Bandstand Boogie

Tommy Towery 

LHS ‘64

American Bandstand originally used "High Society" by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of Charles Albertine's "Bandstand Boogie", including Les Elgart's big-band recording remembered by viewers of the daily version. From 1969 to 1974, "Bandstand Theme", a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show. From 1974 to 1977, there was a newer, orchestral disco version of "Bandstand Boogie", arranged and performed by Joe Porter, played during the opening and closing credits.

I could not find a video of Artie Shaw's version of "High Society", but found this one by Bunny Berigan. Would it have made any difference to us if the show had started with this version when we watched it back in the Fifties and Sixties?

From 1977 to September 6, 1986, the show opened and closed with Barry Manilow's rendition of "Bandstand Boogie",[7] which he originally recorded for his 1975 album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. This version introduced lyrics written by Manilow and Bruce Sussman, referencing elements of the series. The previous theme was retained as bumper music. From September 13, 1986, to September 5, 1987, Manilow's version was replaced at the close of the show by a new closing theme arranged by David Russo, who also performed an updated instrumental arrangement of "Bandstand Boogie" when Bandstand went into syndication.

WANTED

Your Own American Bandstand Stories

I am sure you get tired of hearing just my stories, so here is your chance to share your own with your classmates. I know I am not the only one who rushed home from school and turned on American Bandstand. I never took the time to learn the names of any of the regulars on the show, but I know some of you had to have a crush on one of the daily participants. Perhaps you remember a special guest or song that was featured. Use the comments form below to share your own memories.

The Wayback Machine

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

It's odd what you remember about things. This week I asked the Wayback Machine to find me a video of an episode of American Bandstand that I remember well. It was Johnny Horton singing "The Battle of New Orleans." I remember it so well because it was filled with historical errors that got to me, even as a teenager in high school at the time. Johnny was dressed out in a Civil War Yankee uniform and holding a blunderbuss that would never have been used in that battle. Though I really liked the song, these historical SNAFUs rubbed me wrong. Of course, the song begins with its own historical error by starting out to the tune of Dixie which was not written until way after 1815 when the battle was fought.

"The Battle of New Orleans" was written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959. It was very popular with teenagers in the late 1950s/early 1960s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.

Horton's version began with the quoting of the first 12 notes of the song "Dixie," by Daniel Emmett. It ends with the sound of an officer leading a count off in marching, as the song fades out.

In Billboard magazine's rankings of the top songs in the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "The Battle of New Orleans" was ranked as the 28th song overall and the number-one country music song to appear on the chart. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

In 1959 at the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards, Johnny Horton won the Grammy for Best Country & Western Performance for his recording of "The Battle Of New Orleans".  In 2002, the 1959 recording of the song by Horton on Columbia Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

It seems I stumped the band with last week's question about the song I mentioned. I never knew it was an established song before it was featured on American Bandstand. I thought it was originally written as a theme song for the show.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 

I hope some of you will have some American Bandstand memories to share. It was an important part of my growing up days, and maybe your's as well.