At the time, being open about their sexuality would have meant the end for these young performers with stars in their eyes. They married during her Thanksgiving vacation from Northeast High School. Out filmmaker Christopher Landon spills the spooky tea on his new movie and working with the 'White Lotus' star. Director Goran Stolevski talks assembling his gay indie's stellar soundtrack, from The Cardigans to Nelly Furtado and more. View Our Classic TV Shows Directory The shy Sullivan pushed herself forward with the contact because she wanted to get on TV to impress her mother. 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. 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.. [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. Dick Clark took over as host in 1956, and the show made its network debut on ABC-TV on Aug. 5, 1957. Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. 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. Dick Clark never played either song on American Bandstand. That really annoyed me because quite a few of the Philadelphia dancers on Bandstand died of AIDS, Smith said. Arlene Sullivan, one of the most popularAmerican Bandstandregulars, presents another perspective on the shows closeted world. 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. Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. They were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. We each won a HI-FI, and 50 record albums. But to his credit and diligence, he brilliantly created his own myth, and he stuck to it for the rest of his life. [6] Jackson,American Bandstand, 71; Jacksons description of Arlene Sullivan. 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. 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. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, said Sullivan. Clark was a disc jockey at the student-run radio station at Syracuse University (1951), and he worked at radio and television stations in Syracuse and Utica . She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". ", California residents do not sell my data request. From that dance on we became steady dance partners until I had to leave the show on my 18th birthday, which was in August of 1961., The Pony Contest One market not telecasting Bandstand was Baltimore, Maryland, as local affiliate WAAM (now WJZ-TV) elected to produce a local dance show in the same afternoon time slot. 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. ", 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 was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. They were hurting him. 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. e9 = new Object(); , True love 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. They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. Special Features: This site is not endorsed by or associated with dick clark productions, inc. or its family of companies. In August 1963, ABC reassigned American Bandstand to Saturday afternoon. Whose Culture? 2023 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. "This man had the strongest personality that I had ever seen as a young boy," he said. "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. The Village People performed their legendary song, "YMCA" for the audience in Pasadena, California. The first syndicated episode aired on the weekend of September 19, 1987[26] but this run was short-lived; The New American Bandstand ran until the weekend of June 4, 1988. Arlene Sullivan, a star on Bandstand, is now 74. A storybook ending to a tale that began with American Bandstand, albeit 40 years ago. 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. ". But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. I never had a crush on her. "He wasn't no Bob Horn," Fiorentino said. . at 3:30pm, then rejoin Bandstand at 4pm. running a series on drunken driving. Clark "was very all-American, handsome, and nice, a father figure to us," she recalled. Some of the stories I heard are heartbreaking, Sullivan recalls. Charlette Russo danced on American Bandstand from 1955-1959. American Bandstand, abbreviated AB, is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions that aired regularly from 1952 to 1989,[1] and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer. The dark-complexioned, wavy-haired Sullivan6bolstered American Bandstands image as a show dominated by Italian-American teens. Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? But just like a lot of today's showmances are concocted, many of the Bandstand boppers were harboring a big secret: They were gay. They even invented a few the Stroll, the Circle and the Chalypso. 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. The show, hosted by Dick Clark, sounds like it was both a community of welcome amongst the teens and a repressive construct from higher ups. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. Cameraman Vince Gasbarro said: "Horn was old-looking. 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]. She told me she got so many letters from fans who thought I looked like her and [with our dark hair], we did look alike. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. 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. From 1963 to 1987 Bandstand was on only once a week, on Saturday. Home Yesteryear Nostalgia Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. ", "Forty years after 'Bandstand' debut, Clark and dancers celebrate", "ORIGINAL DANCERS WILL GRANDSTAND AT 'BANDSTAND' REUNION", "American Bandstand, Season 30, Episode 38: Laura Brannigan (Final ABC show)", "Dick Clark's On a Roll: He Tunes In to TV Trends", "Dick Clark celebrates American Bandstand's 35th", "RETRO: Fairbanks, Alaska (October 24, 1987)", "Retro: Northern Wisconsin, Sat. . LogoTV and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 and moved with the show to Hollywood in 1964. Jerry Oppenheimer is a best-selling author. Zach Shallcross Struggles to Watch Himself Dancing Terribly on The Bachelor, Alison Brie on Sex Scenes: 'We Are Actors, This Is Our Job'. While occasionally black teens were allowed into the studio, they were generally boys. 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.. Clark was out for Clark, says Brancaccio. JUSTINE AND BOB. 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? Kenny Rossi and Arlene Sullivan, Bunny Gibson and Eddie Kelly, Pat Molittieri, Carmen Jimenz, Joyce Shafer. 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. As the books highlight, Ray Smith and Arlene Sullivan provided two thoughtful and unadornedBandstandmemoirs. In another format shift, it was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. . 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.. In March of 1970 we moved to New Jersey. 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. from CBS in November 1957, they renamed the program as Who Do You Trust? Variety Shows When Gibson moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in the 1980s, she paid Clark a call at his office. 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. It was a local show Philadelphia, Jersey, the Lehigh Valley [Pennsylvania]. 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. Two of the biggest record hits of the early 1960s, both of which received a huge boost from airtime onAmerican Bandstand, were Dee Dee Sharps Mashed Potato Time and Freddy Cannons Palisades Park.8, YetAmerican Bandstandsseven-year stint in West Philadelphia was about to end. In 1962, ABC trimmed the shows airtime from 90 to 60 minutes. In addition to his other ventures, Clark maintained a virtual lock on New Years Eve television withDick ClarksNew Years Rockin Eve. He would dance on the show until early 1960. Soul Unlimited was not well-received among its target audience of African-Americans, ostensibly due to its being created by a white man (Clark), and because of its alleged usage of deliberately racial overtones despite this fact. As WFIL grew financially and the account became less important, Stewart wasn't needed and was eventually dropped from the program. [7] The Diary of Arlene Sullivan, in Sullivan, Smith, and Cutler,Bandstand Diaries, 43-63. 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. . 1950s/1960s POLLS. Interracial couples were not allowed on camera, so they sat on the sidelines. We were like sisters. As two or three stations grab it off, you get less clearance, therefore you get less rating, and its an endless cycle. 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