- Nancy Walls Smith's Story
- Nancy wrote her tribute to Bobby in 1982
- for her column in the Observter and Eccentric Newspaper.
I think it's time that someone got around to writing a tribute to Bobby Rydell. Unfortunately, since I'm the only one in the whole world who seems so inclined, I guess the job is up to me.
Of course, I realize that anyone under 30 years of age probably doesn't even know who Bobby Rydell is, much less why he deserves praise. This makes the task of paying. homage a little more difficult without, first, a little background to enlighten the uninformed.
- Bobby Rydell was a teen-age idol back in the days when being a teen-age idol meant something -- to me at least. This was as it should. That was probably because I was a teen-ager at the time. In those ancient days, all the young male singers who set our little hearts aflutte were so wholesome they were homogenized. This was good.
Bobby Rydell didn't swear. He didn't even smoke (not even cigarettes). And, of course, his intentions were always more than honorable. This was as it should be. In fact, I suspect it was probably written in the bylaws of teen-age idolhood.
Even Elvis, of the.swiveling hips, said, "Yes, sir," and "No, ma'am." The boys had manners. BOBBY RYDELL didn't have swiveling hips. In fact, I don't think he had any hips at all. But I didn't care. I still plastered bedroom walls with photos of his effervescent smile and spent every cent of my allowance on his records — back in those wonderful days when a brand-new album could be had for just over $3. Remember?In fact, I'm not afraid to say (though I probably should be) that I was the president of the Highland Park Chapter of the Bobby Rydell Fan Club. It was the least I could do for someone who was doing so much to help me survive the pangs of puberty.
RICKY NELSON, Dion and the Belmonts, Gene Pitney -- there were so many attractive young singers who were doing their best to make adolescence a little less agonizing.
It was fun to do inane things like see the movie "Bye Bye Birdie" 100 times just because Bobby Rydell was in it. To this day, I can still recite the dialogue right along with the movie — a skill that, surprisingly, hasn't come in handy even once over the years.I think I spent the first half of the ‘60s swooning my BR scrapbooks, listening to his records and treasuring the autographs that I had practically risked my life to acquire.
Ah, those certainly were the days. But I've grown up now, and so has Bobby Rydell. I have neither the time nor the inclination for such fantasies and frivolities.
I have matured from a silly teen-aged girl with adolescent obsessions to a mature, responsible woman. It's the serious things in life that hold my attention now.
Oops, gotta run -- Magnum P. I. is coming on in two minutes.