// May 25 2011
AMERICAN BANDSTAND JUSTINE CARRELLI AND BOB CLAYTON
My suite At The Four Seasons Philadelphia the morning Of The Mural Unveiling/50th Anniversary August 2007
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Just got off the phone with Bob Clayton and then hung out on the phone with Justine and we chatted forever. These two are the best. Fame never went to their heads — sweet and down to earth.
They send a big hello to friends, family, and fellow American Bandstand Regulars, and want me to thank each and every one of you for helping to keep the memory of American Bandstand alive. You guys are the greatest.
So let’s send a big hello back to Justine and Bob. They are the best of the best of Bandstand’s Best. I love them….
Ciao for now….
May 25, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Hello from READING, PA to BOB And JUSTINE; love you both and thrilled i can say i met you both; and………..AFTER A 40 PLUS WAIT; I FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY GOT A JITTERBUG WITH JUSTINE AT THE ATLANTIC CITY, NJ ‘AB’ reunion; one of the best; a night to remember!
May 26, 2011 at 1:17 pm
We were contemplating a move to Nevada and saw Justine’s Realtor site, and thought she might be licensed in Nevada besides Arizona. She emailed me, and then called me. What a DELIGHT, she is so down to earth, nice, and beautiful inside and out. You are so right, she is grateful to her fans even all these years later and treats us with respect. I hope one day to meet her too. I told her I would recognize her in a minute if we passed each other. Gorgeous, and Bob looks like a teen himself, thanks to both of you.
May 26, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Hi Jean….that is fantastic. See, isn’t she a darling? Bob Clayton is too. Perhaps, we will all meet some day — a lunch and a jitterbug LOL
Good luck on that move, and let me know how it goes. This is just such nice good news.
Always the best to you….
May 26, 2011 at 2:40 pm
After much thought to leaving Hawaii…….told Justine not ready yet but who knows down the road, she does want us to come see her area, about an hour from Vegas. Would LOVE for all of us to do a jitterbug and have lunch. I would have one million questions.
Have a safe and fun holiday weekend.
May 26, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Well, never too old to learn, was amazed I did not know Billy Cook made a record which I just saw on the site. He was my favorite male dancer. When Jane Smith in Cleveland (my home town) had the regulars over her house for the weekend, I happened to call her. She put Billy on the phone and I almost passed out. He was so nice and funny and made my day. Sad to learn of his death so young in life.
I never met Jane but we spoke a lot and I think shared photos. Wonder if anyone knows about her?
May 26, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Hi Jean,
Should be some photos in my albums with Jane in them. Try Bob and Justine’s album and check Pat’s. Don’t have the skinny on Jane’s whereabouts, but will keep you posted on any news resurfacing of Jane.
As, well enjoy your holiday weekend.
September 16, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Wonder what Bob and Justine did with their dance contest prize???
September 16, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Hi Jean,
You’ll hear all about that, in The Princes and Princesses of Dance — really fun stories told by Bob himself.
October 29, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Bob and Justine were the best looking couple on American Bandstand.
October 29, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Hi Marsha,
Welcome to Bandstand’s Best…. I don’t think you’ll get many an argument with that regard. Without question, they are the most remembered. They were stunners!
October 29, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I was playing with the computer this afternoon and read your post about The Princes and Princesses of dance. What exactly is this and is on the internet? I would love to see it, if so. Thank you, I can’t get enough of the old Philadelphia 50′s dancers. I wish they had full episodes to watch. Thanks.
October 29, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Hi Connie,
You’re on the site. There are tabs above to navigate and the blogs are all here. Enjoy your visit to the magical kingdom.
November 13, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Thanks for all of your hard work.
November 13, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Thank you very much, Connie
December 26, 2011 at 4:59 pm
I was 13 when we moved from Long Island, NY to SoCal in 1956. One day in early 1957 I turned on the tv, and there was Bandstand. And I was in heaven.
I learned all the dances, the Bop, the Stroll, the Circle Dance. Kenny and Arlene, Pat Molittieri dancing her heart out (which she did), Justine and Bob (“Mom, does my hair look like hers?”) and Frani, who can forget Frani?
Thank you. I am 68 years young, but I can remember so much. Too many to remember, but thank you so very much.
Janice M
December 26, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Thanks Janice,
Come by and visit often. I will certainly make a mention to Justine and Bob and all and your very nice mention.
The very best to you for a happy holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year with many more to come…..
January 8, 2012 at 3:46 pm
So did Bob and Justine get married to each other. Hated to hear about the passing of Pat Moliterri several years ago!!
January 8, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Hi Laura,
No, Bob and Justine never married each other, but they remain dear friends. I am in touch with both of them and we are close. They are truly wonderful.
It was sad that we lost Pat so early, but she left a beautiful legacy of a family of daughters and husband and grandchildren. Recently, they visited with me in New York. it is amazing how the daughters and grandchildren favor Pat.
Drop by often, and a very happy and healthy 2012.
Charles
April 18, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Read today of Dick Clark’s passing and all the memories of American Bandstand came to mind.
Bob and Justine were my favorites and it is good to read they are still around. Sorry they didn’t marry.
April 19, 2012 at 2:26 am
Yesterdays passing of Americas Oldest Teenager has brought back so many great bittersweet memories. I would rush home from school every afternoon, turn on
the TV, and set glued in front of it watching ever stop that Bob & Justine danced. They were the “it” couple, and my entire family voted for them to win the dance contest. We were all so thrilled when they did, and in later years, so disappointed when they didn’t marry! American Bandstand wouldn’t have been the same without Bob & Justine… or our beloved Dick Clark, may he Rest In Peace.
April 19, 2012 at 10:07 am
Who was Pat’s dance partner?
April 19, 2012 at 10:18 am
Hi Jill,
Pat did not have a regular dancing partner. She danced with all the good American Bandstand Regular male dancers. She was very close with Billy Cook, Lou Solino, Frankie Levins, Frank Brancaccio and Billy Ettinger. She won first prize in the slow dance contest with Billy.
Thanks for your visit….and drop by often….
April 19, 2012 at 1:50 pm
couldn’t wait to get home everyday from HS and see Bob and Justine…..
really miss that BANDSTAND
Dick clark will always be remembered.
April 19, 2012 at 2:39 pm
All my sympathies to those that knew Dick Clark for their and our loss! Bob and Justine, you were mentioned today on The View on ABC and remembered with fondness by Whoopee and Joy. How great it would be to see you do a jitterbug on The View!
April 23, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I’d sure love to see that.
Rosemarie maxwell
April 23, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Wow! Hi justine and bob! What a surprise to see you both. I’ve always wondered what you were doing. You both look so great.
I always used to enjoy watching you and Bob dancing on American Bandstand .My husband Eddie Maxwell danced on the Dick Clark’s bandstand. I wish I could see a picture of him dancing.i never knew you and Dick were friends after all these years. He will be well missed.
Love you both.
Rosemarie Maxwell
May 13, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Just wondering if anyone knows the difference between the “jitterbug” and “Lindy”….I think Bandstanders did the latter. I say this since my mother who is a WWII senior does the “jitterbug” which was a little different that what I learn on Bandstand.
May 13, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Hi Carol,
Thanks for your visit. You are correct in as much that you mother did the Jitterbug or the Lindy. The Bandstand Regulars did a modification of the two, and so it was their own individual style and unique in and of itself.
Kenny Rossi and a few other Regulars came closer to the Jitterbug/Lindy but it soon evolved into something that was purely Bandstand.
Here is an excerpt from The Princes and Princesses of Dance/The Follies of Fame
~~~The Lindy Hop is the original eight-count swing dance born in the 1930′s at the Savoy Ballroom in the Black community of Harlem, in northern Manhattan, a duo dance comprised of twists, turns, and jumps. It gets its name from Lindbergh’s plane the Lucky Lindy and its flight (hop) across the Atlantic. Some contend its birth goes back as far as the Roaring Twenties in the period called the Jazz Age. There were two forms of the Lindy Hop, one focusing on footwork and the other more acrobatic.
While the Lindy Hop was commonly associated with black dancers, in the 40s it became a white dance often called the Jitterbug. Jitterbugging was an expression first widely used in 1937 after Big Bands like Benny Goodman would have kids, Jitterbugging in the aisles. They would jitter as if being attacked by bugs or they had a bug and it produced the jitters – either way you get the idea. The Jitterbug was a white adaptation of the Black Bottom and the energetic Lindy Hop. The Jitterbug was less complicated than the Lindy Hop and thus easier to do – a simple six count basic step: slow/slow/quick-quick (or triple/triple/quick-quick.) It is also called, among other names across the country, the East Coast Swing. ~~~
Best,
Charles
December 21, 2012 at 3:04 pm
I loved you both ,you made a awesome couple dancing on American Bandstand ,couldn’t wait to get home from school to watch the show. Hope you both are well and would love to hear more about your lives .. I Live in Ohio, wish it was Florida ..hate the weather here lol
Wish you both the best ,and have a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year.
Bye ..Deena