. Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. [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). 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. "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. ", 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.". It was horrible.. But just like a lot of today's showmances are concocted, many of the Bandstand boppers were harboring a big secret: They were gay. 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. And whereas 135 ABC-affiliated stations carriedAmerican Bandstandon a revenue-sharing basis in 1960, the stations were bailing out of this relationship in 1963. [42] American Bandstand was a daily ritual for many teenagers throughout the nation. American Bandstand Fundraiser Pictures, To my knowledge, no VHS tape of American Bandstand is commercially available. Its original host was fired after a DWI arrest and in July 1956 a young radio DJ took over. When ABC picked up the game show Do You Trust Your Wife? https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Rock%20%27n%27%20Rock%20West%20Coast%20.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Bandstand%20historical%20marker%20%281%20of%201%29.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/National%20Register%20of%20Historic%20Places.JPG, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Bandstand%20Regulars%20Marker.jpg, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Rock%20and%20Roll%20Hall%20of%20Fame.jpg, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, American Bandstand: West Philadelphia's Seven-Year Wonder 1957-1964, American Bandstand, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Starting Local: WFIL-TV, Bob Horn, and Philadelphia's Bandstand, Going National: Dick Clark and ABC's American Bandstand, Whose Music, Whose Dances? Clark pulled him within two feet of the camera and told America, "Steve is our newest regular, and he's going to lead us off with a spotlight dance. As the books highlight, Ray Smith and Arlene Sullivan provided two thoughtful and unadornedBandstandmemoirs. Not only was it extremely intelligent, but there was something moving about the mans story. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. [3] Jackson,American Bandstand, quote from unpaginated photo section. 1950s/1960s POLLS. The show stayed on the air until 1989. 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.. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED! 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. We've received your submission. Thankfully we've come a long way since those sad days. When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. 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. Clark was known for integrating his audiences as well as his performers unusual in the late 50s. Bunnys mom, Betty, made her promise that she would graduate. We moved around the floor the way our parents did in the 40s. 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. [4] Ray Smith, Dancing on Air, in Arlene Sullivan, Ray Smith, and Sharon Sultan Cutler, eds.,Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963(Chicago: Cony Island Press, 2019), 35. My mother thought I was nuts. They wrote. REGULARS Gallery 1. They were hurting him. . 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 . [36] Clark remained as executive producer. From 1969 to 1974, "Bandstand Theme", a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show. She was now working at Neiman Marcus, and couldn't take off to join the Regulars and their fans at the Philadelphia American Bandstand studio. In August 1963, ABC reassigned American Bandstand to Saturday afternoon. Horn, however, was disenchanted with the program, and wanted to change the show to a dance program with teenagers dancing along on camera as records played, based on an idea that came from a radio show on WPEN, The 950 Club, hosted by Joe Grady and Ed Hurst. 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. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson. In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. AB WALLET PHOTOS. Clark looked like one of the kids." (Horn was 40 when he left Bandstand and Clark was a babyfaced 27.) When Gibson moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in the 1980s, she paid Clark a call at his office. 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. 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. To the left youll find original pictures of some of the Regulars. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. Brancaccio says thats what attracted him to it. He had other irons in the fire. "With Bandstand, WFIL resolved this tension by drawing on Philadelphia's interracial music scene to create an entertaining and profitable television show, while refusing to allow the city's black teenagers into the studio audience for fear of alienating viewers and advertisers. Whose Culture? We were like sisters. While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. GALLERY 4. While Bandstand fans across the country imagined a true romantic relationship between Sullivan, who secretly liked girls, and her on-screen companion, Rossi, who was straight, she says it was little more than made-for-TV puppy love. We were the first reality show, she adds. I never had a crush on her. The one thing that really shocked me was that those boys who were 14 and 15 and 16 were sleeping with each other," Smith told the New York Post. Determined, Don got Bunnys number from one of the regulars and he met his dream girl. ", California residents do not sell my data request. 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, for me, the kids on Bandstand were all I aspired to be. 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. 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. You want to know about the guy! She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. 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. Rossi was straightbut Sullivan, many of her female co-stars, and most of the young male dancers were not. e9.size = "300x250"; We call him Namron and yes, if you spell his name backwards it spells, Norman. It was horrible.. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, she said. This site does not collect any information from you. 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. 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. . It also was a prototype for musical television properties including cable channel MTV and Fox's reality-competition show American Idol. ABC gave Bandstand color cameras and launched it on its network of 67 stations in August of 1957. We may earn a commission from links on this page. He promoted the couples on the show to mask the fact that so many guys were gay.5. Were goin hopin today The show was moved to Los Angeles in 1964. 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. 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. All rock'n roll and most owned by Dick Clark himself. She wasnt immediately successful, but with the help of a new southwest Philly friend, she eventually got in. 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]. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images), Spice on Her Favorite 'Drag Race' Season 15 Moment and Her Sweet Reunion With Sugar, "I did win the hearts of these girls somehow and the love was just so felt. Normally, I do not forward mail to the Regulars. 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. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. Bandstand Theme '', a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened show. Of her female co-stars, and most of the young male dancers not... Rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show fact that so many guys were.... Revenue-Sharing basis in 1960, the Lehigh Valley [ Pennsylvania ] n roll and most the... The first reality show, she eventually got in by Mike Curb, opened each show only... Cable channel MTV and Fox 's reality-competition show American Idol American Bandstand was a prototype for musical television including! Original Pictures of some of the young male dancers were not stay all! 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