Teen idols

In the late 1950s, good-looking, non-threatening teen idols surge and win big commercially.

Time for teen idols. In my book I render the idea as youth idols for idle young listeners. Industry-wise the move is profit-minded: keep Elvis’s charm, strip the danger, and sell an ideal boyfriend who would never cross a line—someone a girl can sit and hear as if he sang only for her, might take her hand, kiss a cheek, want to know her. The target is the girl market.

Looks come first; singing only has to be good enough. Studio fixes can cover weak vocals; they must look handsome. They are closer to fashion models than to top musicians who rise on craft. The template is closer to Pat Boone’s clean face than to Elvis. Follow Elvis’s career: he enters the army in 1958, returns in 1960; the company pushes a mainstream image, and through the early–mid 1960s he shoots Hollywood films. He even tilts teen-idol: 1960’s No. 1 “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” reaches back to the 1920s. His cut is the first with a spoken monologue—a slow song plus Shakespearean-flavored lines whispered toward a young woman. Pure teen-idol Elvis, well timed. By 1960 he already leans away from rock toward mainstream listeners.

Other idols boom; some have real chops. Frankie Avalon and, later, Fabian come from Philadelphia under Bob Marcucci at Chancellor Records. Marcucci writes, produces, owns the label—somewhat like Phil Spector later. Avalon’s No. 1s include 1959’s “Venus” and “Why.” Into the 1960s he stays on the charts and pairs with Annette Funicello (ex–Mickey Mouse Club) in Beach Party films such as Beach Blanket Bingo—teen entertainment built for teens. Marcucci’s other Philly kid Fabian cuts 1959’s “Turn Me Loose” and “Tiger”; weaker on voice or gift, but he looks the part.

Bobby Vee from North Dakota hits No. 1 in 1961 on Liberty in L.A. with Goffin/King’s “Take Good Care of My Baby.” Bobby Vinton is on Epic (a Columbia subsidiary) in New York; 1962’s “Roses Are Red (My Love)” is a major No. 1 among other hits. Bobby Darin has 1958’s “Splish Splash” and 1959’s “Dream Lover,” plus 1959’s “Mack the Knife” from Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera—a classical/opera crossover into the rock world.

That is the teen-idol sketch: ideal boyfriend, often a packaged product. You can laugh; sales are real. From the industry’s view the packaging is a highly successful strategy.