Bobby Rydell

Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell , was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. His best-known songs include "Wildwood Days", "Wild One" and "Volare" (cover of an Italian song by Domenico Modugno, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu”); in 1963 he appeared in the musical film Bye Bye Birdie.

As a child, he mimicked the singers he saw on television, and at the age of seven his father took him around the clubs of Philadelphia, asking if he could sing and do some impersonations. By the time he was eight, his reputation led to an appearance on a talent show on the national television series,TV Teen Club. He won the contest, and the show's presenter, Paul Whiteman, recruited him into the cast, where he remained for several years. It was here that his name was anglicised to Bobby Rydell.

Career Rydell played in several bands in the Philadelphia area. As a 14-year-old he was the drummer for the Emanons (NoName spelled backward) which included his childhood friend Pat Azzara on guitar. Azzara later assumed the stage name Pat Martino, and went on to achieve recognition as one of the preeminent jazz guitarists of all time. Another band was Rocco and the Saints, in which he sang and played drums.

His second success was "We Got Love". The album of the same name, his first, sold a million copies and obtained gold disc status. "Wild One" was followed with "Little Bitty Girl" which was his second million-selling single. He continued releasing hit songs with "Swingin' School" backed by "Ding-A-Ling" and "Volare" later in 1960, which also sold over a million copies. It is estimated he sold over 25 million records in total.

Rydell's success and prospects led his father, Adrio, a foreman at the Electro-Nite Carbon Company in Philadelphia, to resign in 1961 after 22 years to become his son's road manager.

In 1963, Rydell released the song "Wildwood Days", which reached Number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for nine weeks. A mural on the Wildwood, New Jersey, boardwalk, painted in 2014, honors Rydell, whose song placed the community in the national spotlight.

That same year, Rydell portrayed Hugo Peabody in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie, also starring Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke.

During the 1960s, Rydell had numerous hit records on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His recording career earned him 34 Top 100 hits, placing him in the top five artists of his era (Billboard). They included his most popular successes: "Wild One" (his highest scoring single, at number 2), "Volare" (number 4), "Swingin' School" (number 5), "Kissin' Time" (number 11), "Sway" (number 14), "I've Got Bonnie" (number 18), and "The Cha-Cha-Cha" (number 10). His last major chart success was "Forget Him", which reached number 4 on the Hot 100 in January 1964. The song, written by Tony Hatch, was his fifth and final gold disc winner. By that point, the British Invasion had arrived and acts such as Rydell suffered a dramatic decline in popularity. Bands such as The Beatles became more popular, and Rydell unknowingly inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney to write "She Loves You", a song which paved the way for their success in the US. Also during that time, Rydell served in the 103rd Engineer Battalion of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

In January 1968, it was announced in the UK music magazine NME that Rydell had signed a long-term recording contract with Reprise Records. He continued to perform in nightclubs, supper clubs and Las Vegas venues throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but his career was hampered by the refusal by ABKCO Records to reissue Rydell's Cameo-Parkway catalog, so it was completely unavailable until 2005, although he did re-record his hits in 1995 for K-tel Records). He had one more hit after 1965, a disco re-recording of "Sway", which reached the Billboard Easy Listening chart in 1976.

Rydell continued to tour for the remainder of his life, often with Frankie Avalon and Fabian Forte, performing under the name "The Golden Boys". His autobiography was published in 2016.

The street on which he was born in Philadelphia was renamed Bobby Rydell Boulevard, in his honor.

Health and death Rydell cancelled a 2012 Australia tour because his health had deteriorated significantly and he was in need of urgent major surgery. On July 9, 2012, he underwent a double organ transplant, to replace his liver and one kidney, at Thomas Jefferson University in his hometown of Philadelphia. In January 2013, six months after the double transplant surgery, Rydell returned to the stage in Las Vegas for a three-night engagement to a sold-out audience. He continued to perform internationally and returned to tour Australia in 2014.

Rydell died from complications of pneumonia at Jefferson Abington Hospital on April 5, 2022, three weeks before his 80th birthday.

Media In the Broadway musical drama Grease, its film adaptation, and the film's sequel Grease 2, the high school was named "Rydell High" after Rydell.

In 2000, in the book The Beatles Anthology (p. 96), Paul McCartney said:

No specific song title is given in The Beatles Anthology, but Bob Spitz writes in The Beatles: The Biography that McCartney originally modeled "She Loves You" on the Rydell "answering song" called "Swingin' School", and not "Forget Him", as is commonly cited.

In the Oscar-winning film Green Book (2018), Rydell is portrayed in the opening scenes by actor Von Lewis.

Albums discography

Year Peak chart positionsRecord Label US Cashbox 1959 We Got Love — — Cameo Records 1960 Bobby Sings, Bobby Swings — — Bobby Rydell/Chubby Checker 7 6 1961 Bobby Rydell Salutes "The Great Ones" — 49 Rydell at the Copa 56 — Bobby's Biggest Hits 12 24 Biggest Hits Volume 2 61 48 1962 An Era Reborn — — All The Hits 88 35 1963 All The Hits Volume 2 — — Wild (Wood) Days — — Bye Bye Birdie — — The Bobby Rydell Show — — 1964 The Top Hits of 1963 67 69 Forget Him 98 79 1965 Somebody Loves You — — Capitol Records 1976 Born With a Smile — — P.I.P. Records The Best of Bobby Rydell — — London Records 2003 A Philadelphia Christmas — — BCI Eclipse Records "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles discography

† Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell b/w = "backed with"

Selected filmography Bye Bye Birdie (1963) Marco Polo Junior Versus the Red Dragon (1972) That Lady from Peking (1975)