American Bandstand swings back to town

An American tradition will return to its West Philadelphia birthplace this summer for an extravagant anniversary celebration. American Bandstand -- the live TV dance show that crazed the nation from the 1950s through the 1970s -- first hit national airwaves from a studio at 46th and Market streets August 5, 1957. To commemorate this 40th anniversary, local community developers are organizing a celebration which former show host Dick Clark plans to attend. The event will include a dedication of the original 46th and Market streets building -- which had been vacant since 1976 until a recent renovation. Jennifer McNamee, whose marketing firm Gillespie Norton is coordinating the August 5 affair, explained that the anniversary celebration will include an unveiling of a historical marker for the building and a possible sock hop in the evening. In addition to Clark and the other celebrities and local politicians who are scheduled to appear, many of the Bandstand regulars who danced on the show will also attend. Although the dance show moved to Hollywood in 1964, it became famous from its West Philadelphia location when the show had a "real local feel to it," according to Market Street Development Center Manager N.R. Popkin. "Kids from all over Philadelphia would line up along Market Street all day just to sit in the bleachers for the taping," he said. The Market Street Development Center is a subsidiary of the West Philadelphia Enterprise Center, which bought the building and is in the process of renovating it. WPEC -- an organization which assists local small businesses by offering inexpensive office space and training -- hopes to incorporate the building's renovation into plans to revitalize the Market Street area from 40th to 52nd streets. Popkin explained that the building will house 40 to 50 new start-up businesses from the community, and he hopes that the "astounding history" of the building will add to the success of the new businesses. "In its heyday, this building meant that if you were a young artist and you made it on the show you would make it in the industry," Popkin said. "We are looking to create the same atmosphere with the building for businesses now." In addition to hosting American Bandstand, this West Philadelphia location is famous for symbolizing the beginning of the TV era. Beginning as the site of a radio station in 1948, it was the first building built as a TV station in the nation. But it was when the studio hired Dick Clark in 1956 to host a daily national dance show that it became a sensation. "Basically every famous musical act from the '60s and '70s, except for the Beatles and Elvis, started on American Bandstand," Popkin said. Chubby Checker, Ike and Tina Turner and Frankie Avalon are some of the musicians who began their careers just a few blocks away. The site of new dance crazes and musical styles, the building at 46th and Market streets, to some, is the birthplace of American rock and roll. And on August 5, organizers hope that the dedication of this historical site will trigger an economical revival of the area which was made famous 40 years ago.