bandstand, bandstand

It was 1958, or was it 1959 or maybe even 1960, but at 4:00 pm in the living room of our house at 1618A Denniston from Monday through Friday, my older sisters Maxine and Bonnie would be standing in front of our one and only television watching in black and white “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark. My younger sister Francie and I had permission to sit on the sofa in the living room, but the moment our breathing was louder than the melodies being played on TV we were escorted out to any other room in the house. And my mother never intervened!

Whether it was Justin, Barbara, Denise, Vickie, Ricky or Charlene, my sisters would shout out loud if anyone wore their bangs differently, were dancing with a new partner, had a going steady ring around their neck or were not dancing in the spotlight. My sisters would comment, “...did you see that...love her hair...look who he is flirting with...they slow dance so well...” In those days, they actually played slow songs and teens, albeit at arms distance, danced to slow songs.

“American Bandstand” had black singers, (they were called “colored people” then), introduce R&B, and soul music and white kids actually danced to THAT music. In the late 50’s and early 60’s white kids dancing to “colored people’s” music was the closest thing to integration we had witnessed. Many a parent was warned or warned that just the fact that blacks and whites enjoyed the same anything, that perhaps BIG changes might be ahead for all of us...and were we prepared for those changes?

Most of the regulars on “American Bandstand had Italian sounding last names with many of them wearing a cross around their necks. But every now and then someone whose sir name had a Berg or a Stein at the end of it managed to get some camera time. And for us a Jewish family, we were all so proud...it could have been a relative of us or even better us! The few times my Grandmother ventured into the living room she would add do Jewish people listen to THAT music?

The times my Mother wandered into the living room and listened to some music, she would exclaim, (of course during a commercial break so as to never avert the attention of the TV from my sisters), “...that music now-a-days is just a bunch of noise with a bunch of lyrics having no real meaning...” However if you gave my Mother a close eye, she, at times would be moving to a certain rhythm and if you paid close attention she would add, “...I like Charlene’s new hair-do...”

When I reflect back to the late 50’s and early 60’s I amaze at how my family managed to face the day to day chores of living. We had six people, sleeping in three bedrooms two teenaged girls using lots of hairspray, combs and cosmetics, using one commode and shower. We all had our favorite television shows and one TV. We had one car and one driver (it was not a women’s job to drive back then, or so my Dad said), with six people having to go someplace at once. My Dad was a policeman making a very modest salary, but we were never without food or clothing. And no matter what at least once every night we had the folding chairs placed around our dining room table complete with two extensions for the table as two or three people joined us for dinner.

My sisters loved the sound of Dick Clark’s voice and loved the way he would place the microphone in front of those Bandstand Dancers known as regulars. My sisters watched Dick Clark religiously, and when my younger sister were forced inside due to weather so did we. There was something soothing knowing that “American Bandstand” was on television and no matter the worries of the world we could watch a line dance or have someone try and solve the name of the singer whose song was playing.

Time somehow moves so fast when you look behind you. While you are actually living it it can creep if promises are not kept, swagger if hope seems unlimited, or kind of meander when days sometimes just fade into another day. I can still listen to a few songs of the late 50’s and early 60’s close my eyes and see my sisters Maxine and Bonnie dancing in our living room, giggling or just swooning. I reflect on those days smile and remember the smells of dinner cooking, the sounds of neighborhood kids playing and how safe I felt in my home located at 1618A Denniston.

Dick Clark has passed away, my condolences to his family. But with his passing seems to be one more time of my life that will now be wrapped in cellophane to be reminded of but never lived again the same. I can remember, not sure if it was 1958, 1959, or 1960 when life in the Buncher house stood still for one hour and my sisters laughed, sang and danced with the greatest of glee and good times. It was “American Bandstand” music of a time of my life.