Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1959)

THE MONTHLY RECORD Continued STARDOM ROAD IVY LEAGUE NEWCOMER Young Don Costa. ABC-Paramount s musical talent scout who discovered Paul Anka and E) die Gorme, George Hamilton IV and Johnny Nash, met with us one brisk January day and gave us the lowdown on stardom. First thing we asked: “How can a young singer break into the big time?” “One teenage team,” Don told us, “sent me a twenty-five cent record they made in a penny arcade. One of the guys beat on the side of the wall, tom-tom style, while the other strummed a guitar. Both of them sang their hearts out, and they made a great ‘demo’ (demonstration record ) .” But, Don adds, a singer or a composer must offer something original if he wants the “inside" people, the behind-the-scenes starmakers, to take One neat dresser we ran into at the Columbia Pictures’ screening room where thirty high school newspaper editors were previewing his new film, “Senior Prom.” was Paul Hampton, all decked out in a red wool blazer jacket with gold coin buttons, gray flannel pants and a slim black tie. Paul, a Dartmouth grad, got into show business via a blind date! On his first night out with Susan Adams, he sang her his song, “Love Me So 1 11 Know, when they got back to her home after the movies. Susan was so impressed with Paul’s singing she called her Mom. Her Mom listened and called in Susan’s Dad. Suddenly the four of them began plotting our Paul’s career. Mrs. Adams knew Mitch Miller, who heads Columbia Records’ pop music department. She made the introduction. and Mitch signed Paul to a contract soon as he heard Paul sing. Then, Paul waxed a couple of records, made a cross-country tour of personal appearances, found himself a fan club — to boot. Paul tells me he hero-worships the singing of Frank Sinatra and Pat Suzuki. Frank has been Paul’s inspiration. Paul admits to being an avid reader, favors fiction (“old-fashioned novels with happy endings”). He’s fond of chicken cooked with black cherries, eats lots of fruits and drinks No-Cal like crazy. (“I’d be a bouncing butterball otherwise.”) Here s a capsule review of Paul’s film from high-school editor, Betty Aberlin of Staten Island: “‘Senior Prom’ is fun. It’s got a bunch of typical characters running wild on a typical college campus, and the yakyaks and clowning never stop. Teenagers’ll flip for the new Ivy League beat ! ” notice. “That’s where a lot of the trouble is.” Don says. “So much of the stuff everyone sends me is common. But the guys and gals who 1) think up fresh ideas on old themes, 2) dream up unusual titles (such as ‘Yakety-Yak’) and lyrics or 3 ) put a song together with a lot of bounce are the ones that click!” Don prefers teenagers writing music for the big teenage market. “Some of the big-name song-writers.” Don says, “often write down to the teenager, and this just doesn’t go. Teenagers are more responsive to new music. They don’t have the taboos or prejudices of older folks. They’re willing to give a new musical idea a fair chance.” An up-and-coming Don Costa discovery is a twelve-year-old girl composer from White Plains. New York, who’s penned “Boom-ButtaSnap-Snap” or What Happens When Somebody Pulls At Your PonvTail Band? friendship jingles With St. Valentine s Day not far off. Frankie Avalon tells me he’s blue because lie's without a steady. But he’s thankful, he says, that he has so many wonderful friends. “They’ve done so much for me,” Frankie told me in a telephone call from his home in Philadelphia. “I could never have done it without them.” He was speaking, of course, of his sensational, overnight climb up the ladder of show-business success. In honor of friendship and St. Valentine’s Day, Frankie would like to offer a friendship ring to the girl who sends in the best four-line jingle on friends or friendship. Deadline is February 23th. Address all jingles to Frankie Avalon, c/o Photoplay. The prize? A gold pinky band with a little ding-a-ling bell (it has a seed pearl for a clapper I and a dangling heart enamelled with rose petals. f