The Regulars, also known as The Committee were only a part of the Bandstand story. e9.size = "300x250"; From 1974 to 1977, there was a newer, orchestral disco version of "Bandstand Boogie", arranged and performed by Joe Porter, played during the opening and closing credits. He molded the image of the American teenager so America would accept rock-and-roll.". Aura Mayari Just Wants to Live Her Zombie Apocalypse Fantasy. GALLERY 4. Remember, these Regulars werent paid actors or dancers. Finally, we got away and jumped over the turnstile. We'll see you the next time on American Bandstand. from CBS in November 1957, they renamed the program as Who Do You Trust? I'm David Hirsch and, on behalf of American Bandstand, I bid you, for the last time, goodbye. 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. 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. Fiorentino, whose mother died when he was 12, said Clark became a role model. Nicholas Fiorentino, 67, a South Philly native now living in Cherry Hill, said it was clear even to Bandstand teenagers that Clark was going places. But . 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 . But he vividly recalls that one of his fellow gay dancers was thrown onto the El tracks outside the studio, and another popular regular who was gay and often danced with Sullivan was dangled over an elevator shaft.. On December 27 Bunny Gibson, American Bandstand Regular from 1959-1962, married Duke Tirschel in Chattanooga , Tennessee. Never, did I ever think that I would be with him, holding his hand when he passed away. I was a preteen, which is to say, I was a teenage wannabe. No way I will get in his way! 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He debuted in Studio 3B at WFIL-TV, near the El train stop in West Philadelphia, in 1956 when he was a 13-year-old junior high school student. Carole Ann Scaldeferri Spada, 70, of Newtown Square, a regular dancer on American Bandstand from 1957 to 1961, has died. They werent playing basketball. 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. While ABC wasnt in the quiz show business, a congressional subcommittee found another reason to investigate the network. Parents across America would never, NEVER have allowed their kids to put Bandstand on, she writes. They werent playing baseball they were DANCING. It was a local show Philadelphia, Jersey, the Lehigh Valley [Pennsylvania]. But just like a lot of today's showmances are concocted, many of the Bandstand boppers were harboring a big secret: They were gay. He said funeral services are pending. . They also reported on the careers and whereabouts of many of the other regulars and several of the shows musical guests. Carole made the world a better place," Gibson wrote on a Facebook page called America's Original Bandstand Dancers. They were introduced as a result of an email sent to the Fifties Web. 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. Television host Dick Clark presides over the set of his show American Bandstand in 1957. I never had a crush on her. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. 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. Steve Colanero, 66, a West Philadelphia transplant in Palm Beach, Fla., posted on Facebook a picture from the 1980s of himself with Clark. 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. If it wasnt assaults from outside haters, some of the Bandstand kids suffered in their own homes. This historical marker recalls Dick Clarks American Bandstand, which was broadcast from West Philadelphia from 1957 to 1964. We sent some 15,000 fan letters each week. I kissed a girl, and I liked it! Sullivan, now 74 and long out of the closet, reveals in a fascinating self-published book, Bandstand Diaries billed as The Book Youve Waited Over 50 Years to Read!. Five-foot-two, brown-eyed, brown-haired Arlene and handsome Kenny, a year younger, were among the TV music shows elite, its stars, the vaunted regulars along with another couple often on camera pert, blond Justine Carrelli and suave Bob Clayton. Bob Horn Host (Bob Horns Bandstand), Bandstand Boogie Dancing with the American Bandstand Stars Fundraiser, July 15, 2009 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. Clark claimed that the affiliates got greedy and took the time back to put their own material on where they got 100 percent of the revenue. 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. ", California residents do not sell my data request. I was SO mixed up., Today, Arlene Sullivan lives with a partner and, despite having suffered strokes, still loves to dance. "He wasn't no Bob Horn," Fiorentino said. 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. There were represented American Bandstand Dancers from the beginnings in Philadelphia to the last days in Los Angeles.After this short there is the complete Sesame Street Park Parade with the Regulars dancing all along with them. One young performer was dangled down an elevator shaft. . 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 While the teens, all homegrown talent, rocked onstage, two cameras homed in on them for close-ups. In addition to his other ventures, Clark maintained a virtual lock on New Years Eve television withDick ClarksNew Years Rockin Eve. Give me some Thumbs UP!This is Bunny Gibson and the American Bandstand Regulars live at Sesame Park outside of Philadelphia on July 21,. Hes a heckuva good dancer who does a mean jitterbug! 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. History goes back and forth with the timing and motives of the integration, but nevertheless, American Bandstand socially impacted teenagers' opinions regarding race. Oddly enough, I have never checked with the other Regulars to get their feedback. This kit packs $431 worth of premium skincare and haircare into a small packageand it's only $80 with the promo code. Another time, a dancer was thrown onto the subway tracks. In late spring of 1957, the ABC television network asked their O&O's and affiliates for programming suggestions to fill their 3:30p.m. (ET) time slot (WFIL had been pre-empting the ABC programming with Bandstand). 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. Due to the size of the studio, the need to have as much dance space as possible, and the size of the cumbersome color camera compared to the black-and-white models, it was only possible to have one RCA TK-41 where three RCA TK-10s[4] had been used before. running a series on drunken driving. 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. Wagon Train Website,