who were the original dancers on american bandstand

Henry Gordon said in 1995 as he looked at an old photo of the kids at Bandstand: Anything that looks like a black face in this picture is probably a white face in the shadows. Bob Horn complimented me on my dancing ability and for the way I dressed. He picked his own employee, Bob Horn, and copied from WPEN the idea of teenagers in the studio. He usually brought some of his young clients with him and arranged dates photographic and otherwise for them. Dick ClarksAmerican Bandstand, a popular though controversial TV program targeted toward teenage consumers, marked Philadelphia as the national epicenter of pop music during its seven-year run at ABCs affiliated WFIL-TV at 4548 Market St. ABC-affiliate WFIL-TV at 4548 Market St. broadcast Dick ClarksAmerican Bandstandto a national audience of teenage consumers from 1957 to 1964.American Bandstandbuilt a national youth culture around the pop music records Clark played on the show and the commercial products his sponsors targeted to this $9 billion consumer market. Pat Boone. It became integrated in 1957 because I elected to make it so, he was being outrageously simplistic. I was asked to be a character witness at his trial and I testified that he never tried anything with us. We blacks watched from across the street. We just sat around recapping until the morning. The disc jockey might have gone back on the air after a few days, however, if the citys district attorney hadnt made a phone call to the station. Some of the biggest headlines of the year concerned the Kravitz case in which an upper-class girl died during an abortion that was arranged by her mother so the girl wouldnt bear a child out of wedlock. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. As well as a blue embroideredS&E on the inside of the dress above my heart.. When Horn admitted that he knew her, Annenberg ordered him to resign from the station. He also personally picked me up in South Philly and drove me to his record hops. Clark inherited WFILs local television showBandstand(1952-56) from the deejay Bob Horn, who proved that teenagers liked watching their peers dance. That becomes understandable when you learn that its original host led a sordid life that included a sexual affair with a teenage girl. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This went on for almost three years, sometimes in a radio studio while Horns records were spinning on the air. Blitz, author of Bandstand: The Untold Story, defends Horn against accusations of rudeness and says that Horn avoided friendships with co-workers because he had more experience and knowledge and didnt need to learn from them. The event will be re-scheduled later, his press release said. One, a district attorneys re-election campaign. Now Blanc was running for election to a full term and he sought a hot campaign topic. A low-budget sexploitation film called Models, Inc. was distributed by Philadelphia film executive Jack Harris. When the TV program American Bandstand passed its 50th anniversary, there was no commemoration. Within the dress are subtle details, including an embroidered heart to represent the love that Elliot and I share, Sofia adds. And everyone at ABC Television tried to ignore the programs first years. Maybe he was on edge because the vice trial was about to start a few days later. Coincidence played a major role in this drama of entertainment history. Published April 26, 2023 Updated April 27, 2023, 12:58 a.m. American Bandstand Didn't Originally I was watching one by one each bridesmaid and groomsman walk down the aisle, and we were inching closer to the front, and I couldnt believe it was happening, she says. Theres a new kid working in the record library, he told his listeners, and listen to the junk he picked for me. Then Menefee came into the record room and said he hoped I wasnt angry with him for making me the butt of his joke. According to show-business contemporaries of his, Horn was a free-swinging, hard-drinking man who smoked several packs of cigarettes a day. The DA spent considerable time and money on his probe, renting a center city storefront as an unmarked headquarters instead of using his own office in City Hall. He proposed at golden hourit was magical. Forever isnt long enough is how she captioned the Instagram post from the day. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. He made national headlines when he shut down a Philadelphia movie theater that was showing Brigit Bardots , When Blancs campaign was launched, friends of Walter Annenberg hoped that the DA would find some dirt on WPENs popular night-time talk host, Steve Allison, because Allison often criticized Annenberg and the. For additional access to Steve Cohens writings on art, theater, music, books and travel, click here:https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/gehry/, To access Mr. Cohens web site, click here:http://theculturalcritic.com, Your email address will not be published. ET. In the course of his probe Blanc discovered connections between many disparate people. Bob became like a second father to me. Created by black deejay Don Cornelius as a black dance show, Soul Train started in Chicago in 1970 before being picked up by stations across the country the following year. Harris replaced the Kefauver footage with a new opening that he shot with Vic Blanc talking into the camera and warning the public of the dangers of sex. Most acquaintances describe Horn as arrogant and self-centered, although none of the dancers on his show saw him that way. From there, the wedding planning quickly commenced. With Clark, the program became more popular than ever. Debby Boone. His career was brought down by a teenage girl, but she did not come from the studio audience at Bandstand. The station, where I worked at the time, fired him. The teenage committee administered the reservation list. Some of the Allison crowd got involved, also, with an aspiring model named Maxine. ! Sofia recalls being stunned. David Bowie. Horn described his pattern of hanging at a bar with song-pluggers and music publishers every evening after Bandstand finished, from 6 to 8 p.m., then going to a restaurant for dinner. We recapped the night and ordered big bowls of pasta along with every French food you could imagine, Sofia says. When it came to the rehearsal-dinner look, the team worked to re-create a gown worn by Stella Tennant in the 1997 Chanel couture fall show. In addition, the show has performances by popular musicians and audience members rate songs. We had it all timed, and it felt like someone was looking out for us up above because it was a very cloudy day and then the clouds parted., Walking down the aisle with her father was something Sofia had always dreamed about. The promotion men who hung out with Horn fed him records by new artists and Horn was open to their suggestions partly because he knew it would help the show, and partly because he liked getting gifts from the song-pluggers. The program, starting in 1952, originally was simply named Bandstand. The 24-year-old model and designer, who is also the youngest child of legendary singer Lionel Richie, became engaged to Elliot Grainge, a music executive and founder of 10K Projects, in April of 2022. I knew when couples broke up. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Bandstand' dancers look back Well, Blanc won his election, and that was the reason for all this, wasnt it? I went to Alan Freeds concerts at the Paramount and black kids didnt show up there either. Clarks daily afternoon program pioneered in musical television by showcasing a range of black and white pop music performers, including R&B, rock n roll, and country. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. He was 30 when Bandstand went on the air and says Horn played some of our music, but mainly he aimed for a wider audience and the black kids didnt get much out of it. It does not store any personal data. WebPulitzer Prizeeligible magazine The National Enquirer broke an old but interesting story this week about Dick Clarks American Bandstand. While Clark opened. What were the results of this elaborate investigation? Pop Conference 2023 - 'Let's Get it Together:' Gatherings, Club For the reception, I wore drop-diamond earrings by Kwiat, Fred Leightons parent company, and for the party, my chandelier aquamarine stone earrings were by Fred Leighton and served as my something blue., Elliot wore a Ralph Lauren suit at the rehearsal dinner and a Tom Ford tuxedo for the wedding day itself, while the seven bridesmaids were in all black. He even went back on the air a few minutes later and said: Hey, that record wasnt bad after all.. My father has always been the most comforting figure in my life, and hes kept me grounded. Watch for Part Two of our copyrighted story, which involves an election for District Attorney and the campaigns emphasis on teenage sex with radio and TV personalities. Having the opportunity to create this dress and work so closely with Madame Olivia Douchez, premire of haute couture salons, and observing their art and immaculate attention to detail was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.. For example, Bernie Jacobs, the man who ran the modeling agency and set Steve Allison up with his accuser, also arranged modeling jobs for Lois, Horns accuser. To me, it embodies the classic elegance and femininity that Karl Lagerfeld was such a genius at.. The Mann Act was law, barring anyone from transporting a person across state lines for an immoral act, even when it was consensual. When Blancs campaign was launched, friends of Walter Annenberg hoped that the DA would find some dirt on WPENs popular night-time talk host, Steve Allison, because Allison often criticized Annenberg and the Inquirer. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Dance crazes such as the Twist and the Watusi could be traced to the Bandstand studio. The dancers have aged, some have gained weight or grown mustaches, but they continue to follow whats hip in fashion and dance steps. Ill close with a personal reminiscence. It became a second home for me, an Italian-Jewish kid from a broken family in South Philly. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, died Sunday, Dec. 8, of congestive heart failure at a Springfield hospital. For the most part, the white kids from West Catholic and Roman Catholic, etc., were intimidated when we got on the floor. A suburban dog breeder named James Worden frequently attended the Allison show and sometimes invited men and women whom he met there to parties at his estate, which he called Hound Dog Hill. A 1957 jury deadlocked, then a judge acquitted Horn at a second trial, this one without a jury. PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ They twisted, coffee-grinded and jitterbugged their way into the nations living rooms on the original American Bandstand in the 1950s. One dancing duo, Kenny and Arlene, became the biggest teen sensations ever to come out of the show. When the program moved to California in 1964, it presented its first regular dancer who was black. We blacks watched from across the street. American Bandstand Theres a dramatic difference between the description of Horn by his adult co-workers and what we hear from his teenage fans. With Clark, the program became more popular than ever. Dick Clark and American Bandstands Behind-the American Bandstand Show me a guy who hasnt done that and Ill show you a queer.. Disgraced in Philadelphia, the 41-year-old Allison found employment at radio station at WWDC in Washington. What is a 7 letter word that starts with O? Some of the regular boys all white started talking angrily among themselves about how theyd like to beat up the boy after the show. To get in the studio, boys must be wearing a suit jacket and tie. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 2 Who was the first star of country music? He asked me to be on the committee and be an example for others. On Thursday, for the first time in a quarter century, 27 of the original Bandstand dancers, including Joe, Kenny, Arlene, Carole, Flossie and Jim, reunited to rehearse their steps for a rock n roll celebration over Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. 1964 - The Beach Boys - "Don't Worry, Baby". The reunion gossip even included a love story. Required fields are marked *. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The next morning, I woke up with all of my bridesmaids and my sister and we went to an 8 a.m. rehearsal. This log was entered as evidence at Allsions trial, and it combined with a parade of civic leaders and city officials as character witnesses got Allison a not-guilty verdict. Just out of school, I was apprenticing in public relations under his tutelage.) He was the first performer to be introduced on the Grand Ole Opry, the first African-American performer on the show, and the first performer to have his music recorded in Nashville. It was very important to Elliots family and to me, now that Ive converted, that it be a traditional Jewish ceremony, Sofia says. Horn didnt act like a star, he says. Dick Clark Hosted the show and introduced Billy Williams to sing ""I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter"" & The Chordettes to sing ""Just Between You and Me"" and for the 1st Time ""The Spotlight Dance"" for 2 dancing couples to a softer tune, ""Rate-A-Record"" where 2 Other results: Some of the men were convicted of participating in unnatural sex. Others were charged with corrupting the morals of minors, but the judges in the majority of these cases decided that the men were dealing with girls who were already corrupted, so they either acquitted the men or gave them light punishment. When our planners, Banana Split, asked me what song I wanted to walk down the aisle to, it was a no-brainer. Since he was a huge fan of jazz and so many jazz artists were black, there was no way Bob would allow the dance floor to be lily white.. This is what Clark said about Horn: He was a man in his late thirties, was heavyset with a double chin, long, narrow nose and greased-back black hair. Any place theres dancing, Ill still go, said Joe Fusco, who was 15 when he joined the show. Anyway, they havent performed in, like, five years, and they brought their band out from Nashville and LA, and it was one of the most fun nights of my life. In any event, he struck another car and left a 5-year-old occupant of that car paralyzed. That becomes understandable when you learn that its original host led a sordid life that included a sexual affair with a teenage girl. Seven months after his first DUI incident, and just before he was to go on trial on the morals charges, Horn was charged again with drunk-driving when he sped his Cadillac the wrong way up a one-way street in North Philadelphia. American Bandstand 1961 4th Anniversary Show (Partial WebBrowse 1,013 american bandstand dancers photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. One early photo shows the studio with an audience that was almost half black. The American Bandstand dancers ended up living all across the United States and followed a variety of careers. As we remember Dick Clark, were highlighting a few Bandstand dancers whove died in recent years. American Bandstand dancer Richard Pierce served in Vietnam before settling in Anchorage, Alaska, in the early 1980s. Each girl chose her own dress, ranging from YSL to Rodarte., The night before the wedding, Sofia slept in a villa on the property with her bridesmaids. Steves a one-man F. B. I., Fearless Broadcast Investigator. All the brides other jewelry pieces were by Fred Leighton. The man who introduced us told me that she liked to pose for photos the kind you could not take to your drugstore to get developed and she would do some other things, but would not allow sexual intercourse because she had a boyfriend and didnt want to cheat on him. The BBC's. For example, Bernie Jacobs, the man who ran the modeling agency and set Steve Allison up with his accuser, also arranged modeling jobs for Lois, Horns accuser. Peggy Waggoner Names talks about her experience: When I started dancing on, From 1965 to 1967 Dick Clark also produced a show called, A postscript was added a decade later in California. Theres an El stop there and we used to watch the kids line up. He said Name your salary. So we asked our station manager for a release and he said hed talk to the stations owner. Bob Horn complimented me on my dancing ability and for the way I dressed. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. American Bandstand First, there was a private Ketubah signing in the mother of the brides hotel room, where both families met and acted as witnesses. It has a fictional plot about the racial integration of a 1960s teen television dance program, and it reminds me of my own experiences surrounding Bandstand in the 1950s. When Horn got busted, the teenagers were shocked. But some things still didnt change. Celebrities including Cameron Diaz, Benji Madden, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Joel Madden descended upon the iconic hotel in the South of France for the whirlwind wedding weekend, which took both Instagram and TikTok by storm. The sex-with-minors angle was too shocking for public consumption, and the station didnt dare to reveal it. I danced there until 1972 and the policy remained the same. Dick Clarks American Bandstand was the offspring of deejay Bob Horns Bandstand, which WFIL-TV broadcast daily from 1952-56 from a WFIL studio at 4548 Market St. She was petite, less than 100 pounds, with a big bosom. 95.3K subscribers Share 1.1M views 5 years ago To celebrate AB's 11th anniversary, the kids in American Bandstand It was great! For Sofia, it served as the ultimate reflection of how she approached the celebration as a whole. (I was in his office as he wrote it. If we dont do something, theyll take over was the expressed fear. It was very sweettruly unbelievable!, Following dinner, Sofia changed into a fun, flirty Claudia Schifferinspired Chanel look. Horn ended his career working in Texas using a pseudonym. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. And not only that, but we got to party with him all night., Rabbi Thomas Solomon officiated a traditional Jewish wedding that paid homage to the iconic surroundings of Hotel du Cap. When the program went on the ABC network, stations in the South, where racial segregation was the norm, objected to the fact that black dancers occasionally appeared on the dance floor. It said that his guests that night were movie star Denise Darcel and crooner Johnny Desmond and that he went home immediately after the broadcast. It is entirely hand-beaded, Sofia says. Courtney Bennett, Dancing on Air: Dance Shows, Communications, and CommunityBefore Tik Tok and YouTube dance crazes dominated youth culture, televised dance shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train gave the youth at home a socially distanced glimpse into the latest music, dances, and fashions happening in clubs. Also available in a computer colorized version. Kevin Stewart: Old School Shirt Makers New York, Alexandra Rouvet Duvernoy: Trumpisms Commentary by A.H. Scott, Dean Rosenzweig: Cats and QueensUfos and Other Things, Kitchie Ohh: Resolution Revolution - Tony Ward. I was really nervous before walking down the aisleit was like I had stage fright, my adrenaline was so high. Original Bandstand Among notable guests appearing that first season, some making their television debuts, were: Paul Anka, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Bobby Darin, The Del-Vikings, The Diamonds, Buddy Holly, Johnny Mathis, Simon & Garfunkel ( Tom & Jerry), Andy Williams, Jackie Wilson, and others. Allison coined a new name for himself: a controversialist. He was advertised as the man who owns midnight. Cardinal Spellman was once a guest on his program, and Philadelphia Mayor Dilworth appeared frequently. Im very grateful., As the bride made her way down the aisle, she began to hear her favorite song, Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez playing but with the lyrics changed to her name. Frank Spagnuola, a white Italian-American, was a Bandstand regular. We would do dances like the slop, bop, slow drag and the grind, which originated in the black dance halls. He also came up with the idea of a teenage committee, because Horn wanted to insure that a core group of good dancers would show up every afternoon. Bourgeois Tagg. Ad Choices, 47 Best Mothers Day Gifts to Give Mom This Year, Where to Watch the 2023 Met Gala Livestream, Everything You Need to Know About the 2023 Met Gala, The 66 Best Met Gala Dress-Code Rejectors of All Time, The 31 Best Met Gala Beauty Looks of All Time, Kaia Gerber Steps Out In the Breakout Sneakers of Summer. But inside the studio, at the end of each show, committee members gave out reservations for future programs. University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Starting Local: WFIL-TV, Bob Horn, and Philadelphia's Bandstand, Going National: Dick Clark and ABC's American Bandstand, Whose Music, Whose Dances? Ive never been sexually attracted to very young girls. These men were, you might say, realists. According to show-business contemporaries of his, Horn was a free-swinging, hard-drinking man who smoked several packs of cigarettes a day. I dont know why, but black kids didnt want to come., Doris Wilson was a young teenager when Bandstand was in Philadelphia. American Bandstand 1961 4th Anniversary Show (Partial Episode) Former Dancers When you place those new singers alongside older ones like Etta James, Roy Hamilton and Al Hibbler, you see a substantial list of black artists. In addition, the show has performances by popular musicians and audience Dick Clark hosts a daily to weekly dance show that features the latest hit music for the attending teens to dance to. The Bandstanders invented steps that are still given a whirl: the bunny hop, the chalypso and the stroll. Other deejays of that time, however, were more gracious than Horn. At WFIL they thought: What a wonderful idea for TV! But he was an ambitious politician. One television precursor was the Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club, on WFIL and the ABC television network starting in 1949, which also showed kids dancing. So, simultaneously, the DA was investigating Horn, Allison and Valino and people associated with them, and everything came to a head, so to speak, at the same time. Not nasty trouble. Walter DeLegall, a black man who was a teenager then, said about the early days: I used to dance on the original Bandstand. Believe it or not, at that time the show looked like a black blue-light basement party because our crowd would take over the floor when we showed up. American Bandstand - Wikipedia WebBy the shows 30th anniversary, almost 600,000 teenagers and 10,000 performers had appeared on the program. Since no black students went to school dressed like that, we couldnt get in anymore. The makeup for the entire weekend was super simple and clean, Sofia says. The number one song was whatever he said it was, and it usually was whatever would bring him the most profit. 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. WebGary U.S. Bonds. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Allison thought this decision was reprehensible and criticized Annenberg for it. He was born Lee Shulman and started his career as an ad salesman. American Bandstand - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Our parents didnt teach us what was going on.. You had to line up at the end of each show and the producer picked whom he wanted to come back, so you had to please him. One example is Bob Menefee, the top-paid disc jockey at WIP. He made national headlines when he shut down a Philadelphia movie theater that was showing Brigit Bardots And God Created Woman, charging that it was obscene. These were the guys I met during my first job in radio, in the music library at WIP, and whom I saw accompanying Horn during his nighttime radio show when I later worked at WFIL. Teenagers sat in rows on bleachers that were assembled on one side of the studio. At just 13 and 16, He was very friendly. Clark looked like one of the kids. (Horn was 40 when he left Bandstand and Clark was a babyfaced 27.) Clark was the host of American Bandstand in the late 50s through the mid-60s. Ive been dreaming of meeting Stephen Sanchez and had asked my fianc several times if we could go to one of his gigs, Sofia explains. Bob was color blind, Sheldon told me; On the first shows there were black couples dancing on the floor along with white couples. One night he asked one of his models to put on something white, then introduced her to Allison. Four months later, Horn was arrested on morals charges. He said If you care enough to want to go to my dances, Ill drive you., Jerry Blavat started coming to the show in 1953 when he was only 13. Then I was ready to dance until the sun rose with my loved ones. With that in mind, the father of the bride performed two of his daughters favorite songs at the wedding. It may not be the secret of my success but it sure as hell kept me out of a lot of trouble.. Bob was a PR pro who really knew how to spin a story. If ABC had not been the poorest of the networks, unable to provide daytime programs to its affiliates, Bandstand would never have been born. What was the real name of the Coward of the County? To discredit Loiss reputation, the defense produced a man, with no connection to Horn, who testified that Lois once accepted money to have sex with him. Philadelphias broadcasting sex scandal of 1956 was an early object lesson. Clark moved the show to California in 1964, but many fans remember it as a Philadelphia phenomenon. These record-promo men knew of her, and got her into the station to meet Horn. At least three factors are important to note regarding the last three years ofAmerican Bandstandin West Philadelphia: the 1960 payola scandal, the reality behind the shows happy faces, and developments in the pop music industry that affected the show and compelled its relocation in 1964 to Los Angeles in a reduced version.

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who were the original dancers on american bandstand

who were the original dancers on american bandstand