(Note: Criteria, Scoring and Rationale for this series may be found here.)
Bobby Rydell
(106 pts):
- 7 Top 10 hits
- 8 Top 20
- 5 Top 40 hits
- 9 Top 100 hits
- “Wild One” peaked at #2 in 1960
In 1978, my parents’ best friends invited me to go see Grease with them and their daughter.
I didn’t know much about the film, but fell in love with it, as did most of America.
In its own way, the movie became a part of pop Americana.
For example, I went to the YMCA’s Youth Convocation in the summer of 1990 with teenagers from twenty-six other nations.
On the next to last evening, each national contingent had to present something related to their home country, and we chose to perform a lip-sync dance to “Greased Lightning”, complete with white T-shirts and slicked back hair.
That movie (and Broadway musical) was based on a 1971 musical of the same name, but a lot of changes were made to make it PG-rated. The original Chicago show was ethnic, raunchy, edgy; the music and dialogue diluted and made more family-friendly for a national audience.
Broadway did keep the name of the high school, however – a name which grounded the show with the confines of the late 50s/early 60s:
Rydell High.
Rydell once said:
“It was so nice to know that the high school [in ‘Grease’] was named after me.”
“And I said, ‘Why me?’ It could have been Anka High, Presley High, Everly High, Fabian High, Avalon High.
“And they came up with Rydell High, and once again – total honor.”
Bobby Rydell
But it couldn’t have been – those artists had peaks and memorable moments beyond that period just before The Beatles. It was always going to be Bobby Rydell.
Robert Louis Ridarelli was born in the Moyamensing section of South Philly:
In the same neighborhood and time as Frankie Avalon, Fabian and James Darren. Which makes me think there must’ve been something in the Shackaminsing Creek that ran beneath its streets.
As a young boy, Ridarelli loved mimicking singers on TV, and his dad thought he had some ability – by the time he was seven, Robert was singing and doing impersonations around the city.
The next year, Ridarelli appeared on TV Teen Club, hosted by Paul Whiteman, an enormously successful jazz musician and conductor from the 1920s and 1930s.
Robert won the contest, and became the show’s drummer for the next three years. Whiteman had difficulty with Ridarelli’s last name, so he called him “Bobby Rydell,” and the name stuck.
In March of 1952 Channel 6 WFIL in Philadelphia premiered a new program called Bandstand, hosted by Bob Horn.
It became a national sensation, and record labels in Philadelphia took advantage by offering their artists to the show:
Freddy Cannon…
(3 Top 10, 2 Top 20, 3 Top 40 and 14 Top 100 singles, including “Palisades Park” which peaked at #3 in 1962 -it’s a 3)…
….of local Philly record label Swan held the record with 110 appearances on the show. Cannon also just missed this countdown at #11.
While American Bandstand became THE go-to program for teenage artists and its fans, Rydell’s career struggled.
His work with minor labels went nowhere. But Bernie Lowe, co-founder of Cameo Records, knew of Rydell’s talents because he used to play piano on Whiteman’s show.
Their headquarters was only thirty blocks away from the American Bandstand studio, and new host Dick Clark remembered Rydell as well.
He’d read the advertisements on the show for Tootsie Roll, a major sponsor, so Clark invited Rydell on the show for a number of interviews and to plug a few singles when the scheduled guest canceled at the last minute.
Finally, he was able to lip-sync to his third single:
“Kissin’ Time” hit #11, and Rydell’s career took off. His next single “We Got Love” hit #6 (it’s a 6), and with his first hit of 1960, Rydell became an American teen idol.
“Wild One” was written by Cameo co-founders Bernie Lowe, Kal Mann, and jack-of-all-trades employee Dave Appell.
Appell had a few songwriting credits to his name, as well as his own traveling band, The Dave Appell Quartet.
Homesick, he returned to West Philly where the Quartet became the backbone of Cameo’s house band.
They played supporting Chubby Checker, The Dovells (#13; 3 Top 10, 5 Top 40, 6 Top 100), The Orlons (#23), Dee Dee Sharp and Bobby Rydell among others at the label.
The quartet didn’t have a percussionist, so on “Wild One” Appell reached out to New York City drummer Gary Chester, whose career credits are too long to list here.
But does include this one:
(Stereogum reviewer Tom Breihan gave “Sugar, Sugar” a 9.)
Lowe and Mann were extremely successful songwriters as well, known for 1957 #1 hits like Elvis’ “Teddy Bear” and Charlie Gracie’s “Butterfly”, and their ability is evident on “Wild One”. It’s the work of professionals who know how to create a pop song. The saxophones kick in right away, then seventeen year-old Rydell croons.
The subject of the song is wild (in a 1950s way), and Bobby is just the one to get her to settle down.
She might have a baby (I’m presuming figuratively), but someday it’ll only be him. Why should they be together? Rydell tells her they have matching lips, which is obviously the key to any successful relationship.
Rydell is Safe Elvis here, the backup singers respond perfectly to his pleas. It’s not a song that would work for The King, but PG-rated banter ready for the dance floor, a dance with no touching like The Twist, Wah Watusi, The Mashed Potato or any of the series of dance songs Cameo would release through the early 60s: Teenage fun, parent approved.
The music was recorded at the label’s headquarters at 14th and Locust Streets on a small mono board.
But the vocals had to be done at Rec-O-Art, a larger studio at 12th and Vine.
Emil Korsen, the sound engineer/owner, set up a mic in the men’s bathroom two stories above the studio where Rydell sang, which fed back into the mixing board to add reverb to his vocals.
Cameo had a successful formula, dammit, and they were going to ride it: they bought a larger studio at 309 South Broad Street, pumped out singles, sent their stars onto Bandstand, and for most of the early 60s they were successful.
Rydell had seven songs chart in 1960, including “Swingin’ School” (a 5), and an English remake of Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”:
(Tom gave the original a 5; this is a 4.)
Eight more songs charted in 1961, and five in 1962 including when Rydell returned to the Top 10 with “The Cha-Cha-Cha”, which referenced all the dance-titled songs the Cameo team had written.
Nothing like beating a dead horse; this one’s a 4.
Rydell took a break from touring in May of 1962 to join the cast of Bye Bye Birdie.
He auditioned for Hugo Peabody, a role with no lines in the Broadway musical.
But George Sydney expanded Rydell’s role once he saw the chemistry between he and Ann-Margaret.
While the movie was a success and his role applauded, Rydell showed no interest in moving to Hollywood. Unlike the rest of the Moyamensing Boys who have over 50 film credits each, Rydell just wanted to live in Philly and sing.
1963 found Rydell with his last Top 10 hit, “Forget Him”, which is widely celebrated as the inspiration behind The Beatles “She Loves You”.
In Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, Macca said he and John Lennon were inspired to write a third-person song after hearing a Rydell song. No one is sure which hit it was (some claim it to be “Swingin’ School”, but “Forget Him” was on the charts when Lennon-McCartney wrote it), but it might be ironic that Rydell played a role in The Beatles’ biggest-selling single ever- and the subsequent British Invasion which crushed Rydell’s popularity.
(“Forget Him” reached #4, and is a 4. Tom gave “She Loves You” an 8, which included the minus-3 Tom deducts off every Beatles song.)
Then suddenly it was over.
On February 7, 1964, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, signifying the start of the British Invasion. The following day American Bandstand was recorded for the first time in Los Angeles. The Bandstand-Cameo pipeline was broken; Philly pop artists had a much harder time getting into teenaged culture.
Finally, Bernie Lowe didn’t want to run the business anymore so he sold Cameo to a Texas businessman, and others left:
Appell went to New York and continued to work as a producer, including Tony Orlando’s three #1 hits (Tom’s a big fan, giving them a combined 4.)
Rydell moved onto Capitol Records, but was a forgotten artist behind The Beatles and the Beach Boys. Interestingly, one of his last singles to chart was a remake of “A World Without Love”, a #1 hit penned by Paul McCartney and recorded by Peter and Gordon (Tom gave it a 6). Rydell’s version hit #80.
There was a last gasp for Cameo Records: in 1966, ? and the Mysterians hit #1 with “96 Tears” (Tom gave it an 8), but that was it, and the label was sold to the infamous Allen Klein, who locked up Rydell’s catalog until 2005.
As for the recording studios, you might not know Rec-O-Art, or the studio Cameo built on South Broad Street, but you’ll know their history: in 1968 Joseph Tarsia bought them, and they became the home of Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records.
(Contrary to Tom’s opinion: “Backstabbers” is a 10.)
GRADE: 7/10
TRIVIA: Tom mentioned Dinah Washington two times in the column – once, when he covered “Everybody Loves Somebody” which she’d recorded, but she was also performing in New York City and invited a young five-year-old child prodigy onstage to sing with her. What song did that young artist later reach #1 with?
In 1976, William Bell hit the #10 with his #1 R&B smash “Trying to Love Two”, but Tom didn’t rate that song. Tom mentioned him once, when Billy Idol remade his “I Forgot to be Your Lover” as “To Be a Lover” in 1986. It’s a 4.
BONUS BEATS: I can’t find any covers of “Wild One”, but why don’t we spin “Swingin’ School” – in French – by Richard Anthony?
BONUS BONUS BEATS: I would be remiss if I didn’t share high school dropout Frenchie as she’s visited by Rydell’s childhood neighbor and Rocco and the Saints bandmate Frankie Avalon in Grease:
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
Views: 170
So glad you led with Rydell High, as I can’t recall any of his songs (will correct that today), but immediately thought of that. I, too, love the movie version of “Grease” and have watched it more than any other movie.
Who could No. 1 be? Hmm …
I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s not Grease 2.
I didn’t know much about the film, but fell in love with it, as did most of America.
Grease came out 3 days before my 13th birthday. My friends and I waited in great anticipation for what seemed to be an eternity for its release, as it was much hyped as the movie event of the summer. I remember just feeling somewhat let down and at times, bored, though I didn’t admit it to anyone. It just wasn’t my thing. So I guess I was not part of most of America that day, but that’s fine. A few years later, my little sister ended up not liking E.T. at all, so I was in good company eventually.
As for Bobby Rydell, I’ve managed to pretty much avoid his entire catalog without trying. The only song I really know by him is a 1976 obscure disco cover he did of his 1961 cover of Sway. I discovered it while creating a playlist of disco songs with titles that are 4 letters or less. (Yes, I am not well.) It’s actually really great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5dgCFTtQnU
We love you just the way you are.
Will the next playlist be Billy Joel or Bruno Mars?
Should I be a little concerned that you just quoted from a song Billy Joel wrote for his wife at the time, whom he eventually divorced, and then married a supermodel?
Well, there were questions about her management role. Always risky to mix business and marriage.
Would anyone get mad if I gave my honest opinion that Backstabbers is a 7?
Of course not. To each their own.
{OK, everyone, so here’s the plan for the intervention…}
Groupthink, really, mt? Not good on you.
I think the spirit of the joke got lost, rollerboogie. You’re all good man! Don’t sweat it.
I was kidding about that last one.
Sorry, my calibration is a little off lately…
It’s OK. I’ll just apply the same theory thegue mentions that every Beatles song Tom rates has an inbuilt minus three. You can have your seven due to being O’Jays averse and it remains a 10 for me.
Not to dig myself in deeper, but I’m not O’Jays averse. I like them.
I just happen to think the song is good, hence a 7, but not an all-timer, hence, not a 10.
I’m with you on the “good, but not the best” feeling, but “Rubberband Man” and “Love Train”? Now we’re talking….
“Rubberband Man” is the Spinners.
Dammit… you’re right.
Of course not. Now come meet us in the alley out back. We got something for ya.
Question answered.
But the running joke is a 10.
I love the attention to Philly locales in this one. Those moya men sing real nice!
While “Rydell” is indeed the perfect name for a high school, the name is unfortunately more memorable than his music. It’s perfectly serviceable friendly teen pop, of course, but even there, Frankie Avalon just stands out more prominently to me.
Maybe because Bobby sounded too old for this type of music? Better suited to woo older ladies a la Barry Manilow. Forget high school. Go on to Vegas!
I think that was my point – Avalon (and Presley, Anka, Everly, Fabian) all had careers that extended beyond 1963, which is why his name was PERFECT for a musical/film set distinctly in that time period.
When I write the screenplay for the Summer of 1994 beach house I had, there will be some Pearl Jam/Nirvana music in there…but Lemonheads and Dada will be on repeat in the background.
Bobby did OK over here; five top 40 hits with Wild One his only top 10 (#7).
His penultimate chart entry here was the seasonal Jingle Bell Rock with Chubby Checker. I’m that used to hearing the Bobby Helms version it sounds strange hearing this for the first time.
https://youtu.be/wHxudiVnhjU?feature=shared
When I initially wrote this, I had a whole thing about how Cameo had all their artists work with each other on duets, holiday albums, whatever just to get as much work out into the public to generate $$.
It had little to do with Rydell’s actual story, so I cut it. I’m sure mt58 is thankful this didn’t run 3000 words…but wait until next week!
Oh, perfect. A server reconfig and memory upgrade. On Christmas.
Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Bob Cratchit, here, at your service.
Sounds like what Play-Tone wanted the Oneders to do.
I tried to interview Bobby for my book on The Red Skelton Show 20 years ago (man, I’m getting old), since he was surprisingly a pretty frequent guest star on the show during the 1960s. Unfortunately, he had a manager at the time who demanded Bobby be paid for talking with me, and he quoted a price to me in the four digits. I’ve had only a few managers make that request to me over the years (including Marty Ingels when he was wed to Shirley Jones, those confirming what many people had told me about how crazy he was). I wonder sometimes if the clients represented by these individuals realize what damage and disservice they’re doing to them.
Anyway, all I have to add is Bobby was pretty good in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie. Certainly much better than the actor I forgot who played Conrad Birdie as a grotesque Southern rocker.
Made-Up History:
Flo Rida covered the song in 2012 in a duet with Sia, and they took it up to #5.
I don’t think it would have ever climbed that high if it weren’t for the Yo-Yo Ma cello solo in the middle of the song. He knows how to break it down.
With one Mr. Acker Bilk on the clarinet, just a couple of years before his passing.
YEAH, Bobby Rydell!
I have plenty of blind spots in my musical knowledge. I couldn’t sing a single Fabian song, for example. BUT I grew up with a Bobby Rydell’s Biggest Hits album, and I loved it as a little kid. So to me “Kissing Time” and “Swingin School” are stone cold classics. Because I rarely hear of him, he’s always felt like one of those artists that belongs to me, you know?
Here’s the flip side of “Kissing Time”. It’s a walking tempo song that puts you in the mind of “The Wanderer” or “Kansas City”. It’s “You’ll Never Tame Me” with lots of fun, growly saxophone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sw43w-AFUs
No kidding. Bobby Rydell is #2 on your list? BOBBY RYDELL??? Honestly, like, did Tom do that on purpose?!! How can he go through the early chart history of Billboard and never once mention Bobby Rydell????
My Philly Mom was a big fan of his, and as I recall she preferred Bobby to Frankie Avalon. At least until those Beatles kids showed up on Sullivan, then mom was all in on them. She proclaimed she watched Bandstand from Day One as well with about the same level of excitement as declaring she was a fan of David Letterman’s on his DAYTIME show, so much so she followed him to Late Night. I’d absolutely love if someone did a Netflix documentary on the history of Bandstand/ American Bandstand.
I dunno thegue, your research for this article was top notch, maybe you should do the documentary and have the South Philly crooners story told in equal part!
God bless the city founders in retaining as many Native American names for geographic places around Philly. Linguistic gymnastics. 😁
Classic Whiteman.
😅
comment of the day?
Another fun article!!
Our local high school (John Marshall) was used for a lot of the exteriors for Rydell High – the “You’re The One That I Want” and “We’ll Be Together” scenes were filmed there. I love boring my sons with this information the 100s of times we’ve walked or driven past the school. Never gets old!
Very nice. In turn, the original musical was based on Taft H.S. on the northwest side of Chicago. Our high school, located in the Chicago burbs was the first school to perform it, as our director knew one of the writers. My daughter is just as bored with this intel as your sons are with yours.
As entertaining as your anecdote about passing the mural in Venice Beach that used in, both, “Roller Boogie” and “Xanadu”. Olivia Newton John owned the late-seventies.
I was 13 when Grease came out and saw it with one or both of my sisters at the Eric Theatre in Pennsauken, NJ. It was one of the first things I was snobby about. My (younger) sister loved it. Even though I was young, I was very conscious of the social changes that had come in the 1960s, and I felt it was basically about modern characters in 1950s clothes, thus really fake. (Years later, I learned that this was in fact the intention.)
I thought it was ridiculous that Sandy would be shamed for being a virgin when my understanding was that a high school girl in the 1950s would be shamed for not being a virgin. I had the same kind of annoyance watching Dirty Dancing years later with its stupid modern songs on the soundtrack. I still get annoyed by obvious anachronisms, especially in speech or attitudes, in period films.
Anyway, so I wasn’t in love with Grease and it even extended a little to the songs, although I had to admit I really liked “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”
As for Bobby Rydell, he was already so passé by the 1970s that I don’t ever remember hearing any of his hits then, despite growing up in and near Philadelphia. I have now hear the Cameo-Parkway box set. It’s full of similar-sounding songs credited to Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe, and/or David Appell, and they’re mostly pleasant enough, but they just weren’t great songwriters, although I always liked “The Bristol Stomp” by the Dovells, one of the more familiar songs.
>>>I thought it was ridiculous that Sandy would be shamed for being a virgin when my understanding was that a high school girl in the 1950s would be shamed for not being a virgin
To me, that whole dynamic is the point of one of the soundtrack’s (and movie’s) best moments: Stockard Channing’s Rizzo singing “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.”
Joan Wasser was Jeff Buckley’s girlfriend at the time of his death. She records under the moniker Joan as Police Woman. She unexpectedly covered “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”.
Bobby may have been the Safe Elvis, but I’ll be damned if he didn’t have the better quiff!!
Three quick notes that aren’t about Bobby Rydell:
1) That Tootsie Roll ad is a hilarious example of the way old-timey junk food ads spun their products to sound healthful (“the delicious energy-building candy”).
2) I’d personally rate “Palisades Park” an 8 (perhaps I’m not well either, but it’s just so darn catchy), although I really can’t stand any of Freddy Cannon’s other hits due to his voice.
3) “Grease” era ONJ was my very first celebrity crush (specifically pre-makeover Sandy). The soundtrack LP had a gatefold cover with a bunch of movie stills and 7-year-old me would spend hours staring moon-eyed at her pics.