'At the Hop' by Danny & the Juniors: Where Did Dick Clark Fit In?
- edgarstreetbooks
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
‘100 Greatest 50s Rock, Pop & Doo Wop Songs’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
“At the Hop” was a №1 hit for Danny & the Juniors: Danny Rapp, David White, Frank Maffei, and Joe “Terry” Terranova. White and singer John Madara, who signed with Prep Records, originally wrote the song as “Do the Bop.”
Madara recorded “Do the Bop” with Danny & the Juniors, then known as the Juvenaires, singing background. “I wanted to do something that had a piano featured like ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,’” Madara recalled in Forgotten Hits.
“So, off we go to the recording studio, with me singing lead, Danny and the Juniors singing background, and my 45 record ‘A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ to set the tone of what I was shooting for. I paid for the session, sat in the control room, told the engineer what to do, played the Jerry Lee Lewis record for the musicians, and that is how ‘Do the Bop’ was created.
“After the recording, we played the record for Prep. They didn’t care for it.”
Songwriter and producer Artie Singer brought “Do the Bop” to Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand. Clark suggested changing the title to “At the Hop” because the Bop’s popularity was fading.
“Artie changed some of the lyrics and became a co-writer,” David White told Milwaukee Opportunities.
“We went back into the recording studio and this time, my group recorded the song with Danny singing lead. Artie took it back to Dick Clark and gave him half the publishing of the song.
“‘At the Hop’ was then released on the Singular label, which couldn’t handle the distribution demands. So Artie sold the master to ABC-Paramount.”
After Danny & the Juniors performed “At the Hop” on American Bandstand, it shot to the top of the charts.
Singer claimed in the 2008 PBS documentary Wages of Spin: Dick Clark, American Bandstand and the Payola Scandals that Clark would not play “At the Hop” without receiving half of the publishing proceeds. Payola was not illegal in 1958. Clark sold his rights to “At the Hop” before the 1960 Congressional Payola Hearings.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 100 Greatest 50s Rock, Pop & Doo Wop Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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