Where the Action Is

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Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is.jpeg
Title card
GenreMusical Rock 'N' Roll Variety
Created by Dick Clark (also host-announcer)
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time25 Minutes (1965)
30 Minutes (1965-1967)
Production company Dick Clark Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseJune 28, 1965 (1965-06-28) 
March 31, 1967 (1967-03-31)

Where the Action Is is a music-based television variety show that aired in the United States from 1965 to 1967. [1] It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon. Created by Dick Clark as a spin-off of American Bandstand , Where the Action Is premiered on June 28, 1965. The show was another step in the then-current trend of entertainment programs that targeted the teenage audience by focusing on pop music, following in the footsteps of Shindig! (premiered in the fall of 1964, also on ABC) and Hullabaloo (premiered January 1965 on NBC). Dick Clark's voice could be heard doing the artist introductions, and he sometimes did filmed interviews.

Contents

Background

Linda Scott and Steve Alaimo, regulars on the show, pictured in 1966. Steve Alaimo Linda Scott Where the Action Is 1966.JPG
Linda Scott and Steve Alaimo, regulars on the show, pictured in 1966.

The show was hosted by Linda Scott and Steve Alaimo, who sang numbers between guest performances. [2] Ms. Scott had a few hit singles as a teenager in the early 1960s; she was only 20 when "Action" premiered. Also appearing were Keith Allison (a Paul McCartney look-alike who later became a member of Paul Revere and the Raiders) and Laura Nyro. Typically, the show featured two or three performers lip-synching their recent hits with a bunch of teenagers clapping and swaying in the background, and a dance segment featuring the Action dancers. There would occasionally be an interview segment. A few episodes featured only one performer, such as Herman's Hermits or James Brown.

Originally intended as a summer replacement and broadcast at 2 P.M. EDT, the show was successful enough for it to continue throughout the 1965–66 TV season, with a change in time period to 4:30 P.M. Eastern time following the horror soap opera Dark Shadows . Both programs attracted a young audience who watched the shows after school. It was in black and white.

The show's theme song, "Action", became a hit single for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, peaking on the charts (#13) in September 1965. Most of these black-and-white telecasts were taped at various locales in Southern California. A handful of segments were taped elsewhere around the US. The theme song was written by Steve Venet and Tommy Boyce. Later, Boyce co-wrote songs for The Monkees.

The program had its own stable of performers, most notably Paul Revere & the Raiders, who served as the de facto house band. Easily identified by their Revolutionary War costumes, the band had several Top 40 hits in the '60s thanks in part to the exposure they received on "Where The Action Is". Their lead singer, Mark Lindsay, with his signature ponytail, became one of the most popular teenage idols of the decade, gracing the covers of countless teen magazines. The Raiders also recorded the "Action" theme song for their 1965 album "Just Like Us" for which Dick Clark wrote the liner notes. When the group departed the show in 1966, they were replaced by The Robbs and The Hard Times. Other regular performers on Action included the dance troupe Pete Menefee and the Action Kids. Individual episodes featured a wide range of guest performers, as detailed below. Tina Mason was a regular singer being promoted by Dick Clark on the show. She met on the set and later married Phil Volk, the bass player for Paul Revere and the Raiders. They married on the second anniversary of the show's premiere, June 27, 1967.

The weekday program was cancelled on March 31, 1967, with the network giving its local affiliates the time slot. However, members of the program's mainstay band Paul Revere and the Raiders (with lead vocalist Mark Lindsay) hosted very similar follow-up shows: both Revere and Lindsay hosted Happening '68 , a Saturday afternoon follow-up to American Bandstand, and a weekday version of the same show, It's Happening, from 1968 to 1969. Both shows were produced by Dick Clark's production company for ABC.

Regulars

Guest performers (partial list)

Related Research Articles

The year 1965 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1965.

<i>American Bandstand</i> American TV program featuring musical performances and dancing (aired 1952–2002)

American Bandstand (AB) is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired regularly in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer. It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark. The program was televised from Philadelphia from its 1952 debut until its move to Los Angeles in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Clark</span> American radio and television personality (1929–2012)

Richard Wagstaff Clark was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted American Bandstand from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid game show from 1973 to 1988 and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which broadcast New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City's Times Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Revere & the Raiders</span> American rock band

Paul Revere & the Raiders were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolutionary War-style clothes in their attire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Cannon</span> American rock and roll singer (born 1936)

Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr., better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer. His biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".

<i>Hullabaloo</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Hullabaloo was an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965, through April 11, 1966. Similar to ABC's Shindig! and in contrast to American Bandstand, it aired in prime time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Braun</span> American broadcaster

Robert E. Braun was an American local television and radio personality, best known for a program originating in Cincinnati, Ohio, named The Bob Braun Show. The show, which he hosted from 1967 to 1984, had the highest Arbitron and Nielsen ratings of any live entertainment/information program in the Midwestern United States. Originating at WLWT, the 90-minute live telecasts originally were syndicated to three other cities in the Midwest. Eventually, more television stations joined the line-up. Braun's show featured a live band, singers, and special guests including Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Paul Lynde, Red Skelton, Phyllis Diller, Dick Clark and NFL-star Jim Brown. Politicians including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, John Glenn, and Ted Kennedy were also guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Alaimo</span> American pop singer

Charles Stephen Alaimo is an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He later became a record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clark's Where the Action Is in the late 1960s. He had nine singles chart in the Billboard Hot 100 without once reaching the Top 40 in his career, the most by any artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Lindsay</span> American rock singer

Mark Lindsay is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders.

The Go!! Show was an Australian popular music television series which was produced before a live audience and aired on Network Ten ATV-0, Melbourne, from August 1964 to August 1967, running one hour three nights a night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Robbs</span> American 1960s pop and rock band

The Robbs were an American 1960s pop and rock band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. They are best known for being the house band on Dick Clark's mid-1960s show Where The Action Is. They are also known for placing the most singles on Billboard magazine's "Bubbling Under" chart without ever once crossing over into the Billboard Hot 100.

Sump'n Else was an American live teen dance television show that aired from 1965 to 1968 on Channel 8 WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, formatted similarly to American Bandstand.

In 1959, radio and television personality and television producer Dick Clark organized and produced a concert tour of rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists, many of whom had appeared on his music performance and dance television program, American Bandstand. The show was billed as Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. Its success prompted additional tours. The last of the concerts toured in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Revere (musician)</span> American musician (1938–2014)

Paul Revere Dick was an American musician, best known for being the leader, keyboardist and namesake of Paul Revere & the Raiders.

<i>Midnight Ride</i> (album) 1966 studio album by Paul Revere & the Raiders

Midnight Ride is the fifth studio album by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. The album featured the U.S. top five single "Kicks" and also includes "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," which became a U.S. Top 20 hit for The Monkees in 1967.

<i>Just Like Us!</i> 1966 studio album by Paul Revere & the Raiders

Just Like Us! is the fourth studio album by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Produced by Terry Melcher and released on January 3, 1966, by Columbia Records, it featured the U.S. hit single "Just Like Me". Unlike their later albums, on which Mark Lindsay was the primary lead singer, the lead vocal duties on Just Like Us! were split among him and the other band members, guitarist Drake Levin, bassist Phil Volk, and drummer Mike Smith. This was their last album of cover songs, their next album Midnight Ride was mostly self-penned material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Volk</span> American bassist

Phillip Edward Volk is an American musician. As the bassist of Paul Revere & the Raiders from 1965 to 1967, Volk appeared in over 750 television shows, 520 of which were episodes of the Dick Clark production, Where the Action Is, which aired daily from 1965 to 1967. The band themselves had 23 charted hits and 14 gold albums and Volk was a member of the band during the period of its greatest success. Volk's bass lines, as heard in songs such as "Hungry", "Just Like Me" and "Kicks", helped to revolutionize how the bass guitar was used in rock music. Volk was seen frequently in such fan magazines as 16 Magazine, popular during the 1960s.

Happening '68 was a rock-and-roll variety show produced by Dick Clark Productions, which aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network. The show followed American Bandstand on Saturday afternoons. Happening '68 premiered on January 6, 1968 and was popular enough that ABC added a weekday spin-off. It's Happening ran on Mondays through Fridays from July 15, 1968 through October 25, 1968. When 1968 ended, Happening '68 became just Happening, which was canceled in October 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Orleans (Gary U.S. Bonds song)</span> 1960 single by Gary U.S. Bonds

"New Orleans" is a song written by Frank Guida and Joseph Royster and performed by Gary U.S. Bonds. It was featured on his 1961 album Dance 'Til Quarter to Three with U.S. Bonds. Frank Guida also produced the track. Backing was provided by Gene Barge's group The Church Street Five.

<i>Here They Come!</i> 1965 studio album by Paul Revere & the Raiders

Here They Come! is the third studio album by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders and the group's first release on Columbia Records. It was released on May 3, 1965. The first side of the album, produced by Bruce Johnston, features cover songs that were recorded live. The second side was recorded in the studio and produced by Terry Melcher, who would arrange and produce the band's albums through 1967. Following its release, the band began appearing regularly on the 1960s television variety show Where the Action Is, gaining national exposure.

References

  1. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 461. ISBN   978-0823083152 . Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  2. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 556–557. ISBN   0-8108-1651-2.
  3. "James Brown - Please Please Please 1964". YouTube. June 27, 2016. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  4. "Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - You've Really Got a Hold on Me (Rare Clip)". YouTube .