The rest is American Bandstand history. For now, Dick Clark on ABC, so long. 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 remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. REGULARS Gallery 1. 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 [7] The Diary of Arlene Sullivan, in Sullivan, Smith, and Cutler,Bandstand Diaries, 43-63. THIS & THAT 50s/60s. Jerry Oppenheimer is a best-selling author. American Bandstand aired five days a week in live national broadcast until 1963, when the show moved west to Los Angeles and began a 24-year run as a taped weekly program with Dick Clark as host . In September 1964, Bandstand began using a new logo based on the ABC circle logo, reading "ab" in the same typeface followed by a number representing the year the show aired. 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. Dick Clark Productions is credited as the show's co-producer, and longtime employee Allen Shapiro serves as co-executive producer. and scheduled the program at 3:30pm ETalmost in the middle of Bandstand. Norman was born on January 18, 1944. 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. Although, unlike some others, Carole never really had a steady dancing partner, she danced with all the good-looking Italian boys and that one special non-Italian whom everyone loved - Harvey Robbins. The TV exposure, plus the profiles some of the dancers were given in Teen magazine in the late 1950s, made them instant celebrities. I did get to know Annette Funicello [a Mouseketeer on the original Mickey Mouse Club], who came to the show. She danced the "push" - a "type of jitterbug . He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. .When he spoke to us off-screen, it was usually from the podium; it gave him command over his domain, and as I have learned over the years, Clark liked and wanted to be in command.4, Smith recalls the closetingof American BandstandsLGBT youths. 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. "Dick Clark introduced records, and the camera followed teenagers as they selected partners to dance," writes historian Matthew Delmont. 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. 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. By then, he was a big-time television producer. 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. And he has the one criteria required to attract Bunny Gibson. Carole made the world a better place," Gibson wrote on a Facebook page called America's Original Bandstand Dancers. Joyce Shafer talks about herself and her dance partner, Norman Kerr, Norman was one of a kind, always making people laugh. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. Clark was out for Clark, says Brancaccio. But to his credit and diligence, he brilliantly created his own myth, and he stuck to it for the rest of his life. 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. "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. Bob retired after being in the shoe business and the chemical business, where he often worked 18 hour days. Dick Clark, wherever you are, we miss you. And the one thing that really shocked me was that those boys who were 14 and 15 and 16 were sleeping with each other.. In an interview with the New York Post, Sullivan says that she and many of the gay male dancers would congregate in the Gayborhood, Rittenhouse Square, and there were rumors that Clark sent producers to spy on them. In a nice way, he'd discipline us.". Like the rest of us, the 'Drag Race' Season 15 queen is crushing on Pedro Pascal. 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. "When he saw me, he said, 'I knew I'd see you again,' with a smile on his face," Gibson recalled. Mickey Mouse Club [3] Jackson,American Bandstand, quote from unpaginated photo section. 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. 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. 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. I knew all their names. 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. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, she said. Another time, a dancer was thrown onto the subway tracks. [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 Philadelphia way Were goin drop in (Drop!) The combined impact of Bandstand's move to California and the Beatles' arrival devastated Cameo-Parkway and inflicted permanent damage to the artists signed to the label.[9]. 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 says she never had a crush on a straight dancer, and was close friends with celebrity guest Annette Funicello. The couple first honeymooned on the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the famed railway that was immortalized by Glenn Miller and was the first to run South to North. . I knew I was different early on, but being with all these [Bandstand] friends, I came to terms with my feelings," Bandstand star Arlene Sullivan writes in her memoir, Bandstand Diaries. American Bandstand Fundraiser Pictures, To my knowledge, no VHS tape of American Bandstand is commercially available. Clark weathered the hearings by not being fully transparent, and he avoided being indicted for criminal behavior. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. In another format shift, it was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. 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). I lived in very tough South Philadelphia, he says. 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. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. American Bandstand will be back someday, I assure you. 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. 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. The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. We went downtown, and I ran to the back of the bus the way I always did in Philly but Barbara and her friend kept telling me to come to the front. [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. Set pieces from Soul Unlimited were utilized by Bandstand for its 19741978 set design. 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. A storybook ending to a tale that began with American Bandstand, albeit 40 years ago. Bandstand Diaries shares some public information and photos about Frani (page 84). They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. Black music and black dances originating in Philadelphia neighborhoods contributed substantially to the success ofAmerican Bandstand; yetAmerican Bandstandsdancefloor and bleachers were racially segregated, and some of the shows most popular dances were adapted without attribution from black neighborhoods. She never saw much of Clark outside of the studio. Im sure shell be thrilled to hear well wishes and from Bandstand friends and fans and donations would help her a lot. The shows were usually produced in either Stage 54 or Stage 55 at ABC Television Center. She was 36. 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. It got me out of my shell, but I learned I was a regular teenager who happened to dance on a show that unexpectedly became very popular. They knew what was going on, but they never asked the question., Sullivan says there were at least four other popular girl dancers on Bandstand who she quickly learned were lesbians and we all started hanging out together. They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. [6] Jackson,American Bandstand, 71; Jacksons description of Arlene Sullivan. Clark looked like one of the kids." (Horn was 40 when he left Bandstand and Clark was a babyfaced 27.) Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. In fact, it was dangerous. 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. "He was the commander," Colanero said. They were hurting him. I was truly blessed in my life with wonderful family, friends and fans. 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