Hope life has been good to you! Want to post on Patch? The views expressed here are the author's own. 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. I will keep my nose to your website now that I know it exists. And on the weekends wed go to record hops. Being a teenage star in Baltimore had its drawbacks. Because Buddy Deanes competition was soap operas, the budding teenage romances were sometimes played up for the camera. Linda Snyder: Every young star that had records out would come and promote their records. The Buddy Deane Show was a teenage dance party, on the air from 1957 to 1964. Deane began his broadcasting career at KLXR in Little Rock, Arkansas. Some committee guys bought their shoes at Manchester's on Howard Street, pointy-toed footwear that sported various buckles, flaps and other avant-garde touches. . (One female committee member supposedly teased and sprayed her hair so much it caught fire one night as she slept. Once I was off the show for a while, and they said I had joined the nunnery, says Helen, laughing. 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. The Committee, as they were known, could do all the hot dances of the day: the Madison, the mashed potato, the pony. A guy I attended City with, Carroll Weber, lived in Highlandtown and was on the committee. "Do You Love Me" by The Contours, or "Hide and Go Seek" by Bunker Hill). I remember it well, recalls Evanne. Buddy Deane Committee: Helen Crist Swift 1943 - 2007 - Blogger Deane was named the No. Now, no one would ever do a commercial for a profit company without getting some compensation. 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. . Its host was Winston "Buddy" Deane, who died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas after suffering a stroke, July 16, 2003. Romance was one thing; sex was another. He was 78. You have to ease into it. Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. Or Snuggle Dolls? Frani Hahn: John always said he felt like we were a cult. . At Elmley Playground, transistors would be tuned to Fat Daddy. I was aggressive. Buddy Deane Committee: 2009 - Blogger The main thing was your hair was flat, the antithesis of Buddy Deane, she says, chuckling. 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. [citation needed]. Im a typical housewife, says Peanuts. Teenagers who appeared on the show every day were known as "The Committee". You Can't Stop the Beat: The Secret History of Hairspray as Live TV Corky,My name was Judy Kerr and I was on the committee in1958/59. Some teens in the suburbs like John Waters might have watched the show on the sly, and danced with the refrigerator door, because for many in his Towson community, Deaners were not individuals to admire. Vicki Defeo: Some of the people who were popular way back that Im friends with now, back then I wouldve been like, wow! An earth force for a generation of Baltimore teens On the show you were either a drape or a square, explains Sharon. 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. Warner, Tony, Buddy's Top 20: The Story of Baltimore's Hottest TV Dance Show and the Guy Who Brought it to Life! . Chaseman had this idea for a dance party show, with Buddy as the disc jockey, and Buddy asked Arlene to go to work for him. When that little red light came on, so did my smile, she says, laughing. Thursday at the Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda; Jan. 25-27 at the Meyerhoff, 1212 Cathedral St. Baltimore. Now: The two were married in 1962, had two sons and six grandchildren. Art Space: The Drawing Zoo Combines the Joys of Art and Nature, How to Build an Art Collection, According to Local Experts, First-Ever Waverly Book Festival Set for This Weekend, Baltimore Photo Space Makes Room for Art Photography in Remington, Movie Review: Are You There God? It was similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand. . Yeah it was Cosenel, says Joe. He was one of the first to showcase rock and roll music on a continual basis. We don't have any reviews for Buddy Deane Show. Phone: (410) 494-4490 Fax: (410) 494-4492 I took off my steady ring and threw it down. Actor: Hairspray. He wanted me to go to a summer training session to be a trapeze artist. Helens fans flocked to see her at the Buddy Deane Record Hops (Committee members had to make such personal appearances and sign autographs.) The worlds oldest teenagers gathered Sunday in Baltimore County to illustrate once again that even the most uncomfortable moments in American history can be turned into something musical, good-natured, and profitable beyond imagination. I went to Eastern High, I got out at 2:30, and at 3, the show started. The Nicest Kids in Town! They just wanted to know if you were real. But as more and more kids (even Deane fans) did tum Joe College, many of the Committee made the mistake of not keeping up with the times. Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. Such a thrill, oh, when she's close to you. "Jesus, I can be anywhere, like a funeral parlor, and people will introduce me as 'this is Concetta, she was on Buddy Deane.' Also included is the perhaps the final voiceover by the late Jack Gale who recorded his contribution 10 days before departing for home on January 23rd. The star system was born. Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. Buddy Deane - IMDb She attended Goucher College and then went to law school at the University of Maryland; shes currently a practicing attorney in Baltimore. Im not sure an integrated Buddy Deane Show would work t oday. 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. So the NAACP targeted the show for protests. 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 eventually became one of the most respected programmers in the country and was even written up in Time magazine. Many were there when the show went off the air in 1964, ending a seven-year run. . . Many regulars, with nicknames like "Termite" and "Peanuts," converted the short-lived glory of local television stardom into success later in life. Best, [citation needed]. 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. The one thing everyone seems to remember about The Buddy Deane Show is its ending: amid calls to integrate the almost all-white program (as in Hairspray, there was one day a month when African Americans could dance on the show), Buddy Deane was canceled. When I was on, the kids at school were cool with it. Chubby Checker. Or the Bob-a Loop? Vicki Defeo: I thought they did a great job with portraying the kids dancing. Because they didnt integrate in reality. I didnt mean to, because I never would have messed up the makeup.. He said they asked each member of the show's committee . [The meeting was with] the Committee members and Arlene and Buddy and the producer of the show. This town just wasnt ready for that. There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek to cheek on camera with blacks, and that was it. . Was it really twenty years ago? Boy - do I wish I had. To this day, Im reluctant to tell some of my black friends I was on Buddy Deane because they look at it as a terrible time.. Its time had passed a little. The dancers were known as the Committee. 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. Frani Hahn (then Nedeloff): I watched it every day with my family when Id come home from school. What ever happened to them and do you have recent pictures? Register for a user account. His name was Nelson Ray Shiflett. The uncertain life of a high-schooler became more tolerable. Buddy Deane reunion hops - Baltimore Sun . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Baltimore Magazine. Buddy Deane Committee - Facebook The show was taken off the air because home station WJZ was unable to integrate black and white dancers. Wayne Hahn: Us kids, we all went to school with black people and had black friends. Bob Mathers: There were a lot of protests in Baltimore, which was a very racially segregated town. Viewers often emulated the Committee members' dance moves, copied their personal style, and followed their life stories and interactions. I watched it like a soap opera. 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 . Buddy Deane, 78, the impresario of Baltimore's dance show from 1957-1964, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke near his home in Pine Bluff, Ark. Once a Deaner, always a Deaner, as another so succinctly puts it. The Buddy Deane.phenomenon is hardly dead. Oh, my God, its Evanne! Autograph books, cameras, this is what they lived for. We all watched that and the Mickey Mouse Club. [At my audition], I was not quite 14. Rich and I didn't get together until 1989 and, like some other "Deaners", I had the attitude that no one would remember me after . Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. But the parents, I guess, back in the early 60s and late 50s, things were a lot different. fe_baltimore_on_air_so08 - Baltimore Style He went steady with committee member Bobbie Lanham, a heartthrob to legions, and got lots of telegrams inviting him and Bobbie to lead dances. The Buddy Deane Show aired on WJZ-TV in Baltimore, MD, from 1957 to 1964. I had always studied dance, and I wanted to go on [the show]. The Madison | Lindyland 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. 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. Deane and Kozak were advised by a small group of committee members on final cuts. . You learned how to be a teenager from the show. I was a misfit. Its Me, Margaret. It seems crazy nowthe idea of prohibiting black kids and white kids from dancing on the same television programbut not then. Ladies and Gentleman . I have two mixed-race grandchildren whom I adore. The show ran on Broadway for a couple of seasons, and since then productions have played all over Americaand they're still going. 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. In the beginning, there was Arlene. and later on, growing up, it was a definite blow: reality. I still have a whole box of fan mail, says Evanne. The Buddy Deane Show is a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that . The Buddy Deane Show was over. Suite 320. God forbid, in school, if you didnt smile, you were conceited. . Many years later they married. Even doing commercials was expected. Very few "squares" or "Joe College" teen-agers were on the show. Then and now: Remember Bruce Hutchinson? Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, all of them. Buddy Deane - Baltimore Sun Article - July 20, 2003 I run into Gene and Linda every now and then but have lost touch with mostly every one. Deane also held dances at various Maryland American Legion posts and National Guard armories which were not taped or broadcast on television. One girl yelled Buddy Deaner and then threw her plate at me. In 1985 the Committee members are for the most part happy and healthy, living in Baltimore, and still recognized on the street. John Waters: By that point, I dont think The Buddy Deane Show was on everyones lips anymore. Several marriages resulted from liaisons between Committee Members. . . We used to wrap our hair in toilet paper at night. Ten seconds to airtime. The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. At that time a very concerted and organized effort was made to formally nominate Buddy. It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. But the parents, the society. Youre going to put it on TV? I think the kids never had much of a problem with it; I think a lot of the parents may have. The best little jitterbugger in Baltimore. Besides, he never discovered that his youngest son had been on the show a dozen other times, further solidifying my stock among my peers. It was your personality and your thoughts. Every major Rock and Roll performer (save Elvis and Ricky Nelson) appeared on his show. Joel Chaseman, also a DJ at WITH, became program manager of WJZ-TV when Westinghouse bought it in the mid-50s. It was a fluke. [But] people hated me, too. . . We will try to spotlight our memories and post highlights on upcoming events. What the heck, we were all going to school with black kids for a decade by then. An then there was teased hair, replacing the 50s drape with a Buddy Deane look that so pervaded Baltimore culture (especially in East and South Baltimore) that its effect is still seen in certain neighborhoods of this great Hairdo Capital of the World. . Vicki Defeo: Now, I think kids would say, You cant tell me what to do. But we knew we could be replaced in two seconds. 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. Other vices were likewise eschewed. Buddy Deane used to boast that every major rock 'n' roll star of the era appeared on the show, except Elvis Presley and Rick Nelson. Fran Nedeloff (debuting at 14 in 61, Mervo, cha-cha) remembers the look: Straight skirt to the knee, cardigan sweater buttoned up the back, cha-cha heels, lots of heavy black eyeliner, definitely Clearasil on the lips, white nail polish. Shes been a Realtor for the past 20 years and lives outside Philadelphia. And there were a bunch of us on the rock-and-roll fence, eyes on Buddy Deane's show and ears on Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson, the gifted and wild Baltimore radio disc jockey who introduced frenetic free-association poetry at unusual times. Billy died earlier this month, at 60. Most are happily married with kids and maintain the same images they had on the show. My mother used to pick me up after school to make sure nobody hassled me., The adoring fans could also be a hassle. We faked a feud. Seven year old's Egg My Yard! 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. I wanted to go, but my parents wouldnt let me. It didnt have a happy ending. . The protesters wanted the races to mix. . Now: After the show, Barber got married, had two children and three grandchildren. We just dont know what to do with the show.. The more hair spray, the better. But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. 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. He had this dark olive green suit and I was thinking, Thats not what I expected, and then he opened up the jacket and it had red lining! When Barry Levinson, another Baltimore native, requested video from the show for his film Diner, the station told him it had no footage.[2]. We didnt sit around and say, We dont want to be around black kids. [But] . On the air before Dick Clark debuted, the show was a hit from the beginning, says Arlene today. 'Buddy Deane' Committee members - The Washington Post That was our whole social life, being a Buddy Deaner, says Gene. 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.