Black and white together on local TV. Later that year he enlisted in the Army, where he served in Europe involved in some of the most intense battles of World War II. This program is a tribute to long-time Maryland radio announcer Buddy Deane, who passed away in August, 2003. In 1957, Deane was chosen by former WITH associate Joel Chaseman to host "The Buddy Deane Show," a dance show for teenagers on WJZ-TV Channel 13. From 1996 to 2003, he hosted dance events in Baltimore, Pennsylvania and aboard cruise ships. My heart would have broken in two if I couldnt have gone on. Finally, Helen quit Mergenthaler (Mervo) trade school, at the height of her fame. It was the era of rock n' roll ducktail, pegged pants, and beehive haridos. He was one of the first to showcase rock and roll music on a continual basis. Also, read the comments in that same excerpt about the series only wanting "attractive" teenagers as featured dancers. Buddy wanted it to end happily, but WJZ angered Deaners when it tried to blame the ratings. Everywhere we went, people would say Theres Mary Lou. I wondered if she had just been released from the penitentiary.. http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-madison-line-dance-got-its-name-and.html, http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/al-brown-and-ray-bryant-madison-records.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Deane_Show, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairspray_(2007_film), http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/timeline-for-cultural-use-of-saying.html, https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/on-hairsprays-25th-anniversary-buddydeane-committee-looks-back/2013/01/17/a45a1cc2-5c23-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_story.html, http://theurbandaily.com/2011/06/01/black-music-moment-96-short-lived-integration-of-the-buddy-deane-show/. It was very interesting to see my conversation quoted in this article. You received demerits for almost anything: Chewing gum. Checking back with the studio, no one had information concerning footage of African American dancers. Deane hosted a morning show at WITH. In the beginning, there was Arlene. The Buddy Deane Show was a teen dance television show, created by Zvi Shoubin, hosted by Winston "Buddy" Deane (1924-2003), and aired on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the ABC affiliate station in Baltimore from 1957 until 1964. We really sprayed it, remembers Mary Lou today from her home in Pennsylvania. Jones). 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. [1], As with many other local TV shows, little footage of the show is known to have survived. To be selected you had to bring a character reference letter from your pastor, priest, or rabbi, qualify in a dance audition, and show in an interview (the Spotlight) that you had personality. At first the Committee had a revolving membership with no one serving longer than three months. Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. I had a lot of black friends at the time, so for me this was an awkward thing, says Marie. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. He was one of the first disc jockeys in the area to regularly feature rock and roll. Maybe ''The Buddy Deane Show,'' the teen-dance-party that ran on local television in Baltimore from 1957 to 1964 and inspired ''Hairspray,'' was the only wholesome obsession that ever led to one . It was similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand. It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. In 1957, Deane was chosen by former WITH associate Joel Chaseman to host "The Buddy Deane Show," a dance show for teenagers on WJZ-TV Channel 13. The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. In 1984, he sold the station to a local college but bought it back in 1996. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Whats great about the choreography in [You Cant Stop the Beat] is that, subtly, the black dancers and the white dancers have the same choreography, the executive producer Neil Meron said in the DVD commentary for the 2007 film. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Just once. Almost every rock 'n' roll star except Elvis graced the Deane Show stage. His childhood nickname was Buddy. I must have had ten different phone numbers, says Helen, and somehow it would get out. Theyd stand outside my home. I was so embarrassed. The school tried to throw me out before. From 1968 into 1973, the public television variety show SOUL! Nicknamed "Buddy" as a child, Deane developed an early love for radio. Special appearances. Deane helped the Bill Haley and the Comets song "Rock Around the Clock" become a hit in Baltimore a full year before it became a worldwide success by promoting their music while at WITH. With the rising pressures of integration, the producers decided that the show must either be integrated or canceled. It was similar to Philadelphia's American Bandstand. . By representing this realityin bubble-gum, technicolor clarityHairspray does something that pure documentation, at times, cant: It makes a difficult part of a nations history accessible (and entertaining) to millions of viewers. I even named some of the characters in my films after them. So the rules were bent a little; the big ones, the ones with the fan mail, were allowed to stay. Yeah it was Cosenel, says Joe. Its host was Winston "Buddy" Deane (1924-2003), who died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas after . In its version of 1960s Baltimore, teenagers sing and dance their way past race. Black History Month . I was a misfit. The night was full of delightful anecdotes, including these ten you may not have heard before. And although few will now admit to having been drapes, the styles at first were DAs (slicked back into the shape of a ducks tail), Detroits, and Waterfalls (flowing down the front) for the guys and ponytails and DAs for the girls, who wore full skirts with crinolins and three or four pairs of bobby socks. Hairspray is firmly rooted in 1960s America, but it offers both sophisticated and (tellingly) simplistic ways of understanding racism today. And according to Arlene, Buddy encouraged one popular Committee member (Buzzy Bennet) to teach himself to read so he could realize his dream of being a disc jockey. In 2003, "Hairspray" went on to sweep the 57th Annual Tony Awards, winning a total of eight awards. Joe remembers a sport coat I bought for $5 from somebody who got it when he got out of prison. In 1942, Deane enrolled at Cornell University in New York. Although he never appeared on Deane's show, Waters attended high school with a "Buddy Deaner" and later gave Deane a cameo in the film, in which Deane played a TV reporter who tried to interview the governor who was besieged by integration protesters. You werent one of them anymore. Outsiders envied the fame, especially if they lost their steadies to Deaners, and many were put off by boys who loved to dance. John Waters with Divine (Harris Glen Milstead) at the Baltimore premiere of Hairspray, Originally, I had it, the idea was Divine was gonna play the mother and the daughter like in The Parent Trap. New Line [Cinema] wouldnt let me, he said. ' And Evanne still shudders as she recalls, Once I was in the cafeteria. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. On the last day of the show, January 4, 1964, all the most popular Committee members through the years came back for one last appearance. Waters: We used to go to the hotel and hed say, Come in, and hed be in bed with a cleaning woman smoking pot., It was Tracy saying to Link: Please dont look at my legs without the benefit of nylons.. Kathy switched to a great beehive that resembled a trash can sitting on top of her head. Marie Fischer was the first Joe to become a Committee memberchosen simply because she was such a good dancer. So that was all true in a way, in a weird way., The girls hair was higher, the pants were tighter, and in real life it went off the air because they wouldnt integrate it. Everybody wanted to kick a Buddy Deaners a, says Gene, recalling thugs waiting to jump Deaners outside the studio. [citation needed]. Buddy Deane was the host of a Baltimore dance show that ran on TV from 1957 to 1964 six days a week. Based loosely on the 1988 film by John Waters, Hairspray centres on Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad (Carmel Rodrigues), who in 1962 wants nothing more than a chance to dance on the local pop music TV. I got a little power-crazed, admits Joe. Even today Gene and Linda are the quintessential Deaner couple, still socializing with many Committee members, very protective of the memory, and among the first to lead a dance at the emotion-packed reunions. The white kids parents came and got them. It aired for two and a half hours a day, six days a week. There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek-to-cheek on camera with blacks, and that was it. The story also locates racial prejudice in a single character, Velma Von Tussle (played in the live musical by Kristin Chenoweth), which enables the other white characters to remain largely innocent bystanders to the discrimination faced by the programs black teenagers. Greetings, Pat Brun.Thanks for commenting in this pancocojams discussion thread. This weekly time slot became known as "Special Guest Day" by the Deane Show's white performers and "Black Monday" by Baltimore's Black teens. Waters took inspiration from the real-life Buddy Deane Show, a local dance party program that ran from 1957 to 1964 in the Maryland area. Advertisement. Pancocojams showcases the music, dances, language practices, & customs of African Americans and of other people of Black descent throughout the world. I was Tracy, said Waters. . 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. I even won the twist contest with Mary Lou Raines (one of the queens of The Buddy Deane Show) at the Valley Country Club. Buddy Deane was the host of a Baltimore dance show that ran on TV from 1957 to 1964 six days a week. The television news reporter covering the Corny Collins Show in the film sums up the climactic scene: Youre seeing history being made today. The Buddy Deane Show was taken off the air because home station WJZ-TV was unwilling to integrate black and white dancers. The film would spawn a 2002 Broadway musical adaptation starring Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur, and a 2007 film adaptation of the musical starring John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky. 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