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. American Bandstand started life as a Philadelphia TV show in 1952, with Bob Horn as master of ceremonies. One singer who appeared on his show says Horn was a loud-mouth smart-ass with an appetite for girls. Other acquaintances use words like arrogant and self-centered. By 1973, the show drew many of the top R&B performers and competed with American Bandstand for viewers on Saturday afternoons. Victor Blanc, the DA, was investigating what he called teenage sex rings. He phoned Lew Klein, an executive at WFIL who was a lodge-brother of his, and warned him not to reinstate Horn because theres more to the story; this is only the beginning of Horns problems.. ! Sofia recalls being stunned. The marker stands opposite 4548 Market Street (not shown here), which once housed WFIL-TVand its Studio B, the original home of American Bandstand. In addition, the show has performances by popular musicians and audience members rate songs.Dick Clark hosts a daily to weekly dance show that features the latest hit music for the attending teens to dance to. Clark inherited WFILs local television show, (1952-56) from the deejay Bob Horn, who proved that teenagers liked watching their peers dance. In the otherwise frothy Grease (1978), that dynamic is reiterated. Allison and Horn were each acquitted, but neither one of them got their jobs back. 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. All the brides other jewelry pieces were by Fred Leighton. 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. At WFIL they thought: What a wonderful idea for TV! Why did the station move so quickly to dump Horn? The History of "American Bandstand" - LiveAbout 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. 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. 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. Most acquaintances describe Horn as arrogant and self-centered, although none of the dancers on his show saw him that way. Well, Blanc won his election, and that was the reason for all this, wasnt it? 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. American Bandstand - Wikipedia Teenagers sat in rows on bleachers that were assembled on one side of the studio. Jacobs took the witness stand and backed up Dorothys story. I didnt know anyone who had sex. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The Bandstanders invented steps that are still given a whirl: the bunny hop, the chalypso and the stroll. In the course of his probe Blanc discovered connections between many disparate people. 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. To get in the studio, boys must be wearing a suit jacket and tie. Dick Clark 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. He also danced in a group called the Outrageous Waack Dancers with Daniel and Jody Watley. Pop Conference 2023 - 'Let's Get it Together:' Gatherings, Club But inside the studio, at the end of each show, committee members gave out reservations for future programs. Famous Hooks had known Clark for 40 years and says he never saw the man so upset. 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.) During breaks, they grabbed cameras and cigarettes and tried to catch up with each others lives before Joe called them back for another try at Rock Around the Clock or Oh, Carole.. 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. Not nasty trouble. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". All rights reserved. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Ive never been sexually attracted to very young girls. A generation later, courts began to rule that a woman has the right to say no at any point in a relationship. It has always been a dream of mine to have Chanel design my wedding dress, Sofia says. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Iggy Pop, Ike & Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Talking Heads , Simon & Garfunkel and Madonna. 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. Published April 26, 2023 Updated April 27, 2023, 12:58 a.m. A small table was next to the hosts platform, where guest performers would sit and sign autographs. One early photo shows the studio with an audience that was almost half black. the first American Bandstand We recapped the night and ordered big bowls of pasta along with every French food you could imagine, Sofia says. Prosecutors decided there werent strong enough grounds to indict the man for that, but Maxines story about what went on at the party triggered Philadelphia District Attorney Blancs investigation of sex involving radio and TV personalities. Who were the original dancers on American Bandstand? When I took over the programming of Menefees afternoon show in the summer of 1953, Menefee attacked me on the air. This was her unique moral code. The Tennessee senator had achieved national prominence when he waged a public crusade against crime bosses with televised hearings. Public high schools were more integrated 72% white when Bandstand started, according to Philadelphia School District statistics, while blacks were 28% while Asians and Latinos were less than 1%. 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 Beach Boys on American Bandstand. Cuz Bongiorno became a regular at Bandstand early in 1953. He picked his own employee, Bob Horn, and copied from WPEN the idea of teenagers in the studio. It was an innocent time, says one of them. Since no black students went to school dressed like that, we couldnt get in anymore. 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. I did, obviously, because theyre family, she notes, referring to Nicoles husband, the bands lead vocalist Joel Madden. When the program moved to California in 1964, it presented its first regular dancer who was black. I never saw him drunk or rude or vulgar., Several of these men agree that they all were virgins then. On the day that Allison was indicted, he was about to receive an award for public service from the City of Philadelphia. From the first day, I established the most platonic of friendships with the kids. He also personally picked me up in South Philly and drove me to his record hops. When I took over the programming of Menefees afternoon show in the summer of 1953, Menefee attacked me on the air. Classic TV Shows - Dick Clark's American Bandstand| FiftiesWeb He admitted that he gave her birthday presents a record player one year and one hundred dollars cash another year. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This historical marker recalls Dick Clarks American Bandstand, which was broadcast from West Philadelphia from 1957 to 1964. Horn was kind and fatherly to these teenagers. Even when black artists like Chuck Berry and Fats Domino appeared in live shows, 95% of the audience was white. She enjoyed seeing the TV series American Dreams, produced by Dick Clark in 2002, because it recalled one of the best periods in her life. Fortunately for the station, the clean-cut Dick Clark was on staff and able to take over. 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. 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. 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. Horn was a pioneer when he made the youngsters the stars of the show, and when he gave teenagers a forum to set their own standards of music, dance steps and style. What experience do you need to become a teacher? Horn usually brought an entourage of men with him to the studio, and sometimes additional girls. He personally picked the kids to be on the committee by watching us dance and seeing how we got along with people. 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. At the time, I didnt know it was racism to go somewhere and not get let in. The white kids had no problem with the new dress code. 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. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. What was the real name of the Coward of the County? To me, it embodies the classic elegance and femininity that Karl Lagerfeld was such a genius at.. WebAmerican Bandstand 1957 & 1968 - The Stroll, The Diamonds YouCanDanceToit! Original Bandstand Elliot surprised me with a trip with all our best friends in April of 2022, Sofia remembers. Hooks credits Dick Clark for personally choosing him to be a regular dancer on the show, the first black to gain that distinction. It was hysterical, Sofia says. Weekday afternoons were spent with the kids in Philly, the kids on American Bandstand. The reunion gossip even included a love story. Horn led a double life that included activities his virginal dancers never dreamed of. With Clark, the program became more popular than ever. on Friday. Disgraced in Philadelphia, the 41-year-old Allison found employment at radio station at WWDC in Washington. Jimmie Rodgers, first solo country superstar, the undisputed Father of Country Music. His career was brought down by a teenage girl, but she did not come from the studio audience at Bandstand. For the other two looks, Sofia collaborated closely with her stylist, Liat Baruch, and Douchez to scour through Chanel couture shows of the past and choose the references that she loved. After the indictment was announced, Adleman hastily wrote a press release to save the city from embarrassment. Annenberg asked Horn to confirm or deny that he knew the teenage girl who was cooperating with Blancs investigation. 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. A postscript was added a decade later in California. Blanc had a love-hate relationship with show business, and even got personally involved in it. So, when he went on TV, Bandstand was the obvious choice for a name. Barbara Marcen Wilston danced at the show from 1953 to 1959. Models Inc. was based on a Senate investigation of modeling schools, and in its original form the film opened with a statement by U.S. 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. 3:20 PM. It was so incredibly special to wear her design during the most important time of my life, Sofia says. Former 'American Bandstand' Dancers React to This went on for almost three years, sometimes in a radio studio while Horns records were spinning on the air. Not being able to get in, that was a way of life then. 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. Legally we had to get married in the States beforehand, so right before [we left for France], we got married at home with just our parents. Bob was a PR pro who really knew how to spin a story. 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. Channel 6, WFIL, was owned by Walter Annenberg, whose newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, campaigned against drunk driving, so he didnt want to let Horn off lightly. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 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. These men were, you might say, realists. 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. I used to see Horn with the young girl, Lois, when she accompanied him to the station for his 11-to-midnight radio show. Lois testified that Horn took her to apartments where she willingly had sex with him, and she specified four dates starting in 1953 when she was 13. 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. One of the gifts from them was Lois. I was asked to be a character witness at his trial and I testified that he never tried anything with us. 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. American Bandstand (TV Series 19521989) - IMDb If he did that stuff he was accused of, we never knew about it.. Our Philadelphia program had a history of racial exclusion that was more complex and much more interesting. The men sat on chairs against the walls of the studio and the girls sometimes knelt in front of them and satisfied them. If ABC had not been the poorest of the networks, unable to provide daytime programs to its affiliates, Bandstand would never have been born. The original American Bandstand studio located at 4548 Market Street in Philadelphia, PA was entered into the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and in 1982 Dick Clark donated the original podium to the Smithsonian Institute, where it still resides. 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. In this, he was way ahead of his time and ahead of whats seen in the show Hairspray. His 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. radio show took place in a club-like setting where food and drinks were served, so it was a magnet for playboys, for girls who wanted to taste show biz glamour, and men who wanted to arrange introductions and get some action. It was so surreal, and it was such a meaningful [wedding gift from Elliot], she says. Then he was arrested and we never made the record. She, like Colella, finds it hard to believe that Horn had an affair with a teenage girl. 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. American Bandstand 1961 4th Anniversary The Brady Bunch Kids ( Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, And the blacks were in the back and by the time we were about to get in, it was full. 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. PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ They twisted, coffee-grinded and jitterbugged their way into the nations living rooms on the original American Bandstand in the 1950s. Family and friends stayed at the iconic Hotel du Cap in the South of France for the whirlwind wedding weekend, which began with a rehearsal dinner on Friday night. 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. Theres a dramatic difference between the description of Horn by his adult co-workers and what we hear from his teenage fans. But when it came to rock n roll music, he was not a pioneer at all. Your email address will not be published. WebFans have long wondered whatever became of Arlene and Kenny, Bob and Justine, Frani, Pat, Carole, Carmen, Frankie, Billy, Richie and so many more of those Regulars we loved. It was a revolving door of glam, Sofia explains. Now Blanc was running for election to a full term and he sought a hot campaign topic. 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. It was common for promo guys to give bottles of whiskey as Christmas gifts. All of these singers were white, and their style was pop, not rock n roll. I always dreamed of her doing my makeup on my wedding day, Sofia says. These record-promo men knew of her, and got her into the station to meet Horn. He certainly didnt do it because Blanc had greater public recognition. Horn was from the old school, a radio announcer conversant with varied forms of music, from semi-classical to pop. And everyone at ABC Television tried to ignore the programs first years. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images. One, a district attorneys re-election campaign. Within the dress are subtle details, including an embroidered heart to represent the love that Elliot and I share, Sofia adds. 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.
Who Does Darren England Support,
Medtronic Mosaic Valve Mri Safety,
Articles W