above picture taken in 1997.
In addition to all the joy we were given through watching episodes of Early American Bandstand, there were many positive spin-offs as a result of the show--not a record spin-off or even other shows that came as a result. No, this was a more important definition of spin-off: " (1) something good that happens unexpectedly as a result of something else)." I would say the greatest spin-offs were the life-long friendships that resulted. We have all heard of the great friendships that Dick Clark made with performers like Bobby Darin and Jackie Wilson and so many others. Many of the Regulars formed long-standing friendships with each other and kept in touch through the years. Many fans connected in life back

A SPECIAL AMERICAN BANDSTAND REMEMBRANCE OF ANDY WILLIAMS...
The topic one day at the website was for Regulars to mention their most embarrassing moments on the show...and the following came from Charlette Russo...and we can all say and agree with her last part of the statement...that it wasn't so embarrassing afterall--I would add that it was quite special to be so singled out!
CHARLETTE RUSSO (AB Regular mid to late 50s, friend of the site, and contributor of photos and history): "Hi everyone, Mine wasn't as embarrassing as Carole's but at the time I was really embarrassed. Andy Williams was on the show and he needed a girl to sing to and to look like she was singing to him. For some reason he knew my name and asked Dick Clark for ............

Did you ever see so many Regulars birthdays as the month of September! Here's just the ones I know...

Lou Lucas ~ Sept 6

Bob Bradley ~ Sept 6

Ivette Jimenez ~ Sept 8

Kenny Rossi ~ Sept 9

Frank Brancaccio ~ Sept 12

Frankie Lobis ~ Sept 16

Peggy Leonard ~ Sept 18

Joe Wissert ~ Sept 18

Flossie Epstein ~ Sept 20

Joe Fusco ~ Sept 21

Kenny Gill ~ Sept 23

Justine Carrelli ~ Sept 25

Paula Kopicko ~ Sept 27

For those Regulars still with us, loads of good wishes for your September birthday to be a happy one. For those who have left us, although we remember you often, we take your birthday as a special day to honor you.

On this sad day in history, we are all filled with images of the horrors of 9-11. Yet, we are a resilient people and we are proud Americans and we have gone forward. In much of our everyday lives through the decades, we have shown who we are as a people and some symbols of our pride and patriotism are the flag and the map of the U.S.A. Here in a rare and exclusive photo to my website, courtesy Terry Tolas, I bring you the map of the USA that we saw daily when watching American Bandstand back in the 1950s. There are not a lot of pictures of that map. Terry Tolas visited the studio and the show and has kindly shared this picture that she saved through the decades which shows lovely AB Regular Pat Molittieri with Terry in front of

a couple of years back, I had a lot of fun creating this little collage birthday greeting for Kenny Rossi and since it just makes me happy to look at it, I thought I would bring it back! One cannot repeat birthday wishes enough for this extremely nice American Bandstand Regular who is a fave to this day of so many viewers of the show. He's humble and he hasn't lost that "lovability quotient"....So we are all calling you up, Kenny, to wish you many happy returns of the day! We luv ya. Stay as nice as you are.

"She acts sorta teenage, just in-between age
Looks about four foot three
Although she's just small fry, just about so-high
Gidget is the one for me"
Sung by James Darren in the 1959 film

Some days back when posting about the trip to Paradise Cove in Malibu with AB Regular Diana Benero, I promised I would do a blog topic on GIDGET...so here it is...nothing fancy but harkens back to my teen years and movie going experience so is very special to me...as I know it is to Diana. The above picture is from a scrapbook I made of the movies I went to see in the late 1950s. I was so surprised that my Mom saved it through the years. It is so very simplistic (I was only 15 at the time), so my comment was: "XXXX (excellent)--well the x's were

picture of Billy Cook carrying AB Regular Arlene DePietro is courtesy Bonnie Baker Collection. There were some guys on American Bandstand who just flat-out had that "likeability quotient" and AB Regular Billy Cook would be on anyone's short list for that--although I have to smile when I say he was a tall guy! He had very good healthy looks, an infectious smile that made you want to smile back, and oh could he dance! I have a feeling he also had good character, as Dick Clark had Billy Cook join him on the road with Caravan of the Stars and he also brought Billy Cook out to California. Post American Bandstand, Eleanor Ligman tells me that Billy gave a short try at a singing career (as a few other Regulars did) and she stated that he cut

I was just going through some of the pictures I have received in the last few years that I had put to my pin drive and somehow forgot I had...so a big oops there. I received this picture back in July 2011 of AB Regular Bunny Gibson in front of the Rocky Balboa statue in Philadelphia. I don't know when it was taken, but that's when I received it. Anyway, I thought it was a great picture for showing that prevailing attitude we Americans have--that we are never completely down...that we will like the Unsinkable Molly Brown always pick ourselves up and be triumphant in what we do. Is it because we have "High Hopes" as Frank Sinatra so charmingly sang to us through the years? Whatever it is, we all have that within us and we need to tap

Yes, indeed, the first day of autumn this year is September 22, and we will be singing "Summer's almost gone..." Summers these days across the nation have been extremely hot and brought droughts and lots of worries to many; but let's harken back to the 1950s and very early 1960s (those early AB days) when we as teens formed the most fantastic summer memories to last a lifetime. If we were not at the beach, we were at the lakes or the rivers--or taking in the fresh mountain air somewhere. City kids were playing in the streets under sprinklers hooked up to fire hydrants and in the 1950s during a heat wave in New York some of the kids even opened up fire hydrants and had a blast of water and fun--that is until the local cop on the beat

As part of the Terry Tolas collection, I have just received this nice picture with Terry Tolas to the right of AB Regular Joe Wissert and Terry's friend Anna to Joe's left. One of the fashions that the girls went for big time in the 50s were head scarves and Anna here looks very pretty in her head scarf--reminds me of of the 6 or more pictures of Arlene Sullivan on my website where she often sported this particular fashion accessory. I especially like the one below of Arlene (picture courtesy Marian Driscoll).

Scarves were not only worn to help keep the elements away from our hair in the fifties (Diana Benero with friend in the Philly snow),
but also to cover hair rollers, and to keep hair in place on convertible rides. It was not