When we think back on #AmericanBandstand, the #DickClark years usually to mind. Justine was 12. Unsure and fearful about her true sexual identity, Sullivan tried passing as straight. The group is notable for the hit songs 'Come Go with Me' and 'Whispering Bells', and for having been a successful. I got stopped at the door and said to the cop, but Lucille and Diane got in and theyre in my class, she said. Two weeks later, Bandstand moved to first-run syndication. Blanche Keastead, N.J.Bob and Justine share their memories of the late Dick Clark and moreA: Though they split in 1960 after three-plus years of jitterbugging on the Dick Clarkhosted show, they were happy to see each other at the 40th reunion in 1992. 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. My family, friends and co-workers all remember Saturday's weekly TV series American Bandstand back in the 1960's and 1970's when it was THE ONLY music related theme show that could compete each week with the popularity of the following evenings Sunday night TV's Ed Sullivan show. 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. Then Dick Clark died in 2012. Connie Francis. There were occasional shows that were not hosted by Clark, in which case a substitute host (among them Rick Azar) was brought in.[6]. A look ahead at the legislative session, Barbara Bryant, the first woman to head the U.S. census, has died at 96, Scientists find signs of horse riding in ancient human remains, A man dies of a brain-eating amoeba, possibly from rinsing his sinuses with tap water, Garland supports effort to hold Russia accountable for war crimes, Harlem, Hopper and Dreams. And now we have computers. 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. Dick Clark gave her a committee card, which all Regulars had to have to get into the building. She said to go to Hawaii. I started going out to straight clubs.. Tom Ridge and Mayor Edward G. Rendell helped unveil a state historical marker outside the studio after dancing ``The Twist with Checker. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. A 1958 graduate of P. S. DuPont High School, Bob was. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Themselves - Dancers 1 episode, 1962 Tony Brady . 1960s. One couple on the show was a couple in real life; Justine Carrelli and Bob Clayton dated for three years. When she was 13, a boy the same age became smitten with her from his living room in Middletown, Conn. Richard Spada drew a picture of Carole and sent it to the show; Dick Clark held it up on the air. It was the late '60s and early '60s when kids across the country would tune in to see Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi slow dance on American Bandstand.Before the reality show craze took America by . Justine said yes. Making matters worse, on September 13, 1986, ABC reduced Bandstand from a full hour to 30 minutes;[13] at Clark's request, the 2,751st and final ABC installment[14] (with Laura Branigan[15] performing "Shattered Glass"[16][17]) aired on September 5, 1987. Who was the first black dancer on American Bandstand? sign up for our monthly Nostalgia e-newsletter or other e-newsletters tailored for boomers. FOR SALE! When did Dick Clark start dancing on American Bandstand? The Village People performed their legendary song, "YMCA" for the audience in Pasadena, California. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. She was in that category.. Bob had his last get-together with Justine at a Christmas party in his Delaware home in 2013. "The whole thing was like a grand party," she said. By 1973, the show drew many of the top R&B performers and competed with American Bandstand for viewers on Saturday afternoons. They were the squeaky-clean Kardashians of their era, and Bandstand could easily claim the title as the first reality show. Who are the couples on Bandstand in real life? Copyright 2022 WGCU. Bob and Justine share their memories of the late Dick Clark and more A: Though they split in 1960 after three-plus years of jitterbugging on the Dick Clark-hosted show, they were happy to see . They will always be my favorite couple. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. The Twist the first dance to come out where people danced separately and the Monkey and Jerk came out after Id left.. She spent almost an hour, five days a week, on the fifteen-mile bus ride from her school to the WFIL studios just to dance. Kenny loved to sing. The latest news and how to stay informed. INSIDE EDITION caught up with a man and woman who met on Dick Clark's show American Bandstand 50 years ago, and have remained friends ever since. He still treats me like Im the queen of the hop, Justine said. Beach Boys on American Bandstand. 4 How old is Arlene Sullivan from American Bandstand? Sometimes, he would come home from school and turn on the show. The kids of today missed out. The couple, born again Christians, run a no-smoking, no-gossip beauty shop in the Philadelphia suburbs. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of their separation. The bashing of Bandstand regulars, gay and straight, happened all the time, Sullivan and Smith reveal. Both were ratings disasters. Who were the most popular dancers on American Bandstand? The Beach Boys were already the kings of surf pop by their first appearance on American Bandstand in 1964. He had no idea if she was married. Hey, our thanks to Laura Branigan for joining us here on American Bandstand today. He was also reportedly involved in a prostitution ring and brought up on morals charges. Other performers including Brandy, members of KISS, Dennis Quaid and his band The Sharks, Cher, and Stevie Wonder also performed to remember the iconic program.[41]. We had fans, we had groupies," said Steve Colanero, 56, a dancer from 1959 to 1961 and . The original "Bandstand," as it was called in 1952, was first hosted by deejay Bob Horn, who later was fired due to a drunk-driving conviction.. . She blurted out count me in., So, I guess that was the part when I knew that it wasnt going to be a one-time meeting., She visited Jim in Venice that Thanksgiving. What they didnt know was that Arlene and several of the other female dancers, and most of the handsome teen boys, were gay. Dick Clark did feature black recording artists as guests on American Bandstand - and he did so from his earliest days as host. Hints. I met Arlene in 1961 she was very sweet.Unfortunely I never got to meet Kenny. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. It turns out she was only 10 months older. Clark was known for integrating his audiences as well as his performers unusual in the late 50s. Davey Frees, president of the American Bandstand Fan Club, never got to the studio while the show was on the air. He still treats me like Im the queen of the hop, Justine said. Browse 1,010 american bandstand dancers stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. I had met other fans along the way, she said, but not that Id had lunch with them.. Arlene asked him to dance and thus Arlene and Kenny happened. 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. Ray Smith was one of the shows secretly gay dancers. Where did the dancers from American Bandstand come from? such material remains the copyrig. He found her selling real estate in Dolan Springs, Arizona, population 1,989. Bandstand originally used "High Society" by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of Charles Albertine's "Bandstand Boogie", including Les Elgart's big-band recording remembered by viewers of the daily version. He died Jan. 19, 2009, at age 64. 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. Jim Miller was in junior high, living on Long Island, New York, when Bandstand became a national hit. 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. [The knowledge about the dancers] would have destroyed himand the . She said to go to Hawaii. 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. Then it was hosted by Bob Horn and was called Bob Horn's Bandstand.On July 9 of 1956 the show got a new host, a clean-cut 26 year old named Dick Clark. Like nostalgia? I was smitten by her. 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. Tuesday, Justine Carrelli and Bob Clayton took another spin in the same studio, where they joined more than two dozen other middle-aged teen dancers from ``American Bandstand. Host Dick Clark and former teen idols such as Chubby Checker and Connie Francis also made it to the 40th anniversary celebration. She tracked them down for the new coffee-table book, Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963. In addition, the show has performances by popular musicians and audience members rate songs. wordlist = ['!', '$.027', '$.03', '$.054/mbf', '$.07', '$.07/cwt', '$.076', '$.09', '$.10-a-minute', '$.105', '$.12', '$.30', '$.30/mbf', '$.50', '$.65', '$.75', '$. Here is a short recap of her recollections. 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, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer.It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical actover the decades . American Bandstand/Music composed by. What is causing the plague in Thebes and how can it be fixed? In the first year after Dick Clark took over as host in the summer of 1956, Bandstand remained a popular local hit, but it took Clarks ambition to help it break out. 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. In another format shift, it was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Who wrote the theme song to American Bandstand? Dick Clark died on April 18, 2012, at the age of 82. We'll see you then. 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. See production, box office & company info, Bandstand Boogie (The Theme of 'American Bandstand'), Nostalgic? The Del-Vikings also known as The Dell-Vikings were an American doo-wop group that recorded several hit singles in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. I never had a crush on her. Who were the most popular dancers on American Bandstand? Browse celebrity nostalgia on our website. Clark produced it briefly in syndication and on cable. Horn, however, was disenchanted with the program, and wanted to change the show to a dance program with teenagers dancing along on camera as records played, based on an idea that came from a radio show on WPEN, The 950 Club, hosted by Joe Grady and Ed Hurst. 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. Televisions shows had meaning and was part of our family as well. [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. It's now a Guinness World Record, Collier County issues burn ban; Fire fought on Wilson Boulevard. Where Are the American Bandstand Regulars Now? What a Beautiful love story..Kenny and Arlene were my favorite couple on 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. Robert H. Clayton, age 75 of Wilmington, DE. Clark regularly asked teenagers their opinions of the songs being played, through the "Rate-a-Record" segment.