The Big Beat (TV program)
{{Short description|American music and dance TV series (1957)}}
{{italic title}}
The Big Beat is an American music and dance television program broadcast on the ABC Network in 1957. It was hosted by Alan Freed, and subsequently by Richard Hayes. The program debuted on May 4, 1957, four months before American Bandstand, making it the United States' "first nationally-televised rock 'n roll dance show".{{cite web |url=http://eyesofageneration.com/may-4-1957-americas-first-prime-time-rock-n-roll-show-debuts-on-this-day-i/ |title=May 4, 1957…America's First Prime Time Rock n Roll Show Debuts |website=eyesofageneration.com |date=May 4, 2016}}
The Wall Street Journal summarized the end of the program as follows. "Four episodes into “The Big Beat,” Freed’s prime-time TV music series on ABC, the show was canceled after black singer Frankie Lymon was seen on TV dancing with a white audience member".{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/moondogs-final-sign-off-on-alan-reed-1421710119 |title=Moondog's Final Sign Off |date=20 January 2021 |work=WSJ |access-date=February 4, 2021 |quote=}}
History
The Big Beat was the first interracial teen show broadcast in New York City which was debuted on May 4, 1957. The show was broadcast on Fridays from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Guest stars included Connie Francis, the Everly Brothers, Don Rondo, Andy Williams, Chuck Berry, Bobby Darin, Fats Domino, Clyde McPhatter, Gogi Grant, and Jerry Lee Lewis.{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present|date=1999|publisher=The Ballentine Publishing Group|location=New York|isbn=0-345-42923-0|page=97|edition=7th}}
The fourth episode caused an uproar 1957 when it showed Frankie Lymon, a black teen star, dancing with a white woman.{{cite book|last=Altman|page=160|first=Billy|title=Brooklyn: A State of Mind|publisher=Workman Publishing Company|isbn=978-0761116356|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNUp5E3_tTcC&q=The%20Big%20Beat%20alan%20freed&pg=PA160|year=2001}} Two more episodes were aired{{cite book |last=Sagolla |first=Lisa Jo |date=September 12, 2011 |title=Rock 'n' Roll Dances of the 1950s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRhBf_6L8B8C&q=Alan+Freed%27s+TV+show+the+big+beat+abc++July+12%2C+1957&pg=PA74 |publisher=Performing Arts |page=74 |isbn=978-0313365560}} but the show was suddenly cancelled. A local version continued on WNEW-TV New York.
Controversy
On July 19, 1957, New York-based American Black teen singer Frankie Lymon was dancing with a white girl, causing the outrage with TV stations in the Southern states. In those Southern states, racial segregation was "still in effect" since the civil rights movement was at its earliest stages. A few weeks after the incident, the show was immediately cancelled after four episodes. Therefore, the ABC executives "buckled under the pressure."{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Gary |title=Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 2: The Downslide - Michigan Rock and Roll Legends |url=https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/blog/411-frankie-lymon-s-tombstone-blues-pt-2-the-downslide |website=Michigan Rock and Roll Legends |access-date=29 August 2024}}{{cite web |last1=MacGregor |first1=Jeff |title=Teen Idol Frankie Lymon's Tragic Rise and Fall Tells the Truth About 1950s America |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/teen-idol-frankie-lymon-tragic-rise-fall-tells-truth-1950s-america-180967506/#:~:text=Frankie%20danced%20with%20a%20white%20girl%20on%20a%20national%20television%20show%2C%20and%20the%20show%20was%20swiftly%20canceled. |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=28 August 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Robbins |first1=Michael W. |title=Brooklyn: A State of Mind |date=2001 |publisher=Workman Publishing Company, Inc |location=New York, NY |page=160 |isbn=978-0-7611-1635-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNUp5E3_tTcC&q=%22the+big+beat%22+few+weeks&pg=PA160 |access-date=28 August 2024}}
Following the incident regarding interracial dance between Frankie Lymon and a white girl, Freed was often featured in magazines and newspapers which he wore bright scarlet tuxedos or outsized window-plaid sport coats punctuated with a wispy silk bow tie favored by Black or white hillbilly artists. Therefore, Freed was fired from ABC.{{cite web |last1=Nayman |first1=Louis |title=Rock 'n' Roll Payola: Dick Clark and Alan Freed |url=https://inthesetimes.com/article/rock-n-roll-payola-dick-clark-and-alan-freed |website=In These Times |publisher=the Institute for Public Affairs |access-date=29 August 2024 |language=en |date=24 April 2012}}
According to an American Bandstand producer to New York Post, the interracial dance between Frankie Lymon and a white girl "contributed to American Bandstand's segregation." It is also revealed that The Milt Grant Show faced similar issues two months prior to the following incident.{{cite web |last1=Delmont |first1=Matthew F. |title=Dancing Around the "Glaring Light of Television": Black Teen Dance Shows in the South |url=https://southernspaces.org/2015/dancing-around-glaring-light-television-black-teen-dance-shows-south/ |website=Southern Spaces |access-date=29 August 2024}}
Regardless of the controversies among Southern Americans who were working in TV stations, Freed was inducted along with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "in its very first class" in 1986 because he promoted the interracial dance.{{cite web |last1=Mandell |first1=Jonathan |title=Rock and Roll Man. Another bio jukebox musical? |url=https://newyorktheater.me/2023/08/23/rock-and-roll-man-another-bio-jukebox-musical/#:~:text=The%20incident%20helps%20explain%20why%20Freed%20was%C2%A0inducted%20into%20the%C2%A0Rock%20and%20Roll%20Hall%20of%20Fame%20in%20its%20very%20first%20class%20%E2%80%93%20along%20with%20Elvis%2C%20Little%20Richard%2C%20Chuck%20Berry%2C%20Jerry%20Lee%20Lewis |website=New York Theater |access-date=29 August 2024 |date=24 August 2023}}
It appears that the clip of the final episode does not exist, but the audio files remain online.{{cite web |last1=Welch |first1=Chris |title=The Big Beat: Alan Freed, Channel 5 and TV's first interracial teen dance show |url=https://www.fox5ny.com/news/the-big-beat-alan-freed-first-interracial-teen-dance-tv-show#:~:text=%22Stations%20in%20the%20South%20saw%20Frankie%20Lyman%20of%20Frankie%20Lyman%20and%20the%20Teenagers%20dancing%20with%20a%20white%20girl%20on%20the%20show%2C%20and%20that%20was%20that%2C%22%20DeCurtis%20said. |website=FOX 5 |date=11 February 2022 |publisher=FOX Television Stations |access-date=28 August 2024}}
{{Portal|1950s}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.alanfreed.com/wp/on-the-air-audio-2/#:~:text=or%20decrease%20volume.-,Spots%20and%20Auditions,-Nifty%20Clothes%20sponsor Spots and Auditions] at Alan Freed's official website.
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Category:1957 American television series endings
Category:American Broadcasting Company original programming
Category:Black-and-white American television shows