Gaming Today Column – Bobby Rydell by Michele LaFong
“Getting Personal with the Stars” Gaming Today – Column by Michele LaFong
Note: Bobby Rydell has added Comedian Michele LaFong as Special Guest at The Suncoast Showroom.
Bobby will also be featured in Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine.
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Bobby Rydell with Special Guest, Comedian Michele LaFong-The Suncoast
by Michele LaFong
Today, I interviewed “Original Teenage Idol” Bobby Rydell. He was my guest on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show on 1230 am KLAV, in Las Vegas, and The Web. He was on the show to promote his up-coming dates at The Suncoast Showroom, Jan. 11-13 at 7:30pm I will also be opening for him, and performing “A Tribute to Senor Wences” with The “Original Johnny” lipstick hand-puppet that Wences “handed-off” to me, documented in LIFE Magazine.
This will be Bobby’s first time performing a full hour+ show in a year since surviving double surgery, a liver, and kidney transplant.
“I was really sick for a year. I said to my wife: it’s over! Get the will ready because I’m gone honey! The very next day, I got a call from Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia telling me to get in right away. That afternoon, I was in the OR for 20+ hours having both a liver and a kidney transplant. I was in July 9. I was home July 19. After 10 days in the hospital, that was it. I had no pain, no nothing. So God Bless Jefferson Hospital, and their whole surgical team!”
“If it weren’t for my wife, I wouldn’t be here. She happens to be a nurse. She saved my life.”
Rydell, is no stranger to playing Las Vegas. His first appearance here was back in ’60 or ’61, at The Sahara Hotel. “I did two weeks with George Burns. I used to stand in the wings after I was done performing, and just watch him. How he delivered a line, his timing.” There wasn’t a short-list of the Icons that Rydell hadn’t worked with over the years. He had great stories. “Jack Benny, I did his TV show, I worked with him, we did “Theater in the Round” together, Perry Como, and Tody Fields. “The one guy who was really been behind me, he was “My Superstar” …Red Skeleton.”
I did 12 shows with Red. The Red Skelton Hour, years ago on CBS, Television City, and then Red took me under his wing because he lost his son Richard at 15 years old via leukemia. When I did his show, I was just like 18, or 19 years old, and the producer of the show, Cecil Barker, said to me at rehearsal “I understand that you do an impersonation of Red.” I said “yeah, I do Clem Kadiddlehopper”, he said “can I hear it?” (So I did it.) “And Red was rehearsing with David Rose, he overheard me doing this, and he started talking back to me as Clem Kadiddlehopper . Then we did that show, and we did a couple of shows like that, and then on the third or fourth show, they wrote in a character, Zeek Kadiddlehopper, that was me. I played (Red’s) Clem Kadiddlehopper’s cousin. Cecil Parker said to me “you are the first person who ever imitated one of Red’s characters on Red’s TV show, and he flew me to his house in Palm Springs, and I met his wife, his daughter… he had 3 poodles, a Mack howl on his shoulder that bit me… Those were great times! Then, a few years back before he passed away, I went to see him with my children. He was at the Caesars in Atlantic City. He introduced me, and I went backstage, then you know how he does of the silent things where he does the old man? You know …. “Walking in the Parade,” all of those “Bits,” and I started crying,” you know, (He said while choking up.) because he meant so much to me. “So I went backstage, and I said to Red, I said “you did it again. You made me cry.” He said… “was I that bad?!” (lol…”Sorry, I got a little “teary eyed” there…) It happens to me a lot when I’m telling old show-biz stories from the past… I cry a lot more now!
Bobby Rydell’s full interview will be aired this Thursday, from 6-7pm PST. Stream live lasvegasbackstagetalk.com. It will be archived on the website. He will also be featured in Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine. (CP Magazine.)
TweetBobby Rydell, Rich Hall-LV Backstage Talk w/Comedian Michele LaFong
Jan. 10, 2013 6pm-7pm PST 1230AM in LV & The Web
Former Teen Idol, Singer
Bobby Rydell guests on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio and Web Show with Comedian Michele LaFong this Thursday from 6:00pm-7:00pm PST on 1230am KLAV in Las Vegas and The Web.
Bobby Rydell “beats the odds” and overcomes a liver, and kidney double transplant. He is performing with a Big Band at The Suncoast this weekend.
This will be the first full show Bobby has performed in a year! Comedian Michele LaFong is his Special Guest Star. LaFong will be appearing with Bobby, and will be performing her Tribute to Señor Wences, with the original “Johnny,” the lipstick hand-puppet that Wences “handed off” to her as documented in LIFE Magazine.
Original Teenage Idol Bobby Rydell Brings the Music of a Generation to the Suncoast Showroom January 11-13 Las Vegas-Bobby Rydell, the international teenage sensation of the Baby Boom era, performs his carefree chart-toppers at the Suncoast Showroom January 11, 12 and 13. With good looks, fame and talent, Robert Ridarelli –better known as Bobby~–is considered an original American idol. After a teenage gig as drummer for Rocco and the Saints, where he played with trumpet player Frankie Avalon, Rydell launched his successful solo act in 1959. The hits flowed as Rydell rocked up the charts with “We Got Love,” “Kissin’ Time,” “Wild One,” “That Old Black Magic,” “I’ll Never Dance Again” and “Forget Him,” among others. Rydell recorded 34 Top 40 hits, and is recognized by Billboard as one of the Top Five Artists of the early ’60s.
Beyond selling millions of records, Rydell enjoyed fame as a regular on 1960s television, appearing on “American Bandstand,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Milton Berle Show.” In 1963, Rydell was also featured in the classic film “Bye Bye Birdie” as Ann-Margret’s boyfriend, Hugo Peabody.
Bobby will be featured in Michele LaFong’s “Getting Personal with the Stars” column in Gaming Today, and will soon be featured in LaFong’s “Las Vegas Backstage Talk” column in Casino Player Magazine.
More about Bobby Rydell here–>
You can catch Bobby Rydell headlining at Suncoast Hotel & Casino
Suncoast Showroom, Fri – Sun, Jan. 11th – 13th 7:30pm
Comedian – Rich Hall
Rich Hall did a videotaped backstage interview with Comedian Michele LaFong, after his first show on Monday night at The Laugh Factory at The Tropicana H & C.
As he said “No two shows are the same.” Rich shared his philosophies on his approach to comedy, and other things that you normally would not hear on stage that will give you insight into his psyche, and his approach to life.
Hall shot to prominence as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He also gained fame in the US with numerous appearances on Not Necessarily the News, The David Letterman Show, Fridays, Sniglets and the Johnny Carson Show. Hall’s brand of humor spread across the pond making him a top selling and in demand comedian in England, regularly performing to sold out crowds.
Critics have hailed Hall as one of the best acts in comedy and David Letterman says, “Rich Hall is the real thing.” No target is safe, from religion to politics to Tom Cruise
You can catch Rich Hall at Tropicana Las Vegas
Laugh Factory Las Vegas, Mon – Sun, Jan. 7th – 13rd 8:30pm & 10:30pm
You can listen to a recording of our show below!
Dec. 27, 2012 The Amazing Johnathan, Lou Christie
Comedian / Magician – The Amazing Johnathan
The Amazing Johnathan returns live in-studio on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show on 1230 am KLAV in Las Vegas, and The Web. This time, he brings his side-kick Psychic Tanya with him to reveal the “behind the scene” truths about the hazzards of performing sadistic slapstick magic illusions on her!
Johnathan is currently focused on his new podcast set to debut in early 2013. He is also touring across the country that he is very much looking forward to. He recently held his first-ever classic car show and sale, wherein he put his prized car collection on display. He has offered to donate 10% of the sale from each vehicle to Make-A-Wish® Southern Nevada.
More about The Amazing Johnathan here—>
Former Teen Idol, Singer – Songwriter Lou Christie
Lou Christie guests on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show with Comedian Michele LaFong on 1230 am KLAV in Las Vegas, and The Web.
Lou Christie’s chart-topping career started in a two-track studio in his rural hometown near Pittsburgh. In 1963, Christie’s first million-selling song, “The Gypsy Cried,” transformed the local choirboy, Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, into teen idol Lou Christie.
Throughout the ‘60s Christie’s success continued with numerous hit singles, including “Two Faces Have I,” “Rhapsody in the Rain,” “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” and the chart-topping “Lightin’ Strikes.” With his success, Christie forever embedded himself and his unique three-octave vocal range into American musical history.
Highlights from Christie’s performing career include touring on Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars,” performing on the hit television show “American Bandstand,” and performing for Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family. Christie has shared the stage with numerous artists, including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis.
More about Lou Christie here–>
You can catch Lou Christie headlining at Suncoast Hotel & Casino
Suncoast Showroom, Sat & Sun, Nov. 29th & 30th 7:30pm
You can listen to a recording of our show below!
BJ Thomas, Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling-LV Backstage Talk w/Comedian Michele LaFong
Listen to show below.
Nov. 15, 2012 6pm-7pm PST 1230AM in LV & The Web
Singer BJ Thomas guests on “Las Vegas Backstage Talk” Radio Show with Comedian Michele LaFong. LVBST radio show is the only show that “Gets Personal with the Stars.”
Five-time Grammy® Award winning hitmaker BJ Thomas will perform at the Suncoast Showroom.
In 1966, Thomas released his first hit record, a cover of Hank Williams classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” From 1967 to 1975, Thomas charted numerous hits, including: “The Eyes of a New York Woman,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “It’s Only Love,” and “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.”
Thomas is perhaps best-known for “Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” featured in the 1969 movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and winner of an Academy Award® for “Best Original Song.” Since then, the song has been featured in numerous movies, including “Forrest Gump,” “Clerks II,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Spider-Man 2.”
During the ‘80s, Thomas’ music crossed over to the country charts with “Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Love,” “New Looks from an Old Lover” and “Two Car Garage.” He became the 60th member of the Grand Old Opry in 1981.
In 1985, Thomas recorded “As Long As We’ve Got Each Other” which was later used as the theme song for the hit ABC sitcom, “Growing Pains.”
In 2007, he released his fourth holiday album, “Home for Christmas.”
BJ will be featured in Comedian Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated “Las Vegas Backstage Talk” column in Casino Player Magazine, and will soon be featured in LaFong’s Syndicated “Getting Personal with the Stars” column in Gaming Today.
More about BJ Thomas here–>
You can catch BJ Thomas headlining at Suncoast Hotel & Casino
Suncoast Showroom, Sat & Sun, Nov. 17th & 18th 7:30pm
Comedian – Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling
Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling, will talk about his experiences on “The Howard Stern Show,” and his life on stage, and off, since leaving.
While touring as a national headliner, Martling released three comedy lp’s, 1979’s “What Did You Expect?,” 1980’s “Goin’ Ape!,” and 1981’s “Normal People Are People You Don’t Know That Well.” He blindly sent the three LP’s to Howard Stern upon Howard’s arrival at WNBC-AM in New York City in 1982, and Howard called him to make a guest appearance on his radio show. in 1986, Jackie became a full-time cast member and the head writer of Stern’s show.
Jackie left the show in 2001 after fifteen-year run as head writer of the radio show, four television series, and three Pay-Per-Views.
He still works all around the country, performing his solo act of rapid-fire filthy jokes and the classic finale, “Stump The Joke Man,” is about to release a CD of his original music entitled “Happy Endings,” and is currently doing his own radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio 101, “Jackie’s Joke Hunt.
Jackie Martling’s videotaped interview on LVBST with Comedian Michele LaFong is posted on lasvegasbackstagetalk.com
More about Jackie Martling here–>
You can catch Jackie Martling headlining at MGM
Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, Wed – Sat, Nov. 14th – 17th 8:00pm
You can listen to a recording of our show below!
