Personalities | Frankie Avalon | Fifties | Rock

(Trumpet, vocals, b. 1939)

As rock’n’roll lost its way in the late 1950s, good looks replaced musical ability and Philadelphia-born Francis Avalon became a teen idol via a series of forgettable pop hits like 1959’s million-selling US No. 1, ‘Venus’. Frequent exposure on the American Bandstand TV show produced two dozen US hits by 1962, and Avalon co-starred with Annette Funicello in teenage beach movies, later guesting in 1978’s Grease.

Styles & Forms | Fifties | Rock
Personalities | LaVern Baker | Fifties | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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