Ironically, The Buddy Deane Show introduced black music and artists into the lives of white Baltimore teenagers, many of whom learned to dance from black friends and listened to black radio. The core group of teenagers who appeared on the show every day were known as the "Committee." John Waters: By that point, I dont think The Buddy Deane Show was on everyones lips anymore. As with the drapes and squares of the previous decade, she explains, there were two classes of people thenDeaners and Joe College. There were a lot of obscene phone calls., And the rumors, God, the rumors. Sure, as a teenager I was a guest on the show. At that time a very concerted and organized effort was made to formally nominate Buddy. Vicki Defeo: My favorite was James Brown. Special Thanks to Linda Snyder (committee member from the Buddy Deane Show) who shares many stories from the TV show, Richard Powers who provided the amazing photo from the set of the Buddy Dean Show, Lance Benishek (dance historian) who provided some ample questions and motivation when we began researching these dances in 2005. Enjoy our. Big hair was a plus. . Phone: (410) 494-4490 Fax: (410) 494-4492 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. It was the times, most remember. Hundreds showed up to audition for a spot on the Committee. To qualify, first you needed a solid command of the day's dances -- the pony, Madison, jitterbug, bop, cha-cha, the stroll, the twist -- and there was even a "cool" style for slow dancing. Linda Snyder: After you made the dance audition, you went to an interview with the Committee members. . But in a lot of corners of Baltimore and beyond, getting on the show was equivalent to stardom and instant popularity. I know he would love hearing from you! Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. I saw the show as a vehicle to make something of myself, remembers Joe. . And many of them are not comfortable talking about it, and Hairspray made them, in a way. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. We appreciate your interest. When Mary Lous husband gave me the long and complicated directions to their home on the phone, he ended with And there you will find, yes, Mary Lou Raines. He later confided that when he first started dating her, he had no idea of her early career. It was an integrated school, and the black girls would show us all the new dances. 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. 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. Buddy Deane died in 2003 at the age of 78 due to complications from a stroke. Besides, he never discovered that his youngest son had been on the show a dozen other times, further solidifying my stock among my peers. I lied! Pixie was barely five feet tall, but her hair sometimes added a good six to eight inches to her height. Buddy said to me, Well, heres my little girl whos been with me the longest. I hardly ever cried, but I just broke down on camera. He was seventy-eight. Today, Concetta is married to another former committee member, John Sankonis. . And the girl Deaners, God, hair-hoppers as we called them in Towson, the ones with the Etta Gowns, bouffant hairdos, and cha-cha heels. We are kind of like Ozzie and Harriet, says Gene Snyder as Linda nods in agreement. Im serious. What the heck, we were all going to school with black kids for a decade by then. This man approached me, telegrammed me, showed up at the show. . They were getting stopped on the street for autographs. Participants dressed in "country" style, and danced to country and western music as well as pop. So you cant imagine how excited I was when I finally got a chance to interview these local legends twenty years later. Many top acts of the day, both black and white, appeared on The Buddy Deane Show. Most of them are pushing 70 now. Snyder said she choreographed the Madison, a popular line dance of the time, for . It was really no big deal to us. To this day, I don't know why my late father, then in his 60s, was watching the Buddy Deane Show. Joel Chaseman, also a DJ at WITH, became program manager of WJZ-TV when Westinghouse bought it in the mid-50s. Members of the committee attended Reunion Dances and other events soliciting the support of . I was a square. Deane, Kozak, Cahan, the . We have a telegram, Buddy would shout almost daily, for Mary Lou to lead a dance, and the cameraman seemed to love her. If you were a teenager in Baltimore in the late 1950s and early 1960s, you watched The Buddy Deane Show. When the final bell rang you sprinted home from school, saddle shoes smacking the sidewalk, knee socks sliding down your shins, until you skidded to a stop in front of your black-and-white TV and turned to WJZ Channel 13 to watch Marylands answer to American Bandstand. Chances are you wanted to be on The Buddy Deane Show, whose stars were ordinary teens turned local celebrities. If you could claim that you were a Buddy Deaner -- a member of the regular committee that appeared on the daily show and attended weekend record hops of Deane, who died Wednesday at 78 after a stroke -- the social status attached to that was substantial. Im told there are 4,000 contracts for productions this year, said James Hunnicutt, artistic director for Cockpit in Court. But we thought of him as being so flamboyant. On August 2, 1924, Winston Joseph Deane was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They wanted to know something about your religious affiliation. So the rules were bent a little; the big ones, the ones with the fan mail, were allowed to stay. . The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. Baltimore Sun. It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. Marie Shapiro: I couldnt wear knee-highs or desert boots. . It was similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand. Sometimes youd wrap your hair at night. Dick Clark patterned his ABC-TV show, Where the Action Is, after local remotes done by Deane in Maryland. 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. People laugh and I go, I remember that, I remember that.. Bill Haley and the Comets made their premiere performance of "Rock Around the Clock" on Deane's show. I was a misfit. They set the style for teens throughout Baltimore. Before long I started getting lots of fan mail: I think youre neat. When "The Buddy Deane Show" debuted on Baltimore's WJZ-13 on Sept. 9, 1957, it was an instant hit. 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. When the show was over, I caught the city bus near TV hill and it dumped me off as dusk gathered in my Belair Road neighborhood near Erdman Avenue. 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. . In 1950, he moved to Baltimore to WITH. I remember it well, recalls Evanne. The star system was born. It's so funny that we were just talking about you a few months back. The stage production opened in 2002, won eight Tony Awards and spawned another Hairspray movie, which was released in 2007. It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. . Billy, especially, was picked on unmercifully "up on Belair Road," but deep inside, the ones making fun -- some of whom would wind up with heroin habits or work down at Bethlehem Steel -- were deeply envious of him. Then and now: Remember Bruce Hutchinson? We never discussed it, we had nothing to do with it. They all thought all the girls were pregnant by Buddy Deane, remember several. 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. My email: frani@francescatravel.com And when we sprayed it, we had to blot it so it didnt leave residue. Its interesting that our paths have crossed at reunions and weve all chosen to stay friends. The Nicest Kids in Town! Please contact me. Mary Lou Barber: Think of it: In the 60s, if they were to ask a black guy to lead a dance with me or some other white girl Baltimore wasnt ready for it yet. Gene and Linda Snyder met on The Buddy Deane Show as committee members in 1959 and have been married for 46 years. Now: The Hahns have stayed in Baltimore. The Committee to Honor Buddy Deane. Some of the really dedicated Committee members get tears in their eyes. 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. . But he was, and busted me courtesy of that close-up shot, seconds before my fragile teen-age ego was shattered by Pixie, or whatever her name was. Six days a week and often two hours a day, Buddy Deane and his Committee Members --the privileged regular teen dancers on the show -- twisted, cha cha ed and Madisoned into area living rooms. Come share the songs & dances of the Buddy Deane Show with us! Do you miss show biz? I ask her. He was 78. And, yes, they were actually "records" in 1983. I was just accidentally obsessed with something that was appealing to more people. Could it be? You can help by adding some! We used to go to stand in front of Reads Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph.. (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). Bob Mathers, who worked with Deane on three radio stations, was a close friend of Deanes and is an unofficial historian of The Buddy Deane Show.. The more hair spray, the better. 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. . She attended Goucher College and then went to law school at the University of Maryland; shes currently a practicing attorney in Baltimore. His childhood nickname was Buddy. I was totally star-struck and had as much fun that night as I did at the Cannes Film Festival. . Marie Shapiro: I think we all kind of knew what was coming. . My name is Tom Lowe, I went by the name of "Corky" while on the committe in 58 & 59, maybe into early 1960. The Buddy Deane Show ended in early 1964, a victim of "insolvable" integration problems, Mr. Deane said in an article in The Sun at that time. On the show you were either a drape or a square, explains Sharon. He was mad because I was as popular as he was. 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. But the parents, I guess, back in the early 60s and late 50s, things were a lot different. More Pictures from the "Tribute to Buddy" Dance, Tribute to Buddy Dance at Timonium Fairgrounds. . 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. Im the biggest ham. Although she denies being conscious of the camera, she admits, I did try to dance up front. The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. . We have that common bond. Check out the latest from the Deaners and get the full behind the scenes story of Buddy Deane and Hairspray here. she yelped. 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. Both entities launche. . I think the kids never had much of a problem with it; I think a lot of the parents may have. Login to create it. Shes been a Realtor for the past 20 years and lives outside Philadelphia. Linda Snyder: We still love to go dancing. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. The cause was . She was his right-hand man and she picked out all the kids for the show. 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. Why not do The Deane Show on TV again? Helen Crist Swift 1943 - 2007. That dancing was integrated and I learned how to do the boomerang, shing-a-ling, the skate and the twine time. 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. Deane died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on July 16, 2003, after suffering a stroke. 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. Everybody wanted to kick a Buddy Deaners a, says Gene, recalling thugs waiting to jump Deaners outside the studio. Gene calls it a big loss. It was living in a fantasy world, says Helen. [But] people hated me, too. Buddy Deane, center, with the Committee and teen dancers. . The old Buddy Deane gang is still a hit, too, still getting recognized on the street, and still remembered with affection by a generation that spanned the Eisenhower and Kennedy years. . Even as a guest, your friends and relatives saw you basking in your temporary fame. 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. A big strong line!) up the hill to the famous dance party set, the one that now houses People Are Talking. 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. A special. In fall of 63, Buddy called in the Committee members and said . They were married in 1966 and have one daughter. Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. I had a lot of black friends at the time, so for me this was an awkward thing, says Marie. Debuting at a mere 11 years of age, taking three buses every day to get to the show, wearing that wonderful white DA (created by her hairdresser father), and causing the first real sensation. 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. [1] He was 78. She smelled like a garden of flowers and could crack her chewing gum discreetly. The final episode aired on Jan. 4, 1964. Former dancers from the Buddy Deane Show: (l-r) Jerry Manowski, Charlie LoPresto, Lola Jones, Concetta and John Sankonis, Suzy Costello, Shirley Joyce, Linda and Gene SnyderAnne Boyer Tempera and Rich Tempera, Frani and Wayne Hahn. I think my father would definitely have not been agreeable to [integration] at that time. But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. We thought it was just so cool. Vicki Defeo: Some of the people who were popular way back that Im friends with now, back then I wouldve been like, wow! You had to be a good student. Deane's show is the foundation of the John Waters film Hairspray and the popular adaptation of it that's now on Broadway. At school, we were just one of the other kids, but we used to get fan mail. It couldn't get much worse, or so I thought. And on the weekends wed go to record hops. Recollections differ as to whether it was Deane, the station or the parents of the Committee members who refused to allow the show to be integrated. Untrue, but we believed it.). Deane began his broadcasting career at KLXR in Little Rock, Arkansas. The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled.The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled.The show was a teen dance and music show and ran from 1957 to until 1964 on WJZ-TV until the show was canceled. We will try to spotlight our memories and post highlights on upcoming events. The show was taken off the air because home station WJZ was unable to integrate black and white dancers. Very few "squares" or "Joe College" teen-agers were on the show. You are history. The Buddy Deane Show went on the air on Sept. 9, 1957 and became the most popular local show in the United States. If you made the short list, you were required to bring in a letter of reference from your parish priest, minister, rabbi or a teacher. Every rock n roll star of the day (except Elvis) came to town to lip-synch and plug their records on the show: Buddy Holly, Domino, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian, to name just a few. And those wonderful dances. three, two, one. "The Nicest Kids In Town" -former dancers from the Buddy Deane Show (1957- 1964). . Tom Wheeler 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. And if you dared to dance the obscene Bodie Green (the Dirty Boogie), you were immediately a goner. Integration ended The Buddy Deane Show. About a dozen of the old Buddy Deane gang showed up to watch a delightful, energetic production of the John Waters inspiration. John Waters: I put the spotlight on [the integration controversy] . It was really blown up big. You are out of here. The Madison line dance was born here, called by the supreme voice of Eddie Morrison. Warner, Tony, Buddy's Top 20: The Story of Baltimore's Hottest TV Dance Show and the Guy Who Brought it to Life! They still get together and they still do a pretty sharp Madison. The views expressed here are the author's own. my father inquired as I walked into our rowhouse. He eventually became one of the most respected programmers in the country and was even written up in Time magazine. Dance was the thing. I must have had ten different phone numbers, says Helen, and somehow it would get out. 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. My mother wanted me to go, she took me down to the tryouts. (They gave her a diamond watch at the last reunion.) When the subject comes up today, most loyalists want to go off the record. And none are bitter. Being a Deaner lifted a committee member into the rarefied air of being a star at 16. 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. The pictures I've just posted are of the reunion dance for the Buddy Deane Committee Members with Buddy Deane playing the records. . 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. We usually hang out at: http://www.facebook.com/buddydeanecommittee 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 all that time, so I never went to the dances. On the show: Gene joined in February 1958; Linda was on from September 1958 to February 1961. September 17,2011 Parkville American Legion Hall Putty Hill Rd & Old Harford Rd 8PM til' Midnite $25.00 per ticket Such was life in Baltimore. From then on, all bare shoulders were covered with a piece of net. Both entities launched on September 9, 1957. 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. This undated photo shows dancers on "The Buddy Deane Show." It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. John Waters: [The Deaners] were the most important people I wanted to like the movie. Im not sure an integrated Buddy Deane Show would work t oday. "Jesus, I can be anywhere, like a funeral parlor, and people will introduce me as 'this is Concetta, she was on Buddy Deane.' I think the guys had a harder time at it. We all considered it a privilege, even though they never paid our bus fare.. The boys were picked on, because boys didnt dance then. As well, a show was broadcast from a local farm in Westminster, Maryland. Or Hartford Motor Coach Company? You had to wear nylons. You have to ease into it. Mary Lou laughs at the memory of doing a pimple medicine spot on camera. What happened Buddy Dean? 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. TheCommitteeToHonorBuddyDeane@gmail.com. (Editors note: The show requested a character reference from a priest, minister or rabbi; references from teachers or principals were also accepted.) Corky,My name was Judy Kerr and I was on the committee in1958/59. The show was the highest-rated local program in the country. . Neither Deane nor Waters believes Baltimore was ready for an integrated teen dance program in 1964. This production features a number of the committee members from the Deane program recalling those days. These were the first role models I knew. 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). He didnt talk with us a whole lot. 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. I had trunks of it. . 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. 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. and later on, growing up, it was a definite blow: reality. I still have a whole box of fan mail, says Evanne. Committee members had to look sharp, have a style and be willing to appear on weekends for Deane's dances from Westmin-ster to Salisbury. To say that the Buddy Deane Show was the centerpiece of every teen's life in Baltimore would be a stretch. We got more mail: Oh, please dont break up! Somebody even sent us a miniature pair of boxing gloves. His name was Nelson Ray Shiflett. 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 . I hate to say this, but they wanted attractive young people. We are in touch with Larry Miller, Lola & many of the people that you haven't seen in awhile. . Helen was my idol when I started watching the Buddy Deane show with my sister in 1958. 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. If I have one regret in life, its that I wasnt a Buddy Deaner. raises funds for Alzheimer's Association, 2017 HD Heritage Softail for Sale in Bel Air, Democrat Ben Cardin Won't Seek Re-Election To Senate In 2024, Flour Recalled In MD For Salmonella Risk: What To Know, Latest Job Listings In The Essex-Middle River Area, Essex-Middle River Area: See 5 Nearby Properties On The Market. . If the Contours or James Brown came on, some would stop games of basketball, pinochle or pitching nickels and start dancing. Dance lessons are provided by certified "Hand dance" instructors , Phil & Diane", from 5:30 till 6:30 and then we dance until about 9pm. You had to be 14 to 18 to get on. 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. And they all came together on "The Buddy Deane Show," Baltimore s legendary teen dance show. 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. This post was contributed by a community member. Deane and Kozak were advised by a small group of committee members on final cuts. We were from all over the city, Ann Boyer recalled. Linda Snyder: In the beginning, they rotated the entire Committee. 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. Here's What Essex-Middle River Moms Really Want For Mother's Day. Rumors would go about certain people. The dancers were known as the Committee. The Buddy Deane Show: With Channing Wilroy, Buddy Deane. so they had a points system. It was horrible/ says Joe. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Five kids in my neighborhood were on the committee -- Concetta Comi, Georgia Ann Richter, Peggy Keaton, Joan Darby and Billy Pritchard. He was one of the first to showcase rock and roll music on a continual basis. Larry tried searching Facebook for you. And we were so sad. When that little red light came on, so did my smile, she says, laughing. But boy do we love the times, the memories that we have from the past. [The meeting was with] the Committee members and Arlene and Buddy and the producer of the show. I had beehives. 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? If you [broke any rules], you got the points taken off. Just once. . But the parents, the society. The boys had to wear coats and ties, dressing in the aforementioned "Continental" style. '.Watch this and go back in time to the Baltimore of the late 50's and early 60'sand how those memories remain as vivid as ever to the thousands who lived it.Special thanks to Larry Bridge \u0026 Marc Solomon of LARMAR Video and Joe \u0026 Cindy Loverde for the creation and production of the project, and of courseto the many members of the Buddy Deane Committee who provided a generation of Baltimoreans with a ton of great reminisces from the early days of rock and roll!