And although few will now admit to having been drapes, the styles at first were DAs (slicked back into the shape of a ducks tail), Detroits, and Waterfalls (flowing down the front) for the guys and ponytails and DAs for the girls, who wore full skirts with crinolins and three or four pairs of bobby socks. . I was really mad. Hundreds showed up to audition for a spot on the Committee. 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. Many years later they married. she yelped. 410-783-8000. We just dont know what to do with the show.. (Marvin Joseph/THE WASHINGTON POST), Almost 20 of the original stars of The Buddy Deane Show show off their signature dance, The Madison. (Jessica Goldstein/The Washington Post). These were the first role models I knew. 2003. It didnt have a happy ending. New committee members were selected by Deane and Arlene Kozak, his dependable first sergeant on the set -- a mother figure who even today keeps former committee members connected. . 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. To a generation of Baltimore teen-agers, Buddy Deane was a pioneering rock 'n' roll disc jockey, host of a must-see television dance party in the '50s . They are still referred to, good naturedly by some, as the Ken and Barbie of the show. Gene, a member of the first Committee, and I underline first, later became president of the Board. The popular television Baltimore dance show aired from 1957 until 1964. . [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. The uncertain life of a high-schooler became more tolerable. Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. A guy I attended City with, Carroll Weber, lived in Highlandtown and was on the committee. Rumors would go about certain people. Committee members included Mike Miller, Charlie Bledsoe, Ron Osher, Mary Lou Raines, Pat(ricia) Tacey, and Cathy Schmink. When I was on, the kids at school were cool with it. I wanted to get into the record businessand years later he did. My father had forbidden me to try out for the Buddy Deane Committee -- fearing, perhaps, that it would interfere with my becoming a national scholar at City College high school or prevent me from one day discovering the Internet -- so I had to sneak on the show, courtesy of girlfriends who sent away for tickets and took me as their guest. Now a receptionist living near Towson with her husband and two grown children, Arlene remains fiercely loyal, organizing the reunions and keeping notebooks filled with the updated addresses, married names, and phone numbers of my kids. She met Winston J. Mary Lou Barber: Because I was on the Committee and I was president, [I went to] these summit meetings. I was a square. 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. The popular television Baltimore dance show aired from 1957 until 1964. Youre going to put it on TV? Best, Sections of this page She was sort of like a mother to us. Vicki Defeo: Ive tried to think this through, because it sounds ridiculous, but [integration] was a non-issue to us. The 25th anniversary of the movie Hairspray provides an opportunity for members of the dance group of Baltimores The Buddy Deane Show to get back together and reminisce about the TV show that the movie is based upon. She was one of the chosen few who went to New York to learn how to demonstrate the Madison, and was selected for the exchange committee that represented Baltimores best on American Bandstand. And I see Mary Lou, and I see Gene and Linda do the cha-cha, and I think: no one can do it like them. Dance was the thing. Bringing back the old rhythms - Baltimore Sun It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. When the show ended, Deane moved back to Arkansas, bought half a dozen radio stations, and lived out his life there, except for brief runs back to Baltimore, where hed host reunions with hundreds in attendance. The jock, known as Buddy Deane, had launched his Bandstand Show on station WJZ-TV, providing pop and rock sounds that sent the teenage populace into a frenzy. . John Waters: I never purposely thought I was making a movie that was any more commercial than any of the other ones. We are kind of like Ozzie and Harriet, says Gene Snyder as Linda nods in agreement. She smelled like a garden of flowers and could crack her chewing gum discreetly. . An earth force for a generation of Baltimore teens They just wanted to know if you were real. Linda Snyder: In the beginning, they rotated the entire Committee. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. [1], Deane's dance party television show debuted in 1957 and was, for a time, the most popular local show in the United States. 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. The punitive consequences weren't significant; I think he threw an ashtray at me. From then on, all bare shoulders were covered with a piece of net. For many of them, it was the highlight of their life, and I get why. I watched and fantasized about it and made up stories about it in my brain. They all thought all the girls were pregnant by Buddy Deane, remember several. The final episode aired on Jan. 4, 1964. Frani Hahn (then Nedeloff): I watched it every day with my family when Id come home from school. Suite 320. Ladies and Gentleman . . . The Nicest Kids in Town! At frantic meetings of the Committee, many said, My parents simply wont let me come if its integrated, and WJZ realized it just couldnt be done. I guess Helen Crist was the first drapette: the DA, the ballet shoes, oogies [tulle scarves], eye shadoweyeliner was big thenand pink lipstick., Helen Crist. This post was contributed by a community member. The star system was born. The show ran on Broadway for a couple of seasons, and since then productions have played all over Americaand they're still going. This production features a number of the committee members from the Deane program recalling those days. Although the show has been off the air for more than twenty years, a nearly fanatical cult of fans has managed to keep the memory alive. I had always studied dance, and I wanted to go on [the show]. It was 1961 and I was on television, successfully building my teen-aged reputation. Marie Shapiro: I think we all kind of knew what was coming. I know he would love hearing from you! Its host was Winston "Buddy" Deane, who died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas after suffering a stroke, July 16, 2003. To this day, I don't know why my late father, then in his 60s, was watching the Buddy Deane Show. Yet Joe was a dropout when he went on the show and then, once famous, went back to finish. The Committee is back in session - The Washington Post The pictures I've just posted are of the reunion dance for the Buddy Deane Committee Members with Buddy Deane playing the records. and my version of it is very different from theirs. See production, box office & company info. And when we sprayed it, we had to blot it so it didnt leave residue. You received demerits for almost anything: Chewing gum. We all considered it a privilege, even though they never paid our bus fare.. After saying goodbye to the Committee members . Buddy Deane Committee - Blogger Eating the refreshments (Ameches Powerhouses, the premiere teenage hangouts forerunner of the Big Mac), which were for guests only. The dancers were known as the Committee. On 'Hairspray's' 25th anniversary, 'Buddy Deane' Committee looks back Buddy Deane Committee: Helen Crist Swift 1943 - 2007 - Blogger And the guys had to wear a coat and tie, so wed keep stuff in the car. Today they seem opposites. But being a Buddy Deaner, or even a guest, moved a kid into a fantasyland, a world of teased hair, pointy-toed shoes and fashions by Lee's of Broadway. Buddy returns on a pilgrimage from St. Charles, Arkansas, where he owns a hunting and fishing lodge and sometimes appears on TV, to spin the hits and announce multiplication dances, ladies choice, or even, after a few drinks, the Limbo. So was Aqua Net. John Waters: [The Deaners] were the most important people I wanted to like the movie. The show was the highest-rated local program in the country. You had to wear nylons. Bob Mathers: Were looking at the times of 1963, and in 1963, what overrode ratings and popularity were the feelings about race in Baltimore City. With the show beginning at 2:30 in some years, cutting out of school early was common. For those who get to Ocean City, please stop in and see us at the Blue Ox on the bayside at 127th street. You had to be 14 to 18 to get on. Marie Fischer was the first Joe to become a Committee memberchosen simply because she was such a good dancer. Buddy Deane Committee - Facebook He wanted me to go to a summer training session to be a trapeze artist. The Buddy Deane Show was over. Several marriages resulted from liaisons between Committee Members. We used to go to stand in front of Reads Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph.. What ever happened to them and do you have recent pictures? Sure, as a teenager I was a guest on the show. Buddy Deane Committee: 2009 - Blogger You had to be able to jitterbug and you had to be able to cha-cha, and do whatever dance was popular then, the mashed potato or the pony. It was a real kick! Her fame even brought an offer to join the circus. Last spring, five hundred people quickly snapped up the $23 tickets to the third Buddy Deane Reunion, held at the Eastwind, in Essex, to raise money for the Baltimore Burn Center. . "The Nicest Kids In Town" -former dancers from the Buddy Deane Show (1957- 1964). 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. I was aggressive. Mary Lou Barber: Arlene would throw a spotlight on you, and theyd throw questions at you: What do you like about yourself, what do you like about the show? They had a contract we had to sign, because they were using our image for free. It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. They kept their figures, look nice, and are very kind people, says Marie in her lovely home on Falls Road before taking off for the University of Maryland, where she attends law school. 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. The producers of Diner wanted to include Buddy Deane footage in their film, but most of the shows were live and any tapes of this local period piece have been erased. I hated to see so much emphasis put on the integration plot, but I do understand that that was a part of what happened. He was to have been the host of the first Buddy Deane Fan Fair and Dance in September at the Fairgrounds in Timonium, an event that is still scheduled. The stage production opened in 2002, won eight Tony Awards and spawned another Hairspray movie, which was released in 2007. When the subject comes up today, most loyalists want to go off the record. This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 19:01. 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! I went to Eastern High, I got out at 2:30, and at 3, the show started. Linda Snyder: Every young star that had records out would come and promote their records. Deane also held dances at various Maryland American Legion posts and National Guard armories which were not taped or broadcast on television. What he left us was an early introduction and enduring devotion to rock and roll. His 1988 film Hairspray went on to inspire a Broadway musical of the same name. But most have settled down to a very straight life. Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. Buddy Deane. While the rest of the nation grew up on Dick Clarks American Bandstand, (which was not even shown here because Channel 13 already had Buddy Deane), Baltimoreans, true to form, had their own eccentric version. On the last day of the show, January 4, 1964, all the most popular Committee members through the years came back for one last appearance. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Baltimore Magazine. The Buddy Deane Show was a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that was created by Zvi Shoubin and aired on WJZTV in Baltimore, Maryland from 1957 until 1964. . I was with this guy named Jeff. Do you miss show biz? I ask her. . "Jesus, I can be anywhere, like a funeral parlor, and people will introduce me as 'this is Concetta, she was on Buddy Deane.' Joanie, whose mother wanted me to be a child star, hit the show in early 57 at age 13 (you had to be 14 to be eligible, but many lied about their ages to qualify), followed a few months later by Joe, 17. No long hair, only pompadours, hurriedly combed during commercials. Id get letters saying, If you show up at this particular hop, youre gonna get your face pushed in. Just once. And . Some guys, too insecure to dance even at the Little Flower CYO, thought Buddy Deaner guys were "sissies." Integration ended The Buddy Deane Show. And then they decided to keep some on so theyd get more popular . What the heck, we were all going to school with black kids for a decade by then. And if you dared to dance the obscene Bodie Green (the Dirty Boogie), you were immediately a goner. Wayne Hahn: Dick Clark [and American Bandstand], that wasnt a big thing here. . Wayne Hahn: Us kids, we all went to school with black people and had black friends. Jump to. Come share the songs & dances of the Buddy Deane Show with us! He was mad because I was as popular as he was. . But it went something like this: Buddy Deane was an exclusively white show. (backrow) Joe Loverde, Vicki Defeo, Bil Bertazon, and Marie Fischer Cooke Shapiro. I will keep my nose to your website now that I know it exists. John Waters: The most amazing thing about The Buddy Deane stardom was they would show up not knowing if they would fight or sign autographs. The dancers were known as the Committee. I watched it for the fashion and for the drama, because Buddy Deane encouraged them to [date and] break up on film. . The boys had to wear coats and ties, dressing in the aforementioned "Continental" style. They were married in 1966 and have one daughter. Deane's show is the foundation of the John Waters film Hairspray and the popular adaptation of it that's now on Broadway. Gene calls it a big loss. It was living in a fantasy world, says Helen. Buddy Deane - Baltimore Sun Article - July 20, 2003 Frani Hahn: I remember being called into a meeting and [being asked] if our parents would allow us, if they integrated the show, to dance with a black person. Now: The Hahns have stayed in Baltimore. The film would spawn a 2002 Broadway musical adaptation starring Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur, and a 2007 film adaptation of the musical starring John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky. thecommitteetohonorbuddydeane - Google Sites 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. Id hook and have to dance in the back so the teachers couldnt see me, says Helen. I dont think Ill ever get over missing it, if you want to know the truth., Many of the Committee members spouses faced an even bigger adjustment. But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. They still get together and they still do a pretty sharp Madison. They were both Committee members back then. They would drive me nuts when theyd come in the door, and Id say Man, youre gone. 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). We have our own "beach music" and sepearte room and bar in the back of the Ox. It was over at 5. The Buddy Deane Show went on the air on Sept. 9, 1957 and became the most popular local show in the United States. And a couple of us have yearly dances, and we all get together. 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. And many of them are not comfortable talking about it, and Hairspray made them, in a way. Deane began his broadcasting career at KLXR in Little Rock, Arkansas. Login to create it. Crushed, I retreated from cheek-to-cheek to a distant and awkward completion of a slow tune by the Miracles. God forbid, in school, if you didnt smile, you were conceited. And there was a big problem with that. Now: After the show, Barber got married, had two children and three grandchildren. . My black friends knew they could not be on the show because of segregation. Everywhere we went, people would say Theres Mary Lou. I wondered if she had just been released from the penitentiary.. Another royal Deaner couple who met on the air and later married was Gene Snyder and Linda Warehime. Thursday at the Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda; Jan. 25-27 at the Meyerhoff, 1212 Cathedral St. Baltimore. . Shake, Rattle and Roll: the Buddy Dean Scrapbook" So many talented musicians and people who wanted to show their appreciation made the night truly special. Buddy offered to have three or even four days a week all black, but that wasnt it. If I have one regret in life, its that I wasnt a Buddy Deaner. After you sprayed it, youd get toilet paper and blot it. I had to get up there on time. I dont think a fat girl ever came to audition. Buddy called me up before the cameras, and I wasnt dressed my best. One of the first ponytail princesses was Peanuts (Sharon Goldman, debuting at 14 in 58, Forest Park, Chicken Hop), who went on the show because Deaners were folk heroes. She remembers Paul Anka singing Put Your Head on My Shoulder to her on camera as she did just that.
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