Dion, "Runaround Sue", charted #1, 1961.

Teen Idols

Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson, who was the first teen idol to utilize television to promote hit records, began a rock and roll music career in 1957. He recorded his debut single, the Fats Domino song "I'm Walkin'", seeking to impress a date who was an Elvis Presley fan. After he performed it on TV, it was a hit, reaching #4 on the charts and selling over a million copies. Soon, each episode of the Ozzie & Harriet television show ended with a musical performance by "Ricky". It was during the sitcom's run that Ozzie Nelson, either to keep his son's fans tuned in or as an affirmation of his reputed behind-the-scenes persona as a controlling personality, kept Ricky from appearing on other TV shows that could have enhanced his public profile, American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show in particular.

Paul Anka

Paul Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hits songs like "Diana," "Lonely Boy," and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder." He went on to write such well known music as the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Tom Jones' biggest hit She's A Lady, and the English lyrics for Frank Sinatra's signature song My Way.

Bobby Vee

Bobby Vee's career began amid tragedy. On "The Day the Music Died" (3 February 1959), the three headline acts in the line-up of the traveling 'Winter Dance Party', Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed in the crash of aircraft N3974N near Clear Lake, Iowa while en route to the next show on the tour itinerary in Moorhead, Minnesota. Velline, then aged 15, and a hastily-assembled band of Fargo, North Dakota schoolboys calling themselves The Shadows volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee's career as a popular singer. Despite the circumstances of his debut, Vee went on to become a bona fide star, and regularly performs at the Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake to this day.

Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bobby Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country. Although unknown to his public, his health was dangerously fragile and strongly motivated him to succeed within the limited lifetime he feared he had. n 1959, Bobby Darin recorded "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller. With financial success came the ability to demand more so-called creative control. His next record, "Mack the Knife," sold over a million copies, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. Darin was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year. "Mack The Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit, "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of 1963-1967.

Leslie Gore's first hit was followed by many others, including "Judy's Turn to Cry" (the sequel to "It's My Party") (U.S. #5), "She's a Fool" (U.S. #5), the proto-feminist "You Don't Own Me" (U.S. #2), "That's The Way Boys Are" (U.S. #12), "Maybe I Know" (U.S. #14), "The Look Of Love" (U.S. #27) and "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" (U.S. #13). Her record producer was Quincy Jones, who would later become one of the most famous producers in American music. Instead of accepting the television and movie contracts that came her way, Gore chose to attend Sarah Lawrence College in New York. This limited her public career to weekends and summer vacations, and undoubtedly hurt her career. Nevertheless, throughout the mid-1960s, Gore continued to be one of the most popular female singers in the United States and Canada.

Del Shannon

Del Shannon (born Charles Weedon Westover; December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990) was an American rock and roll and country musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1961 number 1 Billboard hit "Runaway".

Westover was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in nearby Coopersville. He learned to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country-and-western music, by artists such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. He was drafted into the Army in 1954, and while in Germany played guitar in a band called "The Cool Flames". When his service ended, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, and worked as a carpet salesman and as a truck driver for a furniture factory. He found part-time work as a rhythm guitarist in the singer Doug DeMott's group, "The Moonlight Ramblers", working at the Hi-Lo Club.

Bobby Vinton

Stanley Robert Vinton, Jr. (born April 16, 1935), known professionally as Bobby Vinton, is an American singer and songwriter. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage. Known for his angelic vocals in love songs, his most popular song, "Blue Velvet" (a cover of Tony Bennett's 1951 song), reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, and made No.2 in the UK in 1990. It also served as inspiration for the film of the same name.

Vinton is the only child of locally popular bandleader Stan Vinton and Dorothy Studzinski Vinton. He is of Polish and Lithuanian descent. The family surname was originally Vintula, and was changed by Vinton's father. Vinton's parents encouraged their son's interest in music by giving him his daily 25 cent allowance after he had practised the clarinet.

Dion

Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock and R&B styles—and, most recently, straight blues. He was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among his other hits.

Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers were an American country-influenced rock and roll duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (born February 1, 1937) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 – January 3, 2014) were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Don was born in Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, on February 1, 1937, and Phil in Chicago, Illinois on January 19, 1939. Their parents were Isaac Milford "Ike" Everly, Jr. (1908–1975), a guitar player, and Margaret Embry Everly. Actor James Best (born Jules Guy), also from Muhlenberg County, was the son of Ike's sister. Margaret was 15 when she married Ike, who was 26. Ike worked in coal mines from age 14, but his father encouraged him to pursue his love of music and Ike and Margaret began singing together. The Everly brothers spent most of their childhood in Shenandoah, Iowa. They attended Longfellow Elementary School in Waterloo, Iowa, for a year, but then moved to Shenandoah in 1944, where they remained through early high school.

Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell (born Robert Louis Ridarelli; April 26, 1942) is an American singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. His most well known songs include "Wild One" and "Volare" (cover), and he appeared in the movie Bye Bye Birdie in 1963.

Neil Sedaka

After establishing himself in 1959 with "Oh Caroll", Sedaka kept churning out new hits from 1960 to 1962. His flow of Top 30 hits during this period included: "Stairway to Heaven" (No. 9, 1960); "You Mean Everything to Me" (No. 17, 1960); "Run, Samson, Run" (No. 27, 1960); "Calendar Girl" (No. 4, 1961; also reached No. 1 on the Japanese and Canadian pop charts); "Little Devil" (No. 11, 1961); "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (No. 6, 1961); his signature song, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" (No. 1, two weeks: August 11 and 18, 1962); and "Next Door to an Angel" (No. 5, 1962). Singles not making the Top 30 during this period included "Sweet Little You" (No. 59, 1961) and "King of Clowns" (No. 45, 1962). RCA Victor issued four LPs of his works in the United States and Great Britain during this period, and also produced Scopitone and Cinebox videos of "Calendar Girl" in 1961, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" in 1962, and "The Dreamer" in 1963.

Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney charted 16 Top-40 hits in the United States, four in the Top 10. In the United Kingdom he had 22 Top-40 hits, and 11 singles in the Top Ten. He also wrote the early 1960s hits "Rubber Ball" recorded by Bobby Vee, "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals, and "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Buddy Holly

During his short career, Holly wrote, recorded, and produced his own material. He is often regarded as the artist who defined the traditional rock-and-roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. He was a major influence on later popular music artists, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Weezer, and Elton John. He was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of "100 Greatest Artists".

"That'll Be the Day" topped the US "Best Sellers in Stores" chart on September 23, 1957 and was #1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November. On September 20, Coral released "Peggy Sue", backed with "Everyday", with Holly credited as the performer. By October, "Peggy Sue" had reached #3 on Billboard's pop chart and #2 on the R&B chart; it peaked at #6 on the UK Singles chart. As the success of the song grew, it brought more attention to Holly, with the band at the time being billed as "Buddy Holly and the Crickets".

 

 

_______________________________________________________________Copyright © July 2018______________________________________________________________