This is but one of the many bitter memories that I and many of the people that I grew up with have about, Henry Gordon said in 1995 as he looked at an old photo of the kids at, Anything that looks like a black face in this picture is probably a white face in the shadows. Even when black artists like Chuck Berry and Fats Domino appeared in live shows, 95% of the audience was white. Soon after the show went on the air, Horn met a 13-year-old girl at the station and they began a sexual relationship. When Horn was arrested for drunk-driving on June 21, 1956, hardly anyone aside from station staffers and music industry insiders knew about his sexual life, and it didnt come to light even then. Horn played mainstream singers like Doris Day and Frankie Laine. Why did the station move so quickly to dump Horn? Ill close with a personal reminiscence. Allisons show also attracted a different type. Wordens parties included nudity and sexual promiscuity. Bandstand had a lurid involvement with sexual assault that hasnt been fully explored publicly, until now in detail in Part Two of this story. The program, starting in 1952, originally was simply named Bandstand. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. He picked his own employee, Bob Horn, and copied from WPEN the idea of teenagers in the studio. As host of American Bandstand, Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans. Clark was the host of American Bandstand in the late 50s through the mid-60s. If he did that stuff he was accused of, we never knew about it.. You were like a big star. At his trials, Horn said that he first met Lois when she came to his office at WFIL one evening in 1954 and after that he saw her frequently at the West Philadelphia restaurant where he ate dinner. I always thought Horn did a poor job relating to the kids. He took my friend Adam and me out fishing on his boat, along with some of his record-company friends, and asked us for ideas to improve the show. She just walks up and introduces herself. My friends Famous Hooks and Lori Montgomery were told they could no longer be dancing partners because of our racial difference., The producer told us very nicely that it was okay with him personally, but some stations wouldnt like it, so please dont do slow dances together. Courtesy American Bandstand. Philadelphias Carole Scaldeferri, a regular on the show from 1957 to 1961, met Richard Spada in 1957, when he was a fan who traveled to Philadelphia to see the show in person. I talked to the kids on the same intellectual level. Horn was from the old school, a radio announcer conversant with varied forms of music, from semi-classical to pop. The men sat on chairs against the walls of the studio and the girls sometimes knelt in front of them and satisfied them. Allison then moved to California. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But I had to take a double-take when they showed black people in the stands, she says. This was her unique moral code. Elliot surprised me with a trip with all our best friends in April of 2022, Sofia remembers. Stanley J. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 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. It became integrated in 1957 because I elected to make it so, he was being outrageously simplistic. Clark became a national icon with the popular dance show American Bandstand in the late We were family for years, Carrelli, 68, tells Parade.com about Clark's passing. The makeup for the entire weekend was super simple and clean, Sofia says. They were some of the most famous kids in America, dancing every day on American Bandstand.. To put this in perspective, when the later-to-become-famous Ed Rendell was elected District Attorney in 1977 his vote total was much less than Blancs only 212,000. The dancers have aged, some have gained weight or grown mustaches, but they continue to follow whats hip in fashion and dance steps. One early photo shows the studio with an audience that was almost half black. A black man who grew up a few years after that is Thomas E. Kennedy: I grew up at 47th and Haverford, two city blocks from the studio. That becomes understandable when you learn that its original host led a sordid life that included a sexual affair with a teenage girl. Dave Feldman, a Bandstand dancer, suggests one reason why so many of the kids came from Catholic schools: They were taught that dancing was wrong, and especially that girls shouldnt dance on television, so they did it to rebel. Also, the closest school to the studio, geographically, was a Catholic one. Beach Boys on American Bandstand. I always said it would be a dream to do our first dance to Stuck on YouHello was a surprise, and the whole room was singing along., The after-party, which had a nightclub-inspired vibe, featured a performance from Good Charlotte, who both Sofia and Elliot grew up listening to. Who were the first guests on American Bandstand? My favorites have always been Hello and Stuck on You, Sofia says. With the help of Clark and his wife, Richard contacted Carole and the two were married six months later. The sex-with-minors angle was too shocking for public consumption, and the station didnt dare to reveal it. From there, the wedding planning quickly commenced. Blanc decided to go on a crusade of his own and he chose entertainment celebrities as his target. And two, a scandal at another Philadelphia station. ET. A low-budget sexploitation film called Models, Inc. was distributed by Philadelphia film executive Jack Harris. Theres a dramatic difference between the description of Horn by his adult co-workers and what we hear from his teenage fans. I dont think anyone kept them out; they just didnt come., Bunny Gibson was a dancer on the show for two-and-a-half years in the mid-50s. We stayed up laughing all night, she admits. 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. In addition, the show has performances by popular musicians and audience members rate songs. He proposed at golden hourit was magical. Forever isnt long enough is how she captioned the Instagram post from the day. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. After you got a committee card you didnt have to wait in line to get into the show. You better believe Ill be there, Frees said of the Rock A Rama appearance. Maybe he was on edge because the vice trial was about to start a few days later. 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. Allison differentiated himself from Bob Horn as a performer, saying he was not a disc-jockey but, instead, a man who discussed issues on the air. He picked his own employee, Bob Horn, and copied from WPEN the idea of teenagers in the studio. But then some people at the station worried that the program could become identified as a black show. Blancs sting operation was hush-hush except for the private phone call that Blanc made to his friend at WFIL, towards the end of the investigation, to alert him to the Bob Horn problem. To me, it embodies the classic elegance and femininity that Karl Lagerfeld was such a genius at. The brides sister, Nicole Richie, designed a pair of diamond earrings to complement the rehearsal dinner dress. Bob became like a second father to me. (There never was any picket line. Hosted by local radio personality Bob Horn, the original Bandstand nevertheless established much of the basic format of its later incarnation. The reunion gossip even included a love story. WebBy the shows 30th anniversary, almost 600,000 teenagers and 10,000 performers had appeared on the program. In all, 27 men were arrested. Bob got one of his friends to write a song for me, Since I Met Him at the Senior Dance, and Bob paid for me to take singing lessons. This went on for almost three years, sometimes in a radio studio while Horns records were spinning on the air. They are true rock stars. 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. When I took over the programming of Menefees afternoon show in the summer of 1953, Menefee attacked me on the air. He also personally picked me up in South Philly and drove me to his record hops. 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. My dad, Elliots dad, and Elliots best friend, Jack, gave incredible speeches. In the song originally sung by country music legend Kenny Rogers (1938-2020) and released in 1979, the real name of the Coward of the County is Tommy, though he is generally known by his nickname of Yellow. Menefee was a curmudgeon on the air. Now One day a group of, In this part of the story well see what Bob Horn did that ended his career and also caused the ABC network and its Philadelphia affiliate to ignore the 50, Most acquaintances describe Horn as arrogant and self-centered, although none of the dancers on his show saw him that way. This soon became a potential explosive situation, so the studio created an admission system that required passes that were distributed prior to the day of the show. 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. 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. Pat Boone. Vic Blanc became a judge, then resigned when he developed mental lapses which would today be labeled as Alzheimers disease. 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.. 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. Ill jump and, hey, I may even show em my handstand, because Im on the American Bandstand., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. 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. 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. One example is Bob Menefee, the top-paid disc jockey at WIP. WebBrowse 1,013 american bandstand dancers photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. They've still got the moves, more than a half century later! She was petite, less than 100 pounds, with a big bosom. 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. They were more interested in stations that played r&b all the time, and they stopped coming by their own choice., Deejay Jerry Blavat says: Blacks didnt go to public music events. Courtney Bennett, Dancing on Air: Dance Shows, Communications, and CommunityBefore Tik Tok and YouTube dance crazes dominated youth culture, televised One man, convicted and fined fifty dollars, went on to a career as a philanthropist and supporter of political candidates up to the 21. century. The mother was put on trial for manslaughter. All the photos from Horns last two years show nothing but white kids in the studio. When Dick Clark found out about it he was furious and banished them from attending his show forever. One piece of advice I received that I have carried throughout the wedding weekend was to look around and really take in all the love around usbecause it is so rare and so special to have all of your loved ones in one place.. I didnt know it at the time, but Blanc must have been on his way to or from his secret lair on some occasions when he stopped by to see my dad. ET. Show me a guy who hasnt done that and Ill show you a queer.. But soon WFIL built the set that became famous, which is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution, simulating a corner of a music store. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Horn was from the old school, a radio announcer conversant with varied forms of music, from semi-classical to pop. In addition, the girl who accused Joe Valino of arranging her abortion was one of the models who attended the Allison show and met men there. Horn would tell them that he wanted, His career was brought down by a teenage girl, but she did. Bob Horn complimented me on my dancing ability and for the way I dressed. It was just his, Horn, on the other hand, didnt show such warmth to colleagues. In this part of the story well see what Bob Horn did that ended his career and also caused the ABC network and its Philadelphia affiliate to ignore the 50th anniversary of the programs start. PINK FLOYD Prog-rock started making its way into American living rooms via Bandstand in 1967. But he was an ambitious politician. Not nasty trouble. Web1469 episodes 19521989 Charlie O'Donnell Self - Announcer 227 episodes 19581968 Peaches Johnson Self (dancer) (1975-1980) 107 episodes 19751980 Stan Rodarte 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. Sun | T.G.I.F. Jerry Blavat, then a youngster on the committee, reports that he turned Horn on to Sh-Boom by The Chords, Little Darling by the Gladiolas and Earth Angel by The Penguins (all were black groups.) Jeryl Brunner Aug 8, 2017 In the summer of 1956, a teenager named Ray Smith stood in line before Philadelphias WFILs Studio B to be one of the lucky kids to earn a Horn bragged to song-pluggers that he had to shove this music down the throats of station management, but he was unjustly trying to claim credit for himself. When I danced on TV people noticed me, and it led to my career in the business. Some people have criticized Dick Clark for keeping blacks out, but clearly the policy was started by Horn, before Clark. Valino was convicted of arranging an abortion and his singing career virtually ended. A generation later, courts began to rule that a woman has the right to say no at any point in a relationship. One day a group of American Bandstand dancers went to Harmony Park, a popular club in Anaheim, and got drunk. One dancing duo, Kenny and Arlene, became the biggest teen sensations ever to come out of the show. Horn became a radio personality at Phillys WIP, then moved to WFIL in 1951 because that station offered more money and because FIL had a sister TV station (part of the ABC network) and Horn hoped for a future on television. American Bandstand 1961 4th Anniversary Show (Partial Episode) Former Dancers Horn usually brought an entourage of men with him to the studio, and sometimes additional girls. He was very friendly. She was 17 when I met her in 1956. WebThe Buddy Deane Show was a teen dance television show, created by Zvi Shoubin, hosted by Winston "Buddy" Deane (19242003), and aired on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the then-ABC affiliate station in Baltimore from 1957 until 1964. In the first year He took us fishing on his boat and introduced us to his wife and kids. They felt that if the show was perceived as a Negro show, white teenagers would stay away. It took us about a year working with Banana Split, who have been fantastic., A few weeks before the weddingand ahead of debuting her new last name on TikTokthe bride went to the Chanel haute couture salons in Paris, accompanied by her mother-in-law, Lady Caroline Grainge, and her best friend, Ali Meller, for her final dress fittings. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - In the late 1950s and early '60s, everyone knew Bob and Justine, Kenny and Arlene, and Ed and Bunny. 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. We re-created the Claudia Schiffer corset dress from the early 90s, she explains. In this climate, Philadelphias new district attorney decided to make sexual misconduct in broadcasting a public issue. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Blancs secret headquarters was at 1927 Chestnut Street while my fathers optical store was a block away at 1835 Chestnut. For seven years kids had been coming to WPEN at 1522 Walnut Street and riding the elevator to spend a couple of hours at their club, which was a small studio without windows. Making out in the back seat or copping a feel is the most that any of us ever did.. On one of those jobs Lois gave oral sex to one of the Allison crowd for $40 and on another job had sex with a man for a hundred dollars, all this when she was 15 and in the midst of her relationship with Horn. Walter Annenberg, who owned WFIL and the Philadelphia Inquirer and TV Guide, asked his station manager, Roger Clipp, in the summer of 1952 to try a dance program aimed at teenagers. The show would air immediately after school when kids were home without parental supervision. As well as a blue embroideredS&E on the inside of the dress above my heart.. 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. anniversary, there was no commemoration. Most acquaintances describe Horn as arrogant and self-centered, although none of the dancers on his show saw him that way. 5 What was the real name of the Coward of the County? 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. Who were the original dancers on American Bandstand? And it was Frees, not any of the original Bandstanders interviewed Thursday, who remembered the words to the shows theme song, written by Barry Manilow. In 1966, in Houston, Horn died of a heart attack at the age of 50. Mayor Dilworth and his administration had a reputation for honesty, but the citys officials did socialize with media people and Blanc feared that information about his crusade with leak out. Clark inherited WFILs local television show, (1952-56) from the deejay Bob Horn, who proved that teenagers liked watching their peers dance. The grind was a very sexy dance that you did on a slow record. Consequently, black teens were in effect erased from the national youth culture that formed aroundAmerican Bandstand.. "I spread the Beehive across America," said Bunny Gibson, 56, on the show from 1959 to 1962. A family member revealed that one day Horn felt so depressed that he put a pistol in his mouth and his wife had to talk him out of committing suicide. When the program moved to California in 1964, it presented its first regular dancer who was black. American Bandstand Broadcast History. I did, obviously, because theyre family, she notes, referring to Nicoles husband, the bands lead vocalist Joel Madden. 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. When Horns personal indiscretions led to his ouster from Bandstand in 1956, he was replaced by the more youthful, slimmer, squeaky clean Dick Clark. I never saw black people dancing on the show early on, but that didnt faze me. Allison and Horn were each acquitted, but neither one of them got their jobs back. Some blacks complained that these cards were sent mainly to all-white parochial schools, but I cant find evidence of that. In any event, he struck another car and left a 5-year-old occupant of that car paralyzed. 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. 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. Any place theres dancing, Ill still go, said Joe Fusco, who was 15 when he joined the And guess what? 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. I was so innocent that I thought they wouldnt stand in our way. By what name was American Bandstand (1952) officially released in Canada in English? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Weekday afternoons were spent with the kids in Philly, the kids on American Bandstand. A 1957 jury deadlocked, then a judge acquitted Horn at a second trial, this one without a jury. 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. Since no black students went to school dressed like that, we couldnt get in anymore. I didnt know anyone who had sex. It was so incredibly special to wear her design during the most important time of my life, Sofia says. Also in 1956 a 19-year-old model accused vocalist Joe Valino (a Sinatra sound-alike whose real name was Joe Paolino) of getting her pregnant then taking her to a doctor to have it taken care of. 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. In 1950 WPEN moved into a modern new building at 2212 Walnut Street. At just 13 and 16, This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. By 1973, the show drew many of the top R&B performers and competed with American Bandstand for viewers on Saturday afternoons. 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. 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 Tele Every day after school, we would head for the TV studio which was near my high school , For those of you that question or challenge this please try and recall a scene from the shows in Philadelphia where the girls were not wearing Catholic school uniform dresses and the boys were not wearing the white shirt and tie Catholic school boys uniform. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI ), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. Black kids were turned back at the entrance without any explanation. At WFIL they thought: What a wonderful idea for TV! American Bandstand Broadcast History. Some of the Allison crowd got involved, also, with an aspiring model named Maxine. April Stevens, whose rushed recording of Deep Purple with her brother, Nino Tempo, became a chart So Horn, in a way, was the good guy who had no ethnic prejudice and who had blacks and whites in equal numbers in the early days of Bandstand. 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 partygoers at Wordens place knew to stop short with Maxine when she attended, because of her strict rule. 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. Cameraman Vince Gasbarro said: Horn was old-looking.
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