And, yes, they were actually "records" in 1983. Thats how they rotated Committee members. Vicki Defeo: I thought they did a great job with portraying the kids dancing. Helen Crist Swift 1943 - 2007. It was an integrated school, and the black girls would show us all the new dances. Hairspray movie was inspired by this show and was based off of the the events but unlike the movies, instead of the show being integrated, it was cancelled. Every day after school kids would run home, tune in, and dance with the bedpost or refrigerator door as they watched. . And we became very close to Arlene. The Buddy Deane.phenomenon is hardly dead. This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 19:01. . The dancers were known as the Committee. Gene and Linda Snyder met on The Buddy Deane Show as committee members in 1959 and have been married for 46 years. Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. Acts that appeared on the show first were reportedly barred from appearing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, but if they had been on Bandstand first they could still be on The Buddy Deane Show. We don't have any reviews for Buddy Deane Show. Or dancing with other Committee members when you were supposed to be dancing with the guests (a very unpopular rule allowed this only every fourth dance). The views expressed in this post are the author's own. The boys were picked on, because boys didnt dance then. Now, were talking about integrating the show. If you were a teenager in Baltimore in the late 1950s and early 1960s, you watched The Buddy Deane Show. When the final bell rang you sprinted home from school, saddle shoes smacking the sidewalk, knee socks sliding down your shins, until you skidded to a stop in front of your black-and-white TV and turned to WJZ Channel 13 to watch Marylands answer to American Bandstand. Chances are you wanted to be on The Buddy Deane Show, whose stars were ordinary teens turned local celebrities. The punitive consequences weren't significant; I think he threw an ashtray at me. My name is Connie and my e-mail address is connieone@aol.com..thanks. I just loved meeting him. No! she answers, with a conviction that gives me the chills. One time I was going with this guy, and he was dancing with this guest I didnt like, says Evanne. Every week she had a different dothe Double Bubble, the Artichoke, the Airlifteach topped off by her special trademark, suggested by her mother, the bow. She became so popular that she was written up in the nationwide Sixteen Magazine. I can still remember them calling us in one by one, former Committee member Carl Parks said. You are out of here. Most Deaner girls wouldnt even tongue-kiss, claims Arlene, remembering the ruckus caused by a Catholic priest when the Committee modeled strapless Etta gowns on TV. But in a lot of corners of Baltimore and beyond, getting on the show was equivalent to stardom and instant popularity. I was totally star-struck and had as much fun that night as I did at the Cannes Film Festival. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Buddy_Deane_Show&oldid=1149520565, Black-and-white American television shows, Local music television shows in the United States, Wikipedia articles with style issues from September 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. The cause was . "Uhhh, I had a long basketball practice and I had to take extra foul shots," I lied. It couldn't get much worse, or so I thought. Deane, Kozak, Cahan, the . Deane also held dances at various Maryland American Legion posts and National Guard armories which were not taped or broadcast on television. As one report stated, the Deane show "Teeded [ sic] off last Monday and bowed an impressive array of guests, including Kitty Kallen, June Valli, Terri Stevens, Lou Monte, The Chordettes . The Buddy Deane Show is a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that aired on WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland from 1957 until 1964. . There wasnt a person against it. Such was life in Baltimore. John Waters: Mary Lou [Barber] told me once that a black girl couldve gotten on the show easier than a fat girl. . Jump to. It was hilarious., Some of the rumors were fanned on purpose. The guys who wore sport coats with belts in the back from Lees of Broadway (10 percent discount for Committee members), pegged pants, pointy-toe shoes with the great buckles on the side, and drape (greaser) haircuts that my parents would never allow. The popular television Baltimore dance show aired from 1957 until 1964. Buddy: Deane in the 50s when she worked for a record wholesaler and he was the top-rated disc jockey on WITHthe only DJ in town who played rock n roll for the kids. They would drive me nuts when theyd come in the door, and Id say Man, youre gone. Frani Hahn: I can remember times when we would go downtown shopping and wed stop in at Reads Drug Store and have Cokes, and people came up for our autographs! When the show was over, I caught the city bus near TV hill and it dumped me off as dusk gathered in my Belair Road neighborhood near Erdman Avenue. I wasnt going to go on and not be seen. But even Evanne turned bashful on one show, when Buddy made a surprise announcement: I was voted prettiest girl on this whole Army base. Its interesting that our paths have crossed at reunions and weve all chosen to stay friends. As with the drapes and squares of the previous decade, she explains, there were two classes of people thenDeaners and Joe College. raises funds for Alzheimer's Association, 2017 HD Heritage Softail for Sale in Bel Air, Democrat Ben Cardin Won't Seek Re-Election To Senate In 2024, Flour Recalled In MD For Salmonella Risk: What To Know, Latest Job Listings In The Essex-Middle River Area, Essex-Middle River Area: See 5 Nearby Properties On The Market. It was really blown up big. . I have two mixed-race grandchildren whom I adore. Deane helped numerous black record artists in their careers -- James Brown among them. Vicki Defeo: Ive tried to think this through, because it sounds ridiculous, but [integration] was a non-issue to us. Looking forward to seeing as many of us old dancers that are still cutting the rug.Corky. Why not do The Deane Show on TV again? It seems crazy nowthe idea of prohibiting black kids and white kids from dancing on the same television programbut not then. The Buddy Deane Show is a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that . When the subject comes up today, most loyalists want to go off the record. Hairspray came to CCBC Essex's Cockpit in Court theater, and so did the real original castthose Committee members from the old Buddy Deane Show, whose moment in history became the premise for . In 1985 the Committee members are for the most part happy and healthy, living in Baltimore, and still recognized on the street. Frani Hahn: I think it was easier for the girls. Special Thanks to Linda Snyder (committee member from the Buddy Deane Show) who shares many stories from the TV show, Richard Powers who provided the amazing photo from the set of the Buddy Dean Show, Lance Benishek (dance historian) who provided some ample questions and motivation when we began researching these dances in 2005. Perhaps the highest bouffants of all belonged to the Committee member who was my personal favorite: Pixie (who died several years later from a drug overdose). My black friends knew they could not be on the show because of segregation. I will be moving near Ocean City in July.Do you remember me. The Buddy Deane Show aired on WJZ-TV in Baltimore, MD, from 1957 to 1964. His name was Nelson Ray Shiflett. Five kids in my neighborhood were on the committee -- Concetta Comi, Georgia Ann Richter, Peggy Keaton, Joan Darby and Billy Pritchard. The old Buddy Deane gang is still a hit, too, still getting recognized on the street, and still remembered with affection by a generation that spanned the Eisenhower and Kennedy years. Not one of the Committee members, the ones chosen to be on the show every daythe Baltimore version of the Mouseketeers, the nicest kids in town, as they were billed. . When "The Buddy Deane Show" debuted on Baltimore's WJZ-13 on Sept. 9, 1957, it was an instant hit. Theyd stand outside my home. . The Buddy Deane Show is a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that aired on WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland from 1957 until 1964. From 1957-1965, Deane was chosen as host of WJZ-TV, Baltimore's "The . I saw the show as a vehicle to make something of myself, remembers Joe. We really didnt want to go off the air. It was a target maybe of people who didnt even watch the show. It was a fluke. Its made more money playing all over the country than it did on Broadway, where it was a huge hit.". Corky,My name was Judy Kerr and I was on the committee in1958/59. The kids became celebrities. It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. But by far the most popular hairdo queen on Buddy Deane was a 14-year-old Pimlico Junior High School student named Mary Lou Raines. Yeah it was Cosenel, says Joe. Many came away from the movie Hairspray thinking that Buddy Deane, and not WJZ's management, was responsible keeping black teen-agers off the show. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I think my father would definitely have not been agreeable to [integration] at that time. I had beehives. I went to Eastern High, I got out at 2:30, and at 3, the show started. We all considered it a privilege, even though they never paid our bus fare.. Marie Shapiro (then Fischer): The first thing, theyd kind of look you over. And coming from John Waters, I thought, that is a really nice compliment! John Waters: Certainly all the stuff in Hairspray didnt happen for real, but it was my fantasy of how I wished it would be, not what really happened. We appreciate your interest. The Nicest Kids in Town! Vicki Defeo: Some of the people who were popular way back that Im friends with now, back then I wouldve been like, wow! so they had a points system. Chubby Checker. They first made their mark as teenagers dancing on the afternoon TV show, wearing their outfits from Lees of Broadway and Etta Gowns and dancing the cha-cha and the jitterbug and the Madison. By what name was The Buddy Deane Show (1957) officially released in Canada in English? Frani Hahn: John always said he felt like we were a cult. But the second the camera moved away from my partner and me, she too pulled away, as if I had whispered into her ear that I had hand grenades taped to my legs. . If you were a Buddy Deane Committee member, you were on TV six days a week for as many as three hours a dayenough media exposure to make Marshall McLuhans head spin. We have a telegram, Buddy would shout almost daily, for Mary Lou to lead a dance, and the cameraman seemed to love her. If anyone knew him and could share some memories or even pictures that would be great. Many were there when the show went off the air in 1964, ending a seven-year run. Kathy switched to a great beehive that resembled a trash can sitting on top of her head. From pinnacle to the pits in a few short seconds. But my mother and father wont let me come down if you do that. In early December, Buddy Deane met with station officials and they said, Weve decided to cancel the program. And Buddy said, So it has to do with integration? And the station said, Thats correct. Most people probably wouldve forgotten about The Buddy Deane Show ages ago had it not been immortalized by John Waters in his 1988 movie, Hairspray. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Hairspray, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is staging a concert production of the musical this week, narrated by Waters and featuring a full orchestra and vocalists. We rounded up Waters and almost 20 of the original Deaners and asked a handful to recount their days as the most famous kids in Charm City. And more important, so did the Committee, still entering by a special door, still doing the dances from the period with utmost precision. Here is the new video celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Buddy Deane Show and the former Catonsville Community College (now CCBC). Bill Haley and the Comets made their premiere performance of "Rock Around the Clock" on Deane's show. But we thought of him as being so flamboyant. Do you miss show biz? I ask her. I would see this again years later, stinky and scared young guys dancing to candlelight in a sandbagged Vietnam bunker, serenaded by a tropically-warped Temptations album. When Mary Lous husband gave me the long and complicated directions to their home on the phone, he ended with And there you will find, yes, Mary Lou Raines. He later confided that when he first started dating her, he had no idea of her early career. Marie Shapiro: I think they even asked for a note from my minister. (They gave her a diamond watch at the last reunion.) The ultimate reunion.From all over the country, the Deaners could rise again, congregate at the bottom of Television Hill, and start Madison-ing their way (Youre looking good. Five days a week on Channel 13 (first known as WAAM, then as WJZ), it played for two hours a day, and on Saturdays, two and a half. It was your personality and your thoughts. Until the day she passed away [in 2007], we were still friends. Buddy Deane, center, with the Committee and teen dancers. Committee members had to look sharp, have a style and be willing to appear on weekends for Deane's dances from Westmin-ster to Salisbury. Mary Lou Barber: I used to receive 100 letters a week, all fan mail. Not show biz, Arlene answers, hesitating, but the record biz, the people. Members of the committee attended Reunion Dances and other events soliciting the support of . Here's What Essex-Middle River Moms Really Want For Mother's Day. Owing to Deane's mid-South roots and work history, he featured many performers from the ranks of country and western music (e.g., Skeeter Davis, singing "The End of the World" and Brenda Lee singing "Sweet Nothin's"), who then achieved cross-over hits among rock and roll fans. Even doing commercials was expected. I had to get up there on time. In mixed marriages (with non-Deaners), many of the outsiders resented their spouses pasts. Gene calls it a big loss. It was living in a fantasy world, says Helen. On the air before Dick Clark debuted, the show was a hit from the beginning, says Arlene today. . Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, all of them. Im Joe, too. There was a change in the works., Part of that change was the racial integration movement. Oddly enough, few of the Deaners Ive talked to went on to show biz. We will try to spotlight our memories and post highlights on upcoming events. In 1950, he moved to Baltimore to WITH. And, yes, they were actually "records" in 1983. I hated to see so much emphasis put on the integration plot, but I do understand that that was a part of what happened. A big strong line!) up the hill to the famous dance party set, the one that now houses People Are Talking. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Linda reverently describes her Committee membership as the best experience I ever had in my life. They later became members of the Permanent Committee, the hall of fame that could come back to dance even after retiring. I was just accidentally obsessed with something that was appealing to more people. I'll send you Larry's info. . Baltimore, MD 21286. I wanted to join the circus., Two other ponytail princesses who went on to the Buddy Dean hall of fame were Evanne Robinson, the committee member on the show the longest, and Kathy Schmink. . Boy - do I wish I had. He really was trying to make it authentic. Marie Fischer was the first Joe to become a Committee memberchosen simply because she was such a good dancer. Hundreds of thousands of teens learned the latest dances by watching Committee members on the show, copying their personal style, and following their life stories and interactions. . . To this day, I don't know why my late father, then in his 60s, was watching the Buddy Deane Show. . Wayne Hahn: Us kids, we all went to school with black people and had black friends. . There I was under the burning lights of the WJZ-TV studio, slow-dancing with a Buddy Deane Show committee member. my father inquired as I walked into our rowhouse. His dance party television show debuted in 1957 and was, for a time, the most popular local show in the United States. Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. Linda Snyder: We still love to go dancing. [citation needed] With an ear for music seasoned by many more years as a disc jockey than Clark, Deane also brought to his audience a wider array of white musical acts than were seen on American Bandstand. In the early 1980s at a Buddy Deane Show reunion, Waters approached former Committee members about a movie he wanted to make inspired by the program. Deane organized and disc-jockeyed dances in public venues across the WJZ-TV broadcast area, including much of central Maryland, Delaware, and southern Pennsylvania where tens of thousands of teenagers were exposed to live recording artists and TV personalities. He was seventy-eight. Im a typical housewife, says Peanuts. Once a teenager joined the Committee, he or she had to abide by Deanes rules, which Deane described in a letter to the cast: Your clothing will be befitting a lady or a gentleman, and your habits, no smoking or gum chewing, will set standards for the future.. Frani Hahn (then Nedeloff): I watched it every day with my family when Id come home from school. (backrow) Joe Loverde, Vicki Defeo, Bil Bertazon, and Marie Fischer Cooke Shapiro. Teenagers who appeared on the show every day were known as "The Committee". Hairspray came to CCBC Essex's Cockpit in Court theater, and so did the real original castthose Committee members from the old Buddy Deane Show, whose moment in history became the premise for the hit Broadway musical about rock 'n' roll and racial tension in Baltimore half a century ago. I was able after a while to afford some clothes from Lees of Broadway (whose selection of belted coats and pegged pants made it the Saks Fifth Avenue of Deaners). (Editors note: The show requested a character reference from a priest, minister or rabbi; references from teachers or principals were also accepted.) Larry tried searching Facebook for you. Recollections differ as to whether it was Deane, the station or the parents of the Committee members who refused to allow the show to be integrated. But he was, and busted me courtesy of that close-up shot, seconds before my fragile teen-age ego was shattered by Pixie, or whatever her name was. Besides, he never discovered that his youngest son had been on the show a dozen other times, further solidifying my stock among my peers. Mary Lou was the last of the Buddy Deane superstars, true hair-hopper royalty, the ultimate Committee member. I had a lot of black friends at the time, so for me this was an awkward thing, says Marie. It was difficult with your peers, recalls Peanuts. Or the Bob-a Loop? The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. Joe Cash has Jonas Cash Promotions, in Columbia and Silver Spring.. (my own promotional firmwe represent Warner Brothers, Columbia, Motown85 percent you hear in this market)and Active Industry Research, in Columbia (a research firmIm chairman of the board). Winston "Buddy" Deane was a broadcaster for more than fifty years, beginning his career in Little Rock, Arkansas, then moving to the Memphis, Tennessee market before moving on to Baltimore where he worked at WITH-AM radio. Many years later they married. I was a misfit. The core group of teenagers who appeared on the show every day were known as the "Committee." The 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. Buddy wanted it to end happily, but WJZ angered Deaners when it tried to blame the ratings. These were the first role models I knew. . It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. Deane began his broadcasting career at KLXR in Little Rock, Arkansas. For the rest of the time, the show's participants were all white. And who could forget those great ads for the plastic furniture slipcovers that opened with the kids jumping up and down on the sofa and Royal Parker screaming, Hey kids! The Buddy Deane Show was over. You need to be logged in to continue. I must have had ten different phone numbers, says Helen, and somehow it would get out. If Im ever depressed, sometimes I think, Well this will make me feel better, and I go and dig in the box., Holding onto the memories more than anyone is Arlene Kozak, who is by far the most loved by all the Committee members.
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