'Bandstand' regulars remember rockin' and rollin' with Clark

LEVITTOWN, Pa. -- Dick Clark's memory is as fresh as his famously youthful face for a host of grandparents who rocked and rolled and strolled on "Bandstand" when it called Philadelphia home.

Teenagers of the 1950s stopped what they were doing Wednesday, mourning Clark as they watched TV tributes to the beloved musical impresario who died at 82.

Some who had danced on the show when it was a live production at WFIL-TV said their association with Clark, though not personal, was a pleasant and significant part of their youth.

"He was so kind to everybody as the emcee of the show," said Ed Luterio of Middletown, whose friends began calling him "Bandstand Eddie" because of his frequent appearances.

"When they rated records, no matter what was going on, he would always get you involved in what was going on. People (on TV) would have egos, and they thought they were more important than they really were. He wasn't like that."

"He was just a wonderful human being," said Joan Bowman of Langhorne, who also danced on "Bandstand" as a teenager. "When you were there, he was friendly. You don't find as many genuine people today as that, in the spotlight."

Clark combined a winning on-camera presence with unrelenting professionalism while hosting the show, according to Sheila Sollosi of Bristol Township, who appeared as a young dancer in 1957 and 1958.

"He was very nice. When a guest star came on, we had to clap," she recalled. "The studio was very, very tiny ... we sat on the bleachers. He just came out from a room or something, and he had a little podium. After he was playing a song, he was up and down, up and down, talking to the producers or whatever. He never mingled with the kids or anything.

"He chose some to come up and give your name, and where you're from. I think I remember I did that once. He chose so many. So that was nice."

"You just took to him," Luterio said. "He was just a wonderful personality. He was such a hard worker, that guy never stopped working. You felt like you knew him as a friend."

"Bandstand" was legendary for playing matchmaker for couples who regularly danced on the show.

Brian Murphy of Haddonfield, N.J., met his wife, Debbie (nee White), on the set when it was in Philadelphia in the early 1960s. "I went to see the bands, she went to dance," he said.

"I have bags and bags of fan mail," that was sent to his wife still in their basement, he said. Murphy got into the music industry, working with major bands.

"I had some of those people who are very famous call me today," he said, his voice emotional. His wife of 47 years was upstairs crying.

Murphy said he supplied Clark with memorabilia for "Bandstand" bars and grills that he established throughout the country.

"Every summer, every week, I sent him Jersey tomatoes and corn. From living here all that time, he loved them ..."

Clark was known for his openness to artists in various musical styles, all of which met his young guests' legendary standards: "It's got a good beat, and you can really dance to it."

In the early years, he brought in stars like Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and Fabian, who happily lip-synched their hits. Later generations tuned in every Dec. 31 to see him host "New Year's Rockin' Eve."

"When I think of him, I think of him in Philadelphia, Philadelphia all the way," said Sheila Sollosi. "He will be missed."

Calkins Media columnist Jerry Jonas recalls the day he recruited Dick Clark to work for his weekly publication Teen Times.

"It was the fall of 1956 and (co-publisher) Bill Smith and I went down to WFIL-TV studios at 46th and Market streets (in Philadelphia). We wanted to show our first issue of Teen Times to Joe Zimmerman, promotions manager at the station, and make a deal to promote our magazine. The deal we struck was to get Teen Times plugged on 'Bandstand,' and, in return, every week Dick Clark would write a column for our magazine.

"The promotion (on "Bandstand") couldn't have worked better. We would do a feature on, say, Frankie Avalon, then when they were going to play a song by Avalon, Clark would say, 'you can read a story on Frankie Avalon in this week's Teen Times' and Clark would then hand out copies of the magazine to the kids in the studio."

Jonas said the other end of the agreement didn't always work as smoothly.

"He lived in Drexel Hill and I have to tell you it was sometimes hard to get his copy on time. A guy who worked with me got pretty mad each week having to call his house to get his column."

Many who work in the business recall the impact Clark had on their career paths.

At Radio Station B101, program director Chuck Knight, 53, said he was saddened to hear of Clark's passing.

"I didn't meet him personally but for a lot of us in the radio business, he was the inspiration of why we wanted to get into the industry. He was so warm, friendly, charismatic. A lot of us in the business didn't meet him but we felt that we knew him," he said, especially because Clark initially started as a radio announcer on WFIL, 560-AM.

"I grew up in the '60s when 'Bandstand' was a big thing," Knight added. Even in Iowa, where Knight was raised, " 'Bandstand' had an impact... if you talk about a guy who looked young, it was him."

"Bandstand" regulars the Dovells, who made the "Bristol Stomp" a national hit, toured regularly with Clark in the 1960s and '70s, performing as part of the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars. The band is putting together a special tribute to him to be included in their 50th anniversary concert Saturday at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood.

"We were one of his favorite acts," lead singer Jerry Gross said in a statement. "Dick always called us when he needed a high-energy act. He called us the Bowery Boys.

"We were on the Dick Clark tour that pulled into Dallas at 7 a.m. the day President Kennedy was shot. We were just blocks from the shooting, and of course, our show that evening was canceled."

Veteran Philadelphia musician Charlie Gracie, 75, who scored a No. 1 hit with "Butterfly" in 1957, remembers Clark before he was famous. Gracie performed on "Bandstand" several times while Bob Horn was still the host.

"I remember Dick Clark sitting in the little broadcast booth at WFIL, making $100 a week as a DJ, waiting in the wings," Gracie recalled. "When Horn (was fired in 1956), Dick was there to fill the void. Shortly after that the show went coast to coast, and he became a superstar.

"Whether it was luck or destiny, he was in the right place at the right time."

Gracie, who still performs, remembers Clark as a "congenial, nice-looking fellow with a voice for broadcasting."

"That's a damn shame," said John Chrambanis, owner of The Record Collector in Bordentown City, N.J., of Clark's death. "I used to watch the show when it was in Philadelphia. Obviously he had a good long life but that's a shame. He was always so young and energetic for so many years. It's going to strike a chord with everybody."

"The passing of Dick Clark removes one of the largest foundation stones of the entire pop music industry for the latter half of the 20th century," South Jersey music mogul Kal Rudman, publisher of Friday Morning Quarterback, said in a statement. "Starting with 'Bandstand,' his shows absolutely made most of the hits from the beginning. Others in radio might aspire to the title, but they had to follow what Dick Clark played -- especially, and obviously, dance music."

Randy Now, a club promoter in Trenton in the 1980s who now operates Randy Now's Man Cave, a collectibles and memorabilia shop in Bordentown City, said he would have to dig out his "Bandstand" records.

"Clark not only will be remembered for 'Bandstand,' but for promoting young up-and-coming stars, whom he took on road shows around the country, as well as game shows he developed and 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve,' seen around the world by billions of people," Now said.

"He came from nothing and made millions," Now said. "He's an American icon."