Throwback Thursday - American Bandstand

Do you remember American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark?   This pop music show was hosted by Dick Clark 1956 - 1989.  The heyday of its popularity was the 1950's and 1960's, when the regular dancers of the show were actually tv celebrities.  (There was a fun short-lived tv show a few years ago about a teen girl who danced on Bandstand called American Dreams.)   It was still plenty popular during my teen years (1970's), when the theme song was this catchy number by Barry Manilow:


What do you remember about Bandstand - the singers, the fashions, learning new dances? I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - The Forgotten Flapper: A Novel of Olive Thomas by Laini Giles

 

The Forgotten Flapper: A Novel of Olive Thomas (Forgotten Actress Series, Volume 1) by Laini Giles

Publication Date: August 1, 2015
Publisher: Sepia Stories
Publishing Formats: eBook & Trade Paperback
Pages: 411
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biographical
     

A presence lurks in New York City’s New Amsterdam Theatre when the lights go down and the audience goes home. They say she’s the ghost of Olive Thomas, one of the loveliest girls who ever lit up the Ziegfeld Follies and the silent screen. From her longtime home at the theater, Ollie’s ghost tells her story from her early life in Pittsburgh to her tragic death at twenty-five.

After winning a contest for “The Most Beautiful Girl in New York,” shopgirl Ollie modeled for the most famous artists in New York, and then went on to become the toast of Broadway. When Hollywood beckoned, Ollie signed first with Triangle Pictures, and then with Myron Selznick’s new production company, becoming most well known for her work as a “baby vamp,” the precursor to the flappers of the 1920s.

After a stormy courtship, she married playboy Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford’s wastrel brother. Together they developed a reputation for drinking, club-going, wrecking cars, and fighting, along with giving each other expensive make-up gifts. Ollie's mysterious death in Paris’ Ritz Hotel in 1920 was one of Hollywood’s first scandals, ensuring that her legend lived on.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A native of Austin, Texas, Laini Giles grew up the daughter of bookworms, and became a Nancy Drew devotee early on. When she realized there might be no escape from hairy tarantulas and bad guys with guns, she put her detective dreams on hold and wrote about them instead, finishing her first mystery novel with custom illustrations when she was eight. It was this love of mystery combined with a love of old MGM musicals and The Marx Brothers that led her to check Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon out of the library during her formative years. Ideas began to simmer.

A graduate of the University of North Texas, she put the writing on hold for a while when real life got in the way (i.e.—she met and married her Canadian husband and headed north for maple-flavored goodies and real beer). She highly recommends moving to another country and not being able to work for a year for finishing any novels you may have laying around.

Laini and her husband live in Edmonton, Alberta with their three gray girl cats, nicknamed The Supremes.

For more information visit Laini Giles' website and blog. You can also find her on Twitter and Goodreads.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive an eBook of The Forgotten Flapper.

Rules
– Must be 18 or older to enter.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.

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Monday, August 3 Kick Off & Giveaway at Passages to the Past  
Tuesday, August 4 Interview at The Maiden's Court  
Wednesday, August 5 Book Blast/Spotlight at History From a Woman's Perspective  
Thursday, August 6 Review at Book Nerd
Friday, August 7 Book Blast/Spotlight at What Is That Book About  
Monday, August 10 Review at Book Babe
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Wednesday, August 12 Character Interview at Boom Baby Reviews Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More  
Thursday, August 13 Review at Beth's Book Nook Blog
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Saturday, August 15 Book Blast/Spotlight at Please Pass the Books  
Monday, August 17 Book Blast/Spotlight at A Literary Vacation
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Wednesday, August 19 Review at A Book Drunkard
Thursday, August 20 Spotlight & Giveaway at View From the Birdhouse  
Friday, August 21 Book Blast/Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews
Monday, August 24 Review at A Chick Who Reads  
Wednesday, August 26 Review & Giveaway at Raven Haired Girl
Thursday, August 27 Book Blast/Spotlight at Svetlana's Reads and Views