[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]

Teen Idols

Pat Boone

• easily the most commercially successful of the white Fifties teen idols
  • 38 Top Forty Hits, including several "cleaned-up" versions that outsold arguably superior original versions
    • e.g., Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" & "Long Tall Sally," Joe Turner's "Chains of Love," Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," etc.

Tutti Frutti
(cover of a song by Little Richard)

Ain't That a Shame
(cover of a song by Fats Domino)

• Between 1955 & 1962, he made 54 chart apperances (including many 2-sided hits)
  • became one of the all-time biggest-selling pop singers
• 1957-60--had his own TV show, The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom
• at the height of his popularity, became an author
  • contained wholesome advice for teenagers
• since 1983, he has hosted a contemporary Christian radio show
• daughter, Debby Boone, became a star in her own right
  • "You Light Up My Life" (#1 for 10 weeks in 1977)
• won an Oscar and 3 Grammys

for some more current (and slightly frightening) covers by Pat Boone
on his In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy (1997),
click on the "Listen" image below:

Bobby Darin

• another one of the most successful teen idols
  • wanted to be "bigger than Sinatra"
• took music seriously
  • attended university Music Dept, though didn't complete a degree
  • wanted to be considered singer, musician, songwriter (according to legend, wrote "Splish Splash" in 12 minutes!!)

Splish Splash

(#3, 1958)

• lived fast ... certain he would die early from a congenital heart defect; actually died in 1973 during heart surgery to replace a faulty valve
• 1990--R&R Hall of Fame

Mack the Knife

Fabian

• not a singer, but a "calculated product"
  • created in the image of Ricky Nelson by Bob Marcucci & Pete DeAngelis, owners of Chancellor Records
  • they stated that "we now run a school where we indoctrinate the artists into show business" ... i.e., how to walk, talk & act on stage
• 1959-60--marketed as a teen idol
  • had 3 Top Ten Hits: "Turn Me Loose," "Tiger," and "Hound Dog Man"
  • the latter was from a movie of the same name, starring Fabian

Hound Dog Man

1960--turned to acting full-time; e.g., North to Alaska (1960; with John Wayne)

• 1974--posed nude for woman's magazine

• a decision he later regretted, because he said he looked "fat and stupid"
• 1980--film The Idolmaker said to have been based on the life of Bob Marcucci (his first manager)

Frankie Avalon

• trumpet-playing prodigy
• late 50s--6 Top Ten Hits
• became a regular on Dick Clark's American Bandstand

Venus

(#1, 1959)

• acted in a series of "beach movies" with Annette Funicello

Dion & the Belmonts

• Dion DiMucci & a group of his neighborhood friends
• recorded demo for his mother as Valentines Day present (like Elvis!!)
• 1954--debuted on "Teen Club" (Philadelphia TV Show)
• 1958--passed up Buddy Holly's fateful charter plane ride (2/59)

The Wanderer

• influential on artists from Billy Joel to Lou Reed
• started to sing @ 5 yrs, guitar a couple of years later; dabbled with drugs & got hooked on a heroin habit he didn't kick until 1968 (29 yrs old)

Runaround Sue

• Rumored to have been written for his wife "Susan" (the real Runaround Sue), though DiMucci claims that the song was improvised on a High School playground
• In addition to his successes, he also recorded an unsuccessful cover of Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (!!)
• 1989--Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]