When I used to walk down the streets of Philadelphia and be recognized, Id be called a Bandstand f*****.. 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 story has been shared 115,637 times. This development created a sometimes heated rivalry between Dick Clark and Buddy Deane, when performers who appeared first on Deane's program were refused booking on American Bandstand. They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. As she puts it, being a Regular entailed holding a WFIL-TV Bandstand Club membership card and dancing every day on the show. "He was the commander," Colanero said. He remembered Clark as a man of few words who kept a professional distance between himself and the teen dancers. Ray Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. Cameraman Vince Gasbarro said: "Horn was old-looking. This first national broadcast of American Bandstand was filmed in the Starlight Ballroom in Wildwood, NJ. REGULARS Gallery 2. Dancing was a major feature of Bandstand. You want to know about the guy! . "This man had the strongest personality that I had ever seen as a young boy," he said. He was also reportedly involved in a prostitution ring and brought up on morals charges. Fiorentino, whose mother died when he was 12, said Clark became a role model. He needed a group to show up every day, she says, and nobody got paid. Hey, our thanks to Laura Branigan for joining us here on American Bandstand today. Clark now eyed California as where the action is. And in February 1964 Clark moved to Los Angeles, where it would continue until 1989, though lacking its West Philadelphia spontaneity. American Bandstand will be back someday, I assure you. 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. 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. 10/7/1957 9/5/1987 ABC 60 minutes A case in point is Arlene Sullivan, a popular Regular who has described her own emerging lesbian sexual orientation, which she says was masked by her dance partnerships with boys. I went to Bandstand because I was gay and I was a misfit in my neighborhood. They joined Arlenes and Kennys fan clubs. We'll see you the next time on American Bandstand. Fiorentino was known on the show as "Nicky Blue.". To the left youll find original pictures of some of the Regulars. 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. Rossi was straightbut Sullivan, many of her female co-stars, and most of the young male dancers were not. In 1989, Clark, aged 59, retired fromAmerica Bandstand, and the show ended that year. I still really didnt know who I was. 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. At the time, being open about their sexuality would have meant the end for these young performers with stars in their eyes. 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. 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. He is a man of God and over the years has established both karate and prison ministeries. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. e9 = new Object(); Jax Spills the Tea on That "Shocking" Lip-Sync LaLaPaRuza, "In those lip-syncs, I fend for myself. Regardless, the music historian John Jackson calls it the gravest crisis in his professional career.1, At all events, the payola hearings spurred action by Congress. REGULARS Gallery 1. They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. Norman had a very, very unique sense of humor, which made him so popular with all that knew him. Once the program went national upon its move to Los Angeles, new host Dick Clark decided that integration was the most responsible move. 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.. Later, in hindsight, I guessed that made me the first white Rosa Parks. The bashing of Bandstand regulars, gay and straight, happened all the time, Sullivan and Smith reveal. LogoTV and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. The Bop. Once when Sullivan and Rossi visited another show regular in North Philadelphia, "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, she recalls. REGULARS Gallery 3. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. 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. 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. Thats why Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson would never appear on the show, but movie stars Jeff Chandler, Tab Hunter, Sal Mineo came., Dancing came naturally to Sullivan, the way it did to all Regulars, she says. . Clark moved the show to California in 1964, but many fans remember it as a Philadelphia phenomenon. One night at a party I met a girl who was one of the stars on American Bandstand I was blown away.. 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. 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. In August 1963, ABC reassigned American Bandstand to Saturday afternoon. 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. And, for me, the kids on Bandstand were all I aspired to be. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. Dick Clark later stated that he knew the prime-time edition would fail because its core audience teenagers and housewives was occupied with other interests in the evenings. Back in July, I received a most endearing email from Duke which told of his experiences in life. . EARLY BANDSTAND FASHIONS. M Marsha Early American Bandstand Wallet type photos of Dancers/Regulars Sisters Mary Rosalie Susan 50s Susan Beltrante (on left) and Mary Beltrante on the right. YOUR FAVORITE LOGO SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+, "Those boys who were 14 and 15 and 16 were sleeping with each other., LOS ANGELES - APRIL 1960: Host of the television show 'American Bandstand' Dick Clark appears in a scene with Michael Callan from the movie 'Because They're Young' which was released in April 1960. 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. The previous theme was retained as bumper music. (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. 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 a good man, but he wasn't as friendly with us as people may think," Colanero said. 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. 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. 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. Score: 4.4/5 (45 votes) . He had other irons in the fire. [2] Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110. Very sadly, Bob passed away 2 . He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing its first national show on August 5, 1957. By clicking Consent you are authorizing advertisers to collect information to personalize the ads you see. The show was American Bandstand, and Dick Clarks clean-cut style meant the program had parents stamp of approval. Arlene Sullivan, a star on Bandstand, is now 74. During the segment, two audience members each ranked two records on a scale of 35 to 98, after which their two opinions were averaged by Clark, who then asked the chosen members to justify their scores. "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. 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. Instead of shortening or moving Bandstand, ABC opted to just begin Bandstand at 3pm, cut away to Who Do You Trust? The "ab" logo was replaced with the iconic stylized "AB" logo (shown at the top of this page) used for the remainder of the show's run. The typical production schedule consisted of videotaping three shows on a Saturday and three shows on a Sunday, every six weeks. Dick Clark never played either song on American Bandstand. We sent some 15,000 fan letters each week. Aura Mayari Just Wants to Live Her Zombie Apocalypse Fantasy. I knew I was different early on, but being with all these [Bandstand] friends, I came to terms with my feelings. On September 13, 1969, the Bandstand set was given a complete overhaul and Les Elgart's big band version of "Bandstand Boogie" was replaced by the Mike Curb theme. "My heart hurts," said Gibson, a regular from 1959 to 1961. Carole made the world a better place," Gibson wrote on a Facebook page called America's Original Bandstand Dancers. Zach Shallcross Struggles to Watch Himself Dancing Terribly on The Bachelor, Alison Brie on Sex Scenes: 'We Are Actors, This Is Our Job'. Give me some Thumbs UP!This is Bunny Gibson and the American Bandstand Regulars live at Sesame Park outside of Philadelphia on July 21,. Sullivans last appearance onAmerican Bandstandwas in 1960.7, In the early 1960s, a new collection of teen regulars succeeded Arlene Sullivans generation onAmerican Bandstandsdance floor. Clark regularly asked teenagers their opinions of the songs being played, through the "Rate-a-Record" segment. "After that, it was history.". The parents of one kid on the show found out that he was gay . In 1962, ABC trimmed the shows airtime from 90 to 60 minutes. But he feared that if the shows secret ever came out, Middle America would change the channel. It was briefly shot in color in 1958 when WFIL-TV began experimenting with the new technology. How a Beloved Tori Amos B-Side Transformed 'Of An Age'. Click here to see some of your favorites back in action. 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. I started going out to straight clubs.. BUT he was out for Clark., Sullivan claims there were four other popular girl dancers on the show whom she knew to be lesbians, and they hung out together. The new legislation effectively ended payola in the music business.2, American Bandstandtoo weathered the payola storm. Weekday afternoons were spent with the kids in Philly, the kids on American Bandstand. It was horrible.. So Bandstand really did change her life in many ways. It was horrible.. There were even allegations that Clark conducted witch hunts, sending production staff to Rittenhouse Square, at the center of Philadelphia's gayborhood, to see if any of the young stars were there. 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. View Our Classic TV Shows Directory 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. Fifty years later, Bandstand fan Sharon Sultan Cutler wondered what had become of the "Regulars," the name given to the teens that showed up daily to dance. 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. Watch video clips of the American Bandstand dancers here. 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. [18][19][20] Dubbed as The New American Bandstand and distributed by LBS Communications, the series' tapings were moved from the ABC Television Center to the Hollywood studios of Los Angeles's PBS member station KCET,[21] with a new set was similar to that of Soul Train. I had asked Norman to dance when it was a ladies choice. There were occasional shows that were not hosted by Clark, in which case a substitute host (among them Rick Azar) was brought in.[6]. ", 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.". You eventually get cancelled.. Prior to the move, Bandstand had sourced many of its up-and-coming acts from Philadelphia's Cameo-Parkway Records. Like Rick Pierce, Bandstand dancer Sandra Mae Dawson, who died Feb. 25, 2008, at age 66, was into car racing. We were like sisters. It became a national institution and Dick Clark a celebrity. . Out filmmaker Christopher Landon spills the spooky tea on his new movie and working with the 'White Lotus' star. [3] Jackson,American Bandstand, quote from unpaginated photo section. American Bandstand Fundraiser Pictures, To my knowledge, no VHS tape of American Bandstand is commercially available. Unsure and fearful about her true sexual identity, Sullivan tried passing as straight. My parents were always there for me. She says she never had a crush on a straight dancer, and was close friends with celebrity guest Annette Funicello. When he became a regular in 1959, Clark was only 30. Bob Horn Host (Bob Horns Bandstand), Bandstand Boogie American Bandstand Regulars -- Justine Carrelli, Joe Fusco, Myrna Horowitz - The 3rd Degree - 1989 Bandstands Best 3.54K subscribers Subscribe 343 127K views 10 years ago THE USE OF ANY. She acknowledges that some of the other girls she knew on the show were also gay. From the late 1950s and most of the 1960s, Clark's on-camera sidekick was announcer Charlie O'Donnell, who later went on to announce Wheel of Fortune and other programs hosted or produced by Clark, such as The $100,000 Pyramid. Teenagers and young adults ran home from school to watch them jitterbug and stroll while they copied their fashions, fads and dance moves. And in her early 20s, she actually tied the knot with a young man. Sullivan was almost 14, the required age for the show, when she became a Regular. "He wasn't no Bob Horn," Fiorentino said. Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 shares the fascinating story of how Dick Clark's American Bandstand and its millions of viewers catapulted its teenage dancers (called "the Regulars") to fame. Clark weathered the hearings by not being fully transparent, and he avoided being indicted for criminal behavior. The Slop. 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. The Village People performed their legendary song, "YMCA" for the audience in Pasadena, California. //-->. Reply. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. 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.. 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. American Bandstand started life as a Philadelphia TV show in 1952, with Bob Horn as master of ceremonies. We'll see you then. He promoted the couples on the show to mask the fact that so many guys were gay.5. running a series on drunken driving. This site does not collect any information from you. . 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. She was a senior.and luckily on the Honor Roll. 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. 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. 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 . Clark said this about Horn: His name was Dick Clark and in the next year the show was transformed from a local show to a syndicated. What they didnt know was that Arlene and several of the other female dancers, and most of the handsome teen boys, were gay. Michael Jackson, a frequent Bandstand guest, performed We call him Namron and yes, if you spell his name backwards it spells, Norman. 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. No way I will get in his way! 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). [2] Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Paylola and Sponsorship Identification, Federal Communications Act, Amendments, 1960. Unlike Smith, she expresses no animosity toward Clark. I was trying to hit them over their heads with my pocketbook, but they just wouldnt give up. On May 3, 2002, Dick Clark hosted a one-off special 50th anniversary edition on ABC. [8] In the fall of 1961, ABC truncated American Bandstand's airtime from 90 to 60 minutes (4:005:00pm ET), then even further as a daily half-hour (4:004:30pm ET) program in September 1962; beginning in early 1963, all five shows for the upcoming week were videotaped the preceding Saturday. 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. These teenagers became the nation's first reality-TV stars--they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. Dick Clark 1929 2012, Dick Clark with Johnny Crawford. AB WALLET PHOTOS. The Saturday show would run until 1960. American Bandstand played a crucial role in introducing Americans to such famous artists as Prince, Jackson 5, Sonny and Cher, Aerosmith, and John Lydon's PiLall of whom made their American TV debuts on the show. ", "I was shaking like a leaf," Colanero recalled. WFIL reverted to the TK-10s two weeks later when ABC refused to carry the color signal and management realized that the show lost perspective without the extra cameras. Sullivans co-author, Ray Smith, recently retired after 40 years as an Emmy-winning Today show producer. I knew when couples broke up. 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 says. 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.. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED! I still have my HI-FI sitting against a wall between my living room and dining room. 4/8/1989 10/7/1989 Syndicated "Bandstand's Backyard". Wed stay up all night talking about boys, she said. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED! 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. He would dance on the show until early 1960. But just like a lot of today's showmances are concocted, many of the Bandstand boppers were harboring a big secret: They were gay. SaturdayBandstandretained 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. I started going out to straight clubs.. "[5] In one humorous segment broadcast for years on retrospective shows, comedians Cheech and Chong appeared as the record raters. Norman passed away on December 6, 1990. My husband and I met on a blind date and six months later on April 12, 1964 we were married. "Dick Clark introduced records, and the camera followed teenagers as they selected partners to dance," writes historian Matthew Delmont. I am not sure I can post that part of the video as I have no rights to the music they play and is heard in the background of the parade. from CBS in November 1957, they renamed the program as Who Do You Trust? AMERICAN BANDSTAND BLOG. JUSTINE AND BOB. Wed stay up all night talking about boys, said Sullivan. We followed their dance steps on TV and their personal lives in Teen magazines. 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. She also mentions a gay dancer who was pushed in the train tracks, and another who was dangled over an elevator shaft. Teenagers dance on an episode of Dick Clark's television program, 'American Bandstand,' 1950s. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. OnAmerican Bandstandsdance floor, Sullivan was first partnered famously with Kenny Rossi (1957-58), a multitalented Italian-American student at West Catholic Boys High School, and such was her national popularity that her fan mail eventually totaled some 500 letters weekly. We moved around the floor the way our parents did in the 40s. Interracial couples were not allowed on camera, so they sat on the sidelines. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. In fact, it was dangerous. The Philadelphia high school Regulars who danced on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the late 1950s and early 1960s became national celebrities and America's first reality stars. "When I walked through those doors, that was the only place I wanted to be," said Gibson, 66, an actress who now lives in Los Angeles. 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. In front of the camera, Clark called the shots. Wagon Train Website,