Swingin' Together | |
---|---|
Genre | Musical comedy |
Written by | Howard Leeds |
Directed by | Gene Reynolds |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Kal Mann and Dave Appell |
Opening theme | "Swingin' Together" |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 1 |
Production | |
Producers | Jerry Thorpe Howard Kreitsik |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Desilu Productions Ludlow Productions |
Release | |
Original release | August 26, 1963 |
Swingin' Together is a 30-minute unsold television pilot co-produced by Desilu Productions and Ludlow Productions. The proposed musical comedy series stars Bobby Rydell as the leader of a rock band called Bobby Day and the Four Knights, who travel around the country on an old bus driven by their manager, P. J. Cunningham (James Dunn), seeking their big break. The pilot aired on August 26, 1963, in the first season of CBS' Vacation Playhouse , a summer showcase for unsold Desilu television pilots.
Bobby Day (Bobby Rydell) is the leader of a rock 'n roll band called Bobby Day and the Four Knights. The band members live on an old bus named The Lucinda, driven by their manager, P. J. Cunningham (James Dunn), and travel to one-night gigs across the country seeking their big break. In the pilot, P. J. has booked them at a country club benefit. They set up and start playing "The Twist", but are told to leave by the organizer, Linda Craig (Stefanie Powers), who objects to their style of music. P. J. collars Linda's father and threatens him with a lawsuit. Her father apologizes to the band members and assures them that they will be able to continue. At the benefit, the band plays "The Start of Something Big", energizing the crowd. Bobby attempts to speak with Linda, who is still unhappy with their style of music, but when they launch into a cover of "Let's Twist Again", Linda's father encourages her to join in the dancing and she begins to enjoy it.
Three of Bing Crosby's sons—Dennis, Lindsay, and Phillip—appear as singers. [1]
The concept for a television series starring Bobby Rydell, then a popular singer, began in fall 1961 with the tentative title The Bobby Rydell Show. That same year, a feature film called Teenage Millionaire cast Jimmy Clanton in the role of Bobby Schultz, an orphaned singer who records a song at his aunt's radio station and sees it become popular thanks to his new girlfriend. Desilu retitled their project Teenage Millionaire and planned to cast Rydell as Bobby Schultz and Judy Rawlins as his girlfriend. In December 1961, the concept was revised further into a series featuring Rydell as the leader of a rock 'n roll band, with the title Saturday Nights. The title was then changed to Swingin' Together. [2]
The show business theme was common to other Desilu pilots of the time, but the rock 'n roll angle was unique. [3] Swingin' Together was co-produced by Desilu Productions and Ludlow Productions. [4]
In 1962 Rydell released a song called "Swingin' Together" with Chubby Checker on the B-side of their 45 record "Teach Me To Twist". [5]
The pilot was filmed in January 1963 at Desilu Studios. [6] It was directed by Gene Reynolds and produced by Jerry Thorpe. [7] Howard Kreitsik produced for Desilu Studios. [8]
The pilot aired on August 26, 1963, during the first season of Vacation Playhouse on CBS. [4]
A review in The Pittsburgh Press called the episode "painful" to watch. It commended the contribution of character actor James Dunn as the band's manager-driver, but panned the insipid dialogue between the band members. [9] The Morning Call summed it up as "a rock-'n'-roll pilot film that has nothing much, except Bobby Rydell singing, drumming and smiling". [10] The Philadelphia Daily News called the episode "a skimpy little pilot, designed exclusively to give Bobby Rydell a chance to sing". [11]
Chubby Checker is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song "The Twist", and the Pony dance style with the 1961 cover of the song "Pony Time". His biggest UK hit, "Let's Twist Again", was released one year later ; that year, he also popularized the song "Limbo Rock", originally a previous-year instrumental hit by the Champs to which he added lyrics, and its trademark Limbo dance, as well as other dance styles such as The Fly. In September 2008, "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1960, an honor it maintained for an August 2013 update of the list.
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Robert Louis Ridarelli, known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His most well-known songs include "Wildwood Days," "Wild One" and "Volare" ; in 1963 he appeared in the musical film Bye Bye Birdie.
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