Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with singer Bobby Rydell by clicking on the video player above!
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of men of a certain age who wish they had spent months of their formative years dancing with Ann-Margaret… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
It never registered with me.
Rydell High, that is – the name of the school where Danny Zuko and Sandy reunite, where the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies rule the roost.
As many times I have watched that movie over the years, it never clicked that calling the fictional institution “Rydell High School” was a tribute to America’s most famous Rydell – Bobby.
BOBBY RYDELL podcast excerpt: “When I was with Mr. Sinatra at the Copacabana for the first time and he said, ‘What do you drink, Robert?’ I said, ‘C-C-Coke.’ I figured if I said, ‘Scotch and water,’ I’d get smacked in the face, y’know?”
Pretty cool – even if it was his pal Frankie Avalon who played the film’s Teen Angel, not him.
After all, South Philly’s gift to teen pop and adult cool, Bobby Rydell, has enjoyed more than his share of fame and fortune. There were the hits, none bigger than “Volare.” And, of course, co-starring in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie with Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margaret.
![Bobby Rydell, Return Of The Original American Idol - All The Albums 1961-1962 [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] 2CD SET Import, Mr. Media Interviews](https://mrmedia.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/81zqpjLPPqL._SX425_.jpg)
BOBBY RYDELL podcast excerpt: “When the movie, ‘Grease,’ came out, I didn’t know it was going to be Rydell High! When I saw the movie, there it was. I said, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool. Pretty cool!”
Bobby Rydell is kind of a stealth American cultural icon.
Thirty years ago, I reviewed his “Golden Boys of Bandstand” tour appearance with Fabian and Frankie Avalon at the old Bayfront Center Theater here in St. Petersburg, Florida. I remember going in and thinking Fabian and Frankie were likely the real stars. But then along came too-cool-for-school Bobby Rydell, who blew the audience away with his pipes.
This is the rare case of the dropout who deserves his own high school.
Key interview moments:
• 3:30 Singer Bobby Rydell might have been the last man in America to find out that the school Danny and Sandy attend in the Broadway show and movie Grease is named after him — Rydell High School;
• 20:20 As a member of the movie cast of Bye, Bye Birdie, Rydell got to work with Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margaret, Maureen Stapleton, Janet Leigh and — “God rest his soul” — Paul Lynde;
• 39:13 Rydell explains why underage drinkers didn’t order anything but Coca-Colas while sitting at the Copacabana with Frank Sinatra.
Bobby Rydell Website • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Google+ • IMDB • Wikipedia
The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!
I put this up when I clicked Like, for this article.
I have a couple of coincidences with Mr. Rydell.
One is that I graduated high school in 1960.
The other is that the very first time I ever saw a Broadway show was when my uncle, who was living in NYC at the time, treated me, while I was home on leave from the Marines. I was absolutely AMAZED and what I remember most was how they changed the scenery on stage to go from the school to the house and back. I had never seen anything like it. The play was Bye Bye Birdie. Please pass this onto Mr. Rydell.
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BOBBY RYDELL ON PA BOOKS WAS ONE OF THE MOST ENGAGING INTERVIEWS ON THE PCN CHANNEL. HE HAS SO MUCH CHRISMA, HE COULD PROBABLY HOST A PROGRAM ON TV. I WISH I COULD FIND OUT WHEN IT WILL BE SHOWN AGAIN FOR MY SON TO WATCH, SINCE HE ALSO NEEDS A LIVER TRANSPLANT.