Screenland Plus TV-Land (Jul 1959 - May 1960)

What Makes Fabian Fabulous continued front page 4<5 -ouncb silly to call it magnetism, but an t think of another word. He attracts e. That's a rare quality. It can't be ght But we should be able to teach him ■sing. Will you let us try?" "hat called for a family conference, lian talked to Frankie Avalon and ie up with the opinion. "Tt might be . . ." His father said, "if vou have luck, you might earn enough for ege tuition . . ." His mother had" the iding vote. "It's all right if it doesn't •rfere with your school work." 'abian cut his first session under most isual circumstances. Peter DeAngelis in front of him. playing guitar and ?cting. Bob Marcucci keyed his phrasby standing beside him and singing i his ear. Frankie Avalon was there give encouragement. They released the resulting record. "I'm Love." backed with "Shivers." aclpanied by the announcement that 'jian was Frankie Avalon's personal 1 tege and called him "the newest re ding sensation." i was quite a billing for a 15-year-old ' live up to and there were plenty of pie who questioned his ability to do They said. "Marcucci could turn 1 nkie Avalon into a singer. He's been ■ entertainer all his life. He wants to on stage." They shook their heads. 1 tt this new kid" is something else Ja. Sure, he's handsome, but he's 1 'er even been in a high school play." aijian's first test came on Dick Clark's ■nerican Bandstand." Self-conscious ugh he was. that quality which Bob i called "magnetism" carried. The girlshrieks in the studio were echoed bv ent letters which asked. "Who is he? ten will we see him again?"' IIS next challenge came when he went out on a tour of recording stars. No i in the company was newer than 'aian. Many were stage veterans, skilled holding the attention of the crowd. How uld he stand up against them? •abian supplied the answer. "I watched " m and I learned. I was like going to ool twice, because I had to carry my >ks with me and study everywhere I 'nt. I might forget my shirts and shoes : dressing rooms, but I didn't dare forget books. The folks had laid down the 1. If my grades slipped. I was through." rle drew applause, but he was still a with only one record to his credit, s second carried a prophetic title. "I'm ManWhen they heard it. there again were >se who asked, "Can he prove it?" was still their opinion that he was only nanufactured artist ... A star whose rdom existed only in the imagination Bob Marcucci. The kids who watch and listen to merican Bandstand" thought differentIn their poll, some eight million voted Fabian "Most Promising Male Vocalist j of '58". A silver record attesting to this ' was awarded to him at Hershey. Pa., on his 16th birthday, February 6. 1959. j The cast of the tour — Clyde McPhatter. The Platters, The Crests. Duane Eddy. I the Kalin Twin^ and the others — staged a surprise part)-. Fabian's eyes shine as he tells about it. 'Tt was great." A surprise of a different sort awaited | him a few days later at Elmira. New York. "I'm A Man" was rising in the charts. Disc jockeys playing the record also had things to say about his remarkable good looks and the excitement he j created everywhere he went "Girls swoon." they said. "In Detroit, it took 13 cops to hold back the crowd." It was altogether too much for a certain rowdy element in the town. Unsuspecting. Fabian went out on stage, concerned only with doing a good performance. "Even then. I wasn't too sure of myself," he explains. He had only started his first number when a barrage of eggs were hurled at him. Instinctively, he dodged. Dumbfounded, he watched them break and splash in fellow puddles on the stage. For the well-brought up, well -protected boy from the pleasant home, this was incredible. Gamely, he tried to continue. "It wasn't nerve." he explains. "I just couldn't quite believe they were throwing things at me." Disc jockey Bill Gregory of WXBF. who was staging the show, rushed to his rescue, pleading for courtesy. Fabian tried his number again. Through the air sailed another egg. It missed Fabian but struck a news photographer. Thoughtless for himself. Fabian rushed to the man's side. "Are you hurt?" he demanded. "I'm so sorry, sir.' That "sir" really won the photographer. "Here the kid was being bombed with eggs, but all he thought of was me. and he still remembered to say "sir. the photog reported. "I'm ready to join up with the gang who call this kid fabulous." Although police charged in and took two boys into custody, there were those who urged Fabian to drop out of the second show. "You've got some jealous boys out there,"' they argued. "It just isn't safe." Fabian grinned. "It's no worse than playing football and getting tackled." Right then a kid had turned pro and his courage held the crowd. At the second show there was no disturbance. An even more trying ordeal awaited him at Jersey City. His third record. "Turn Me Loose," w7as out, a trip to Florida with the Dick Clark crew had brought successive days of television appearances. When, on his return to Philadelphia, the owner of a chain of doughnut shops asked Fabian to hold an autographing party at a new one that was being opened, they expected quite a crowd. continued on page 70 SPOT REDUCE sum.;4/ Trim »• Shed »*• spot it off THIGHS, WAIST, TUMMY, HIPS and keep it off with the BODY MASSAGER "SWEDISH MASSEUR" LIKE HAVING A PERSONAL MASSEUR VISIT YOU IN YOUR HOME! If you invited a private masseur into your home, all of his physical manipulations, massaging and professional skill couldn t satisfy vour spot reducing#ueeds as effectively, as excitingly, as YOUR PERSONAL Body Massager "SWEDISH MASSEUR!" 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