The period from 1958 through 1963, a vacuum between the demise of celebrated rock and rollers and the rise of the Beatles, produced teen idols—often called Bobbies, and for good reason.
Bobby Darin, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Sherman, and Bobby Goldsboro were obviously qualified to represent White pop, along with those idols who might as well have been called Bobby: Brian Hyland, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, Fabian Forte, Paul Anka, Freddy Cannon, James Darren, Paul Peterson, Johnnie Crawford, Lou Christie, Paul Peterson, Rod Lauren, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Tillotson, Neil Sedaka, Steve Alaimo, and—lest we forget the females—Connie Francis, Connie Stevens, and Shelly Fabares.
There were Black Bobbies, too, like Bobby Day, Bobby Bland, Bobby Freeman, Bobby Moore, and Bobby Womack, although pretty much in name only, not in song style.
The teen idols were mostly created by record label owners, studio producers, and Brill Building-type songwriters. They were promoted by folks like Dick Clark.
Many felt that Bobbies couldn’t sing or write worth a darn—Fabian comes to mind—but they all sure sold lots of vinyl, were pretty to look at, and pretty much sang love songs. Protest and revolution were the furthest things from their minds. Needless to say, adults were relieved. Finally.
Many Bobbies, to their credit, turned up in film and TV series.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the era was musically shallow. While Bobby Rydell was belting out Volare, Bobby Vee bouncing with Rubber Ball, Bobby Vinton crooning Roses Are Red, Frankie Avalon wondering Why, and Fabian pleading Turn Me Loose, other forms of music were providing substance, including soul, the Drifters, girl groups, Motown, doo-wop, rockers like Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Ricky Nelson, Dion and Gary U.S. Bonds, plus the plethora of dance music. But if you tuned into Dick Clark’s American Bandstand during this time, more often than not you’d see and hear a teen idol.
Safe, homogenized, and non-threatening. Like these:
Mack the Knife, Bobby Darin Volare, Bobby Rydell Turn Me Loose, Fabian Bobby Sox to Stockings, Frankie Avalon Lipstick on Your Collar, Connie Francis Quarter to Three, Gary Bonds
Frankly, since I am a pop person, I liked it all. As dumb and inane as some of the teen idol material was, I was at the right age to be able to relate to it. But given a choice, being a rocker at heart, I’d rather stomp and shout . . . and party til Quarter to Three.
Quiz Question: What two major rockers never appeared on American Bandstand? Send me your answer!
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