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NOW HERE IS THE SERIES WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR “BEYOND AMERICAN BANDSTAND”, FEATURING BUNNY GIBSON, KENNY ROSSI, ARLENE SULLIVAN, BOB CLAYTON, JUSTINE CARELLI, GREGORY AND LAWRENCE ZARIAN WHICH INCLUDES A VIDEO OF THE ORIGINAL BANDSTAND DANCERS AS THEY THEY ARE TODAY!
Dick Clark said that the most frequently asked question was “Whatever happened to.the American Bandstand regulars”. Dick said he wished he had a nickel for every time he was asked that question throughout the years.
Dick was like a father figure to all of us. American Bandstand became our home. It was more of a home for some of us than our own homes. There was a life force that I felt the first time i entered the two green doors of “Studio B” at 46th & Market Streets in Philadelphia. it was magical and I felt it was home for me. For the first time, I felt like I belonged.
My life was forever changed that day when I was thirteen and decided toplay hooky from school and find my way to American Bandstand. That first day on the show, I was so excited and nervous, I just sat in the bleachers watching Dick Clark and the regulars I saw dancing on television from my home in Darby, Pennsylvania: I was in awe seeing, in person, Dick, Arlene & Kenny, Carol Scaldeferri, Frani Giordana, the Beltrante sisters, Eddie Kelly, Johnny Alamia, Steve Colarnero and all the other famous dancers!
When Eddie Kelly’s partner, Mary Ann Cuff, didn’t show up one day, Eddie asked me to dance. I was thrilled and all the practicing with my bannister and refrigerator door paid off as we jitterbugged well together. We were both tall so we had a good fit.
I became a “Regular”. It was official when I received my first fan letter. It was the first of many and soon I would see myself in teen magazines listed in “Popularity Polls” along with Elvis and the other great rock ‘n’ roll artists of the day. Magazine articles were written for me like “Social Butterflies are for the Birds” in “16″ Magazine and it was always a surprise to see what article I wrote but didn’t write!
But the biggest surprise AB gave me was the day Don Travarelli saw me dancing on the show. He fell in love with me watching me dance and set out to come to the show after he practiced his dancing with his niece, Robin. Don was twenty years old and never managed to get into the show because the age requirements were 14 to 18, but he did find a way to meet me and the rest is history!
Dick Clark and American Bandstand played “Cupid” in my life and Don and I were married. I was sixteen at the time and had my Mom’s permission to marry just as long as I finished high school, which I did.
Don and I had two daughters, Angel and Maria, and now four grandchildren: Lea, Chirstopher, Alexis & Nicole. I am glad Don watched AB and not another channel!
Dancing on Bandstand has come full circle for me as I became an actress and dancer eventually moving to Los Angeles. I felt blessed to be on “Glee”, “How I Met your Mother”, “The Back-up Plan” and “CSI – Las Vegas” as a dancer. I was more excited than anyone on the set remembering my teenage years dancing on Bandstand.
Recently, being on “Dancing with the Stars” was another special moment going full circle from being on the #1 dance show as a teenager in Philly to the #1 dance show in 2012. DWTS gave a special Tribute to Dick Clark and we were honored to be a part of that Tribute. Carrie Ann Inaba became an “Honorary Bandstand Club” member that day and she said “If it wasn’t for us, there wouldn’t be a “Dancing with the Stars”. Now that is quite an honor- thank you Dick! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPRzpRNjWos
As an actress, I have many credits on television and film. My recent films are “Lola’s Love Shack” and “The Killing of Leonard Riley” and just recently shot a “Goya” commercial in Puerto Rico. And, for charity, I’ve hosted the American Heart Associations’s “Heart Ball”, ”America on Wheels” Museum Gala and many other events. My next Rock ‘n’ Roll event, created by Frank Cona, will be for the Veterans in Detroit and will feature the Edsels, Mitch Rider, “The Reflections”, plus Jay and The Americans.
One of the best “full circle” moments in my life is when i hold “Dance Contests” for foster children through “Day of the Child”. Each year, I have the pleasure of seeing one thousand foster children come to the event, (some of them not feeling good about themselves) and leaving the event feeling the “joy of dancing” and the “joy of how special they are inside”. At the end of the day, nobody wants to stop dancing! Each child is a “Winner” in my contest. All they have to do is “shake their booty” and they get a “prize”. I raise these prizes throughout the year and welcome all support for “prizes” and being a “mentor” for these precious foster children.
Looking back when I first came out to California in the “80′s”, I went to see Dick at DC Productions. When he saw me walk through the door, he didn’t say “hello”. Dick said “I knew I’d see you again”. I think when Dick saw my smiling face dancing in 1959 and he saw that smile continue as I danced to 1961, he knew I would be back in front of the cameras. He could see my dancing joy and happiness – which has lasted a lifetime.
Thank you Dick. Thank you American Bandstand. There is a life “Beyond Bandstand” but the experience of dancing on American Bandstand has lasted a lifetime.
Thank you Artie Wayne for helping me to share my memories of Dick Clark, American Bandstand and the impact it has had on my life!
Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi danced together on American Bandstand for a little more than a year. At the height of their popularity, they received as many as 500 letters a day. Arelene, whose mother was a devoted fan, claims she danced on the show “to get my mother’s attention.” Within three months, Arlene was a regular appearing five days a week. “I was always surprised,” she says,” that people wanted my autograph. I danced on a TV show; nothing I did was different than kids were doing in their basements. But maybe that’s why we were so popular. We were them, and they were us.”
Justine Carelli and Bob Clayton were the dream couple of the show, the star struck lovers. Justine started dancing on Bandstand in 1956, when she was still in junior high school. 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. Meanwhile, in Wilmington, Delaware, a young high school school student, Bob Clayton, was watching the show and falling in love with Justine. He made his way to the show in 1957 and asked Justine to dance. Letters poured in, and Justine and Bob became the most popular and best known couple on the show. The couple was on magazine covers, in newspaper articles, and appeared at scores of dances and shows.
American Bandstand was an amazing time for us. I was on the show 1st and then invited my twin brother Lawrence to join me and for the following years, ( 1981-1987 ) we were known by Dick Clark and the rest of the gang as ”The Twins” on AB. Even when Dick went on to host ” The Other Half ” he would say, here are ” The Twins “.
With our dance partners, we were introduced to music legends. To see them get their start on AB was incredible. To be part of the Jackson 5 reunion Tour ” Triumph ” to Sheena Easton, Adam and the Ants, just to name a few was a dream come true. We were introduced to the entertainment industry by dancing on a show that people across the country watched every Saturday. We were local celebrities and it was the best of times.
Dick Clark, was always, kind and interested in what was going on with his ” Twins ” We learned from being on the show for those years, what it was like to be part of a TV family. We have taken all that we learned into our careers today. For the past 15 years, Lawrence has been known as TV’s The Fashion Guy. He coined the phrase, ” Dress up or Dress Down ” into an industry Go to saying…. From Red Carpets to every award show in town, from Sandra Bullock-his dear friend, to Meryl Streep, He has talked the talk and walked the walk with the biggest and brightest in the business. He can be seen on Entertainment Tonight, weekly and was on ” Live with Regis and Kelly ” now, ” Live with Kelly ” as their go to Fashion-Guy, make over guru.
Since my days on American Bandstand I have modeled all over the United States and Internationally. I became a successful actor, commercially ( over 100 spots) and I have guest starred in tv and film: HBO’s Entourage, CBS’s The Mentalist, ABC’s General Hospital, to name a few to feature films, most notably, the award winning www.ReconciliationMovie.com. I am also a motivational speaker that carries into the Lifestyle show I host Healthline. Together we work constantly. From Guest starring roles on FX’s Nip Tuck to hosting the weekly live talk show, ” The Zarian Forum ”
We are grateful for the life changing experiences we learned from our years on American Bandstand. We will forever be grateful for the time we spent with our Friend, Dick Clark. Our hats off to you and as you did after every show, we are saluting you back, Sir…a true pioneer, a true legend.
www.LawrenceZarian.com www.GregoryZarian.com
NOW HERE IS A CBS NEWS FEATURE THAT SHOWS BOB AND JUSTINE, KENNY AND ARLENE AS THEY ARE TODAY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ixZwnjsUw
HERE IS MY TRIBUTE TO DICK CLARK THAT’S BEEN CALLED “THE BEST ON THE INTERNET” http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/dick-clark-r-i-p-rock-in-perpetuity/.
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SPECIAL THANKS TO BOBBI COWAN http://bobbicowan.com, BUNNY GIBSON http://bunnygibson.com, and HISTORY OF ROCK.COM http://www.history-of-rock.com/american_bandstand_pictures http.htm for helping with this article.
Before 26 Grammys, an Emmy, 7 Oscar nominations, and becoming one of the most successful record producers of all time (“Thriller”, “We Are The World”), before producing hit TV shows, (“Jenny Jones”, “Mad TV”, “Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air”) and films (“The Color Purple”, “Listen Up”), Quincy was first and foremost a musician of the highest order!
“People have called me a jazz musician, but that’s ludicrous. I have yet to figure out what a jazz musician is.”
Q was the first high level black executive to work for a major record label in the 60′s, when he was producing Leslie Gore (“It’s My Party”, “You Don’t Own Me”) for Mercury records. Although Kelli Ross and I ran his publishing companies, in New York for years, I didn’t really get to know him until I moved to California and worked for Warner Brothers music. in 1972 he wanted to concentrate on writing and scoring more films.
He had already done, “In Cold Blood”, “Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice”, “Cactus Flower”, “The Getaway”and “Cotton Comes To Harlem”, a highly successful “Blaxpoitation” film. In his eagerness to take Hollywood by storm, he had over committed himself and promised his friend, Sam Goldwyn, Jr. to do the music for “Come Back Charleston Blue”, the follow up to “Cotton”, although he was weeks behind in scoring another film.
The usually cool “Mr. Jones”, was in a panic and needed a Black composer fast, or risk facing an embarrassing situation. He called me and asked if I’d do personal favor for him and help him out of a jam. The first person he wanted me to approach was one of our Warner Brothers writers and Atlantic artist, Donny Hathaway, who was riding high with his first album and singles, “The Ghetto” and “Where Is The Love” (with Roberta Flack). I remember Donny, in his Kongol Cap and me in my “Superfly” hat, “bopping” into a screening of the film and leaving with an enthusiastic commitment from Donny, which got Quincy off the hook!
Q said that he would let me have his screen credit as musical consultant if I could continue to help to put the soundtrack together. Needless to say I jumped at the chance! Although I just learned how to drive, knowing that Quincy didn’t drive at all, I volunteered to take us wherever we had to go over the next hectic month. Although he seemed nervous and at times held onto the dashboard for dear life, he never said anything about my driving! He did, however, introduce me to some of the most important men in Hollywood, and gave me a tip on how to deal effectively with them.
“Use “fuck” in your conversation every once in a while to get their attention!”
While driving around he also clued me in on what I could expect from life itself! We were both between wives, and hung out with football Hall of Famer, Jim Brown, and “Hair” director Michael Butler, who always had a party going on. We also were warmly welcomed at “The Candy Store”, “The Factory” and the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills hotel, where he introduced me to some of the most incredible women in the world! I remember one actress in particular, who was as emotionally disturbed as she was beautiful. On one of our drives I told him I was falling in love with her, he just shook his head and said,
“She can be saved…but do you want to be her savior?” A question I’ve asked of myself on several occasions, concerning other complex relationships I’ve had since then.
He also showed me how to deal in social situations with the”Soul Handshake”, which can be a very elaborate and varied ritual. Q had a simple way of handling it. He’d grab the shaker’s hand with both of his hands and hold them until the “shaker’s”urge went away. A method I’ve continue to use to this day.
On long drives I took the opportunity to pop in an 8 track and play a song or two I was promoting. This usually led to a discussion about music. I tried to interest him in covering a couple of songs by Sly and The Family Stone, which he passed on, saying he liked their tracks but the songs weren’t melodic enough for him. He laughed and said,
“I like my music, like my women…pretty on the top and funky on the bottom!”
When I complained about the quality of the 1972 state of pop music, Q said,
“The Pop market always comes back to classically influenced music…when a genre goes as far as it can go, that’s the only place where it can go.”
35 years later, his words still ring true. Today, Rap, Hip-Hop and Pop artists are incorporating more and more long passages of classically influenced music into their recordings, including Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Michael Buble’ , John Legend, and Rihanna.
Even though I haven’t seen Q in years, I remember the time that we spent together as one of the highlights of my life! I read something recently he said to his critics that inspires me whenever I get low on self esteem.
“Not one drop of my self-worth depends on your acceptance of me”
Official Quincy Jones website http://www.myspace.com/quincyjones
Copyright 2011 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/
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HERE IS PART TWO OF “ROCK AND ROLL AND RACISM” BY ME AND HUNTER GEORGE https://www.facebook.com/hhuntergeorge
“Sometimes a missed opportunity can make a deeper impact on the soul than an opportunity that’s been taken”.
In the early 60′s while I was trying to become a Rock and Roll Star, Martin Luther King, Jr. was going to jail on a regular basis for leading peaceful Civil Rights demonstrations in the deep south against segregation.
I’ve never admitted it before, but I was one of those “Negroes” who thought that King’s actions would hurt those of us who were trying to assimilate into a “White Society”. I remember on one of his trips to the north, to raise money for the movement, he came to Thessalonia Baptist Church in the Bronx, where I was a member.
I was 19, and still living at home with my Mother and Grandmother (who I called Gooma), and “Gooma” insisted that I go to a special Sunday afernoon service where Dr. King was speaking. When I said, “What do I want to see that troublemaker for?”
Gooma snapped back, “Jesus was a troublemaker!…but wouldn’t you have liked to have seen him if you had the chance?” There was nothing I could say…so I agreed to go as long as I could leave before he spoke, so I could make it down to Greenwich Village to meet my Beatnik friends at the Cafe Figaro. Starting that afternoon, when my downtown pals couldn’t stop talking about Rev. King and how I missed a chance to not only hear him speak, but to possibly meet him, I started to look at him…and myself differently.
As the months passed, I learned more about the great man and started to develop a social conscience. Through the years I’ve seen his influence not only affect our people, but all people…all over the world! Even though I didn’t actually meet him, I’m grateful to have seen him and breathed the same air that he did…if only for a few moments!”
January 15, has always been a special day since it’s Gooma’s birthday as well as Martin Luther Kings’. God bless You doctor King and thank you Gooma, without each of you I would be a lesser person than I am today!
“When the sit-ins started, the black community was on the move marching peacefully, but when they tried to block entrances they were hauled off to jail. Lunch counters were closed but things were pretty quiet except for the white folk. I knew a lot of the Raleigh Police Force and they let me have the run of the main street with my camera and kept whites on the opposite side, away from the demonstrators.
I did not want things to change, and yet I knew something was terribly wrong and things had to change. I got into a “discussion” with an older well off white man, who told me and others that “he wasn’t going to eat with no damn niggers.” I said whats the difference. Mary, your Maid, who catches the bus every day to come clean your house, look after and feed your kids, cook supper for you, the Mrs. and the kids before she goes home at night hasn’t killed you yet. The man said nothing. Maybe at that point we both began to look at things differently.
There was a hamburger place downtown called Scotties. One day four blacks and two whites came into the place to sit-in. Scottie took their orders and brought the four blacks their food, then came around the counter and got the two white guys by the scruff of the neck and threw them out the door, saying “the law says I have to serve these people, but I don’t have to serve you.”
I worked in the black section of Raleigh, NC selling insurance in the early 60s. One day I went in to a black restaurant at the height of the sit-ins and asked the guy if he served white people. He said “yeah, I guess I have to.” Everyone, who had gotten quiet when I walked in, broke out in laughter. I can’t sing, so I had to get em with humor.
When Dr. King was killed in 1968, I cried. That should never have happened. As the years have gone by, and I have grown in character, I have grown to admire Dr. King even more. Any black man who would face a mob of angry whites in the south had guts and was truly a Man.”
TO READ PART ONE OF “ROCK, ROLL, AND RACISM” THAT HUNTER GEORGE AND I WROTE, CLICK ONTO http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/everything-old-is-news-again-5-rock-roll-racism-part-two-american-bandstand-dancers/
Copyright 2012 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/celebrating-two-million-views-today-on-artie-wayne-on-the-web/
FOR MY CONTROVERSIAL BOOK ,“I DID IT FOR A SONG” WITH THE COMPLETE STORY OF “SHADOW” AND “RAINBO” CLICK HERE 
Bluegrass banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs answered a knock at the door of his Nashville home in 1953 to find an eager-looking banjo enthusiast on the porch asking Scruggs to put a set of his special tuner keys on the young man’s instrument. “He was so gracious,” Rodney Dillard said of the reception his older brother, banjo player Doug Dillard, received that day from the father of the bluegrass banjo. “He sold him the tuners, then sat down at his kitchen table and installed them on the spot.”
