Volare! Back to swingin’ school with Bobby Rydell (High)! VIDEO INTERVIEW - Mr. Media Interviews by

Today's Guest: Bobby Rydell, singer, author, Teen Idol on the Rocks: A Tale of Second Chances
 

Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with singer Bobby Rydell by clicking on the video player above! 

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of men of a certain age who wish they had spent months of their formative years dancing with Ann-Margaret… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

It never registered with me.

Rydell High, that is – the name of the school where Danny Zuko and Sandy reunite, where the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies rule the roost.

As many times I have watched that movie over the years, it never clicked that calling the fictional institution “Rydell High School” was a tribute to America’s most famous Rydell – Bobby.
BOBBY RYDELL podcast excerpt: "When I was with Mr. Sinatra at the Copacabana for the first time and he said, 'What do you drink, Robert?' I said, 'C-C-Coke.' I figured if I said, 'Scotch and water,' I'd get smacked in the face, y'know?"
You can LISTEN to this interview with singer BOBBY RYDELL, author of TEEN IDOL ON THE ROCKS, by clicking the audio player above!

Pretty cool – even if it was his pal Frankie Avalon who played the film’s Teen Angel, not him.

After all, South Philly’s gift to teen pop and adult cool, Bobby Rydell, has enjoyed more than his share of fame and fortune. There were the hits, none bigger than “Volare.” And, of course, co-starring in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie with Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margaret.

And it has all come together in his new autobiography, Teen Idol on the Rocks: A Tale of Second Chances, a mostly happy life’s story – until it’s not.
BOBBY RYDELL podcast excerpt: "When the movie, 'Grease,' came out, I didn't know it was going to be Rydell High! When I saw the movie, there it was. I said, 'Wow, that's pretty cool. Pretty cool!"
Bobby Rydell is kind of a stealth American cultu