buddy deane show committee members

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. It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. This was the adults, who didnt know what to do, so they shut the whole thing down.. 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. The stage production opened in 2002, won eight Tony Awards and spawned another Hairspray movie, which was released in 2007. Come share the songs & dances of the Buddy Deane Show with us! This undated photo shows dancers on "The Buddy Deane Show." The popular television Baltimore dance show aired from 1957 until 1964. To this day, I don't know why my late father, then in his 60s, was watching the Buddy Deane Show. Every day after school kids would run home, tune in, and dance with the bedpost or refrigerator door as they watched. They wanted to know about bringing black kids on the show. Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. I went to Eastern High, I got out at 2:30, and at 3, the show started. 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. . Being a teenage star in Baltimore had its drawbacks. Mary Lou Barber: I used to receive 100 letters a week, all fan mail. The dancers were known as the Committee. The show ran on Broadway for a couple of seasons, and since then productions have played all over Americaand they're still going. For those too young to remember this iconic show broadcast in Baltimore in 1957-1964, you certainly have heard of the movie inspired by the Buddy Deane Show known as 'Hairspray! Mary Lou Barber: Because I was on the Committee and I was president, [I went to] these summit meetings. My email: [email protected] I hated to see so much emphasis put on the integration plot, but I do understand that that was a part of what happened. Once I was off the show for a while, and they said I had joined the nunnery, says Helen, laughing. 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 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. Buddy called me up before the cameras, and I wasnt dressed my best. The Deaners didnt mind. Marie Shapiro: I couldnt wear knee-highs or desert boots. We are in touch with Larry Miller, Lola & many of the people that you haven't seen in awhile. No! she answers, with a conviction that gives me the chills. My black friends knew they could not be on the show because of segregation. Deane died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on July 16, 2003, after suffering a stroke. Today they seem opposites. If a guy had one beer, it was a big deal. Besides, he never discovered that his youngest son had been on the show a dozen other times, further solidifying my stock among my peers. They were both Committee members back then. . Billy died earlier this month, at 60. . Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. The school tried to throw me out before. The best little jitterbugger in Baltimore. . It reminds me of the way people think now of gay marriage, how so many people are shocked about it and they dont agree with it. I think Buddy Deane was a target for people who were fighting segregation everywhere. And on the weekends wed go to record hops. In the years following The Buddy Deane Show, quite a few Deaners have gotten hitched, including Linda Warehime and Gene Snyder, Concetta Comi and John Sankonis, Anne Boyer and Richard Tempera, Shirley Temes and Jim Joyce, Frani Nedeloff and Wayne Hahn, Joe Loverde and Joyce Tucker. . Im told there are 4,000 contracts for productions this year, said James Hunnicutt, artistic director for Cockpit in Court. We (DC Hand Dance Club of Delmarva) (www.dchanddanceclub.com) meet currently Monday nights starting at 5 pm. My heart would have broken in two if I couldnt have gone on. Finally, Helen quit Mergenthaler (Mervo) trade school, at the height of her fame. Helens fans flocked to see her at the Buddy Deane Record Hops (Committee members had to make such personal appearances and sign autographs.) Deane also held dances at various Maryland American Legion posts and National Guard armories which were not taped or broadcast on television. 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. A guy I attended City with, Carroll Weber, lived in Highlandtown and was on the committee. 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. Enjoy our. Buddy Deane Committee - Blogger I watched it like a soap opera. An earth force for a generation of Baltimore teens 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. She is married and has a daughter, stepdaughter, stepson and six grandchildren. 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. The first big stars were Bobbi Bums and Freddy Oswinkle, according to Arlene, but no matter how big anyone got, someone came along who was even bigger. Joe Cash and Joan Teves became the shows first royalty. He just didnt understand., But some have dealt with the problems in good humor. 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. Oddly enough, few of the Deaners Ive talked to went on to show biz. The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. Sections of this page . Buddy Deane Committee: Pictures Just Added Taken Nov. 1983 - Blogger Several local art contests were also held on the show, with viewers submitting their own art work. Mary Lou, now a successful Realtor and grandmother living outside Philadelphia, said there were three important guiding forces in her life then -- "my hair, dancing, and who I was going steady with.". The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. I had to get up there on time. So you always had to kind of be on., Frani Hahn: Honestly, I was on the show for, Id say about six months before my father even found out, and he found out quite by accident. Yes, I miss it very much. 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. Its like anything you see today. READ: What happened to the teen stars of The Buddy Deane Show after the program went off the air? Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. "When you dance be sure to hold her, hold her tight. Ladies and gentlemen, the nicest kids in town!. His 1988 film Hairspray went on to inspire a Broadway musical of the same name. Most of them are pushing 70 now. Deane was named the No. And they told us we were going to go off the air because of it. Once a Deaner, always a Deaner, as another so succinctly puts it. 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. They set the style for teens throughout Baltimore. 410-783-8000. John Waters, writer and director of Hairspray: I was always obsessed by it. He eventually became one of the most respected programmers in the country and was even written up in Time 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 dont know if we were ready or not; whos to say? Want to post on Patch? We have a telegram, Buddy would shout almost daily, for Mary Lou to lead a dance, and the cameraman seemed to love her. With the show beginning at 2:30 in some years, cutting out of school early was common. I think Im honoring their great stardom. Joel Chaseman, also a DJ at WITH, became program manager of WJZ-TV when Westinghouse bought it in the mid-50s. John Waters: Mary Lou [Barber] told me once that a black girl couldve gotten on the show easier than a fat girl. . Deane's show is the foundation of the John Waters film Hairspray and the popular adaptation of it that's now on Broadway. One time I was going with this guy, and he was dancing with this guest I didnt like, says Evanne. As Marie puts it, The rewards were so great emotionally that you didnt have to ask for a monetary award., Many had difficulties dealing with the void when the show went off the air. You received demerits for almost anything: Chewing gum. Dick Clark patterned his ABC-TV show, Where the Action Is, after local remotes done by Deane in Maryland. We thought it was just so cool. We used to go to stand in front of Reads Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph.. three, two, one. [1], As with many other local TV shows, little footage of the show is known to have survived. "Jesus, I can be anywhere, like a funeral parlor, and people will introduce me as 'this is Concetta, she was on Buddy Deane.' . And . Oh sure, if you were Joe College [pre-preppie], you just didnt do The Deane Show. Did you ever tum into a Joe College? I ask innocently. He wanted me to go to a summer training session to be a trapeze artist. 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. There were a lot of obscene phone calls., And the rumors, God, the rumors. Hundreds showed up to audition for a spot on the Committee. Kozak says that was far from the truth. I even won the twist contest with Mary Lou Raines (one of the queens of The Buddy Deane Show) at the Valley Country Club. We all considered it a privilege, even though they never paid our bus fare.. This man approached me, telegrammed me, showed up at the show. On August 2, 1924, Winston Joseph Deane was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. 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. We got more mail: Oh, please dont break up! Somebody even sent us a miniature pair of boxing gloves. . Buddy offered to have three or even four days a week all black, but that wasnt it. You are history. WOW, I just found this site after all these years. Now: After the show, Barber got married, had two children and three grandchildren. Because they didnt integrate in reality. Not a real one. Kathy switched to a great beehive that resembled a trash can sitting on top of her head. Click here to login or here to sign up. I remember it well, recalls Evanne. He said they asked each member of the show's committee . They were the Mouseketeers! The whole day on the show was devoted to me.. . She smelled like a garden of flowers and could crack her chewing gum discreetly. It was the era of rock n roll - ducktails, pegged pants and beehive dos. Could it be? Gene and Linda Snyder met on The Buddy Deane Show as committee members in 1959 and have been married for 46 years. Buddy noticed my eyes staring and said, Do the same eyes. And the camera got it. Kathy went even further. Girl Scout leader, very active in my kids school. Mary Lou is still a star. 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. . Buddy Deane, 78, TV Host And Inspiration of 'Hairspray' - New York Times . Vicki Defeo: Some of the people who were popular way back that Im friends with now, back then I wouldve been like, wow! The dancers 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. We never discussed it, we had nothing to do with it. John Waters: [The Deaners] were the most important people I wanted to like the movie. The big garage-type door they remember would open, and theyd all pile in, past George and Mom, the Pinkerton guards who used to keep attendance, and crowd into Arlenes office to comb their hair, confide their problems, and touch up their make-up. Maryland Public Televisions The Buddy Deane Show was the inspiration for the film and musical Hairspray, which will be performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Jan. 25-27. By what name was The Buddy Deane Show (1957) officially released in Canada in English? His name was Nelson Ray Shiflett. 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. 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. So was Aqua Net. Apr 14, 1997 at 3:00 am. Gene calls it a big loss. It was living in a fantasy world, says Helen. 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? "I remember it well," recalls Evanne. And we became very close to Arlene. I couldnt go to a mall without somebody going Oh my God, its Mary Lou! . Over lunch at the Thunderball Lounge, in East Baltimore, Kathy remembers, I could never get used to signing autographs. Marie Shapiro: I think we all kind of knew what was coming. committeemembers - thecommitteetohonorbuddydeane - Google Sites and later on, growing up, it was a definite blow: reality. I still have a whole box of fan mail, says Evanne. . Or Snuggle Dolls? (They gave her a diamond watch at the last reunion.) 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. I was just accidentally obsessed with something that was appealing to more people. That she has an affluent life-style surprises no one on the Committee. The kids became celebrities. Oh, my God, its Evanne! Autograph books, cameras, this is what they lived for. Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, all of them. He was one of the first disc jockeys in the area to regularly feature rock-and-roll. But the parents, I guess, back in the early 60s and late 50s, things were a lot different. How do you feel about that? And the kids said, Mr. In 1985 the Committee members are for the most part happy and healthy, living in Baltimore, and still recognized on the street. Participants dressed in "country" style, and danced to country and western music as well as pop. "Uhhh, I had a long basketball practice and I had to take extra foul shots," I lied. MOJO Time Machine: The Buddy Deane Show Rocks Baltimore I had to take two buses to get there. Deane also presented British artist Helen Shapiro, who sang her Baltimore hit, "Tell Me What He Said," at about the time that she was touring England with The Beatles as one of her support acts. ' And Evanne still shudders as she recalls, Once I was in the cafeteria. (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). 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. The first and maybe the biggest Buddy Deane queen of all. 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. 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! I was totally star-struck and had as much fun that night as I did at the Cannes Film Festival. You have to ease into it. John Waters: Theyre my idols in a way. They all thought all the girls were pregnant by Buddy Deane, remember several. Dance was the thing. Although WJZ-TV, owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting (now CBS since January 2, 1995), was an ABC affiliate, the station "blacked out" the network broadcast of American Bandstand in Baltimore and broadcast the Deane program instead, reportedly because Bandstand showed black teenagers dancing on the show (although black and white teenagers were not allowed to dance together until the show was moved to California in 1964). Buddy Deane - Baltimore Sun Article - July 20, 2003 . The Buddy Deane Show - Wikipedia We all watched that and the Mickey Mouse Club. [At my audition], I was not quite 14. After you sprayed it, youd get toilet paper and blot it. But boy do we love the times, the memories that we have from the past. Sure, as a teenager I was a guest on the show. 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). It didnt have a happy ending. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. The core group of teenagers who appeared on the show every day were known as the "Committee." Evanne Robinson was voted the prettiest girl by an entire army base. It seems crazy nowthe idea of prohibiting black kids and white kids from dancing on the same television programbut not then. I wanted to get into the record businessand years later he did. Joe Kozak still fields calls from folks wanting to speak with his late wife, Arlene, who was Buddy Deane's production assistant during the run of the program. . As with the drapes and squares of the previous decade, she explains, there were two classes of people thenDeaners and Joe College. . "Oooo, you sweated on me!" she yelped. . When Barry Levinson, another Baltimore native, requested video from the show for his film Diner, the station told him it had no footage.[2]. . Deane helped numerous black record artists in their careers -- James Brown among them. Buddy Deane reunion hops - Baltimore Sun And none are bitter. Gene was a captain of the Baltimore City Fire Department and retired in 2000; Linda worked in advertising and retired in 2004. Now, no one would ever do a commercial for a profit company without getting some compensation. . Deaners seem to come out of the woodwork, drawn by the memory of their stardom. You heard that they wanted to integrate. And, yes, they were actually "records" in 1983. Now: The two were married in 1962, had two sons and six grandchildren. . It was really no big deal to us. The views expressed here are the author's own. And when we sprayed it, we had to blot it so it didnt leave residue. Tom Wheeler I didnt mean to, because I never would have messed up the makeup.. Buddy wanted it to end happily, but WJZ angered Deaners when it tried to blame the ratings. Buddy Deane Committee - Facebook . . I think the kids never had much of a problem with it; I think a lot of the parents may have. God forbid, in school, if you didnt smile, you were conceited. I couldnt be bothered with education. The Buddy Deane Show - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia At that time a very concerted and organized effort was made to formally nominate Buddy. Buddy Deane Committee This is a home for all of the dancers from the Buddy Deane Era (1957 - 1964) to meet up and keep in touch. My mother wanted me to go, she took me down to the tryouts. 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. . 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. Hope life has been good to you! Or Hartford Motor Coach Company? To those of my generation, Deane left a lasting legacy in both culture and memory. 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. The Deane program set aside every other Friday for a show featuring only black teenagers. Marie Fischer was the first Joe to become a Committee memberchosen simply because she was such a good dancer. September 17,2011 Parkville American Legion Hall Putty Hill Rd & Old Harford Rd 8PM til' Midnite $25.00 per ticket Buddy himself, the high priest, returned for the event. When you think about it, its funny. Helen was my idol when I started watching the Buddy Deane show with my sister in 1958. In reality, integration spelled the demise of The Buddy Deane Show, which ran from 1957 to 1964. Its time had passed a little. Id get letters saying, If you show up at this particular hop, youre gonna get your face pushed in. One girl yelled Buddy Deaner and then threw her plate at me. I hate to say this, but they wanted attractive young people. All on Pulaski Highway. . The Committee, initially recruited from local teen centers, was to act as hosts and dance with the guests. I lied! Chubby Checker. . The Buddy Deane Show was over. Im Joe, too. There was a change in the works., Part of that change was the racial integration movement. I was 10 years old and I just adored this dancer with the neatest DA haircuts. 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. The show was the highest-rated local program in the country. My father was very strict. From pinnacle to the pits in a few short seconds. Here's What Essex-Middle River Moms Really Want For Mother's Day. The Buddy Deane Show is a teen dance television show, similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand, that . That dancing was integrated and I learned how to do the boomerang, shing-a-ling, the skate and the twine time. Romance was one thing; sex was another. . I just loved meeting him. Corky,My name was Judy Kerr and I was on the committee in1958/59. Deane also played songs that other disc jockeys, including Dick Clark, refused to present to mostly white teen TV audiences because the acts sounded "too black" (e.g. This Committees committee, under the watchful eye of Arlene, chose new members, taught the dance steps, and enforced the demerit system, which could result in suspension or expulsion. These were the first role models I knew. On 'Hairspray's' 25th anniversary, 'Buddy Deane' Committee looks back

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