American Bandstand 1960s Dancer Don Sanuskar - Part 3 of 3

[@patricking6512]

This is so cool, I was on the shows in 1967-68, and in the opening here, on the left with the tall pointed hat, at about 8 seconds on the timer.

[@ellensstory4429]

I wish people could have that much fun now. I bet Don was a great teacher. Would love to see an AB Reunion Show. I was born in 57 and grew up on rock n roll. I was a pop culture kid and I guess I still am.

[@rosienaquin5530]

I am almost 69... I remember as a young girl, many Saturdays watching AB looking for Don. He was and always will be my favorite. Thanks for the wonderful memories of my youth... *sigh

[@dancerdon9175]

@Rosie Naquin thanks for the kind comment. Great times. Age is only a frame of mind. Keep on keepin' on!! ~~ Don :--)

[@rosienaquin5530]

dancer don You just made my day... this Louisiana girl is now at peace 😉😊

[@dancerdon9175]

@@rosienaquin5530 Well Rosie, your comment made my day as well! ;--)

[@ABdancers]

Rosie Naquin Thank you for the very nice comment Rosie and for watching the ABdancers channel.

[@rosienaquin5530]

ABdancers no, thank YOU!! ♥️

[@collinwood7552]

Love the 1973 clip with Charlie Rich's "The Most Beautiful Girl" playing.

[@thefirstMrsLankton]

I've watched this before, but don't think I commented. I love watching Don dance. He connects with his partners, and you can FEEL that. Hugs for you Don!

[@ABdancers]

Jean Lankton Thank you for the excellent comment Jean. I often read the ones you leave on Aaron's channel as well. I agree Don was always in sync with all his different dance partners on American Bandstand. - Jeff

[@thefirstMrsLankton]

@@ABdancers thanks Jeff!! To me, good dancers can blend and make their partner feel great, no matter the music, slow or fast, not their regular partner on a crowded dance floor. Don does that! Thank you for these terrific montages. I love'em!

[@ABdancers]

Jean Lankton Hi Jean. I wanted to let you know I'll be posting Robin's Part 1 montage tomorrow (May 25th). Hope you enjoy watching it. Also Robin has graciously agreed to answer questions in the comments section this weekend. So ask away if there is anything you would like to know about her American Bandstand career. - Jeff

[@cleejackson7875]

I can't help but notice that Don Sanuskar is one of the cool men who looks great with or without a mustache.

[@ABdancers]

Clee Jackson I agree Don is definitely a cool person. I've been very fortunate to have been in contact with him. Thanks for the comment.

[@dancerdon9175]

@Clee Jackson I just saw your comment. Thanks for watching. Indeed, this montage spans quite a few years -- literally grew up on Bandstand. Jeff, whose ABdancers channel this is, did a great job putting together this montage! ~~ Don

[@thruthealcove]

OMG the color clip of them dancing to Charlie Rich FOR THE WIN!!!!!!! That took me out!!! I also saw a few Soul Train regulars, but I knew they were there starting around that time cuz of clips I saw of Dick's "Soul Unlimited". ABdancers, what can I say?

[@thruthealcove]

Also, could that possibly be my girl Jo Ann Orgel on the extreme far left of the screen at the 5:55 mark?

[@ABdancers]

Thruthealcove KC You’re absolutely correct. The dancer in the white skirt is the wonderful Jo Ann Orgel.

[@thruthealcove]

ABdancers I knew it!!! That is officially the earliest footage of her I've ever seen!!! Now, I wonder if you'll ever do a part 2 tribute to her with this "new" earlier footage. Lol Keep doing these, they really help to fill some holes & give more insight to the early 70s era that's rarely talked about!

[@good03boy]

ABdancers Jo Ann was a dancer from 1971-82. 11 Years! What!!!

[@thruthealcove]

Stephen Short Yes she & Gina Sprague are my 2 fave female AB dancers bar none!

[@dancerdon9175]

ABdancers OH.MY.GOSH !!! Jeff, there aren't enough superlatives in Roget's Thesaurus to ascribe to the meticulous and labor intensive effort that you put into producing this montage. In the vernacular, I am gobsmacked. You have absolutely outdone all of your previous montage productions. The edit is fantastic with the inclusion of memorabilia, photos and clips that bring Bandstand into the '70's. So masterful! A superb piece of AB history for the ages. ~~ Don

[@ABdancers]

Wow! I really appreciate the comment Don. Thank you. You sent me so many wonderful and amazing pictures of American Bandstand history that I wanted to make sure the montage was worthy of the material. So happy to hear you enjoyed watching Part 3. - Jeff

[@dancerdon9175]

It's "thank you, Jeff". Glad I had some early ticket stubs and invitations saved to share. You've made them available for Bandstand fans to see worldwide -- a little bit of history for the archives! :-)

[@annahshoffner1871]

Love ❤️ seeing Dancing Don. He and Famous Hooks are my favorites. Still wishing Don would teach me to 'Swing' like he does. Maybe one day. Please Come to Abilene,Texas Don🤠😎😘❤️‼️

[@lauranathan1618]

First off...Thank you for this amazing archive of music and dance...AB was the reason I ended up taking dance all through school ....My dad danced on Bob Horn's show here in Philadelphia before Dick Clark took over....You've inspired more people that you probably know...Such an important time for music and for you, memories for a lifetime....With gratitude....Laura

[@ABdancers]

Laura Nathan You’re very welcome. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed watching this Don Sanuskar montage. I agree the dancers on American Bandstand were very inspirational to millions of their fans. I always try conveying this message whenever I’m fortunate enough to communicate with the dancers. Very cool to hear your Dad danced on the Bob Horn show. Thank you for the excellent comment and for watching the ABdancers channel. - Jeff

[@robertnycguyraisedonrecord7587]

Wasn't aware Don danced on AB into the early 70's. He sure had lots of fun and great moves!

[@dancerdon9175]

Robert NYCGUY, thanks to Jeff's dedicated search of available footage, plus the super bonus inclusion of the RARE 1973 color footage, ABdancers had it covered. Lots of fun and thanks for taking the time to comment. ~~ Don

[@Gaylel1]

Thanks Dancer Don and the AB gang for being a welcome guest in my home and made our Saturday mornings as kids fun. I mean, if “Dancing With the Stars” were on in those days, you and many of the AB dancers would qualify. And btw, one of the posts was talking about the AB theme after Mike Curb’s in the late 70’s and in between Manilow’s, that theme was recorded by Joe Quaterman and Free Soul. But thank you for sharing your time on AB through You Tube!

[@dancerdon9175]

Gayle Lecus great info and the whole Bandstand troop thanks you for being one of those Saturday morning viewers. What was a Saturday without American Bandstand? ~~ Don

[@mrob75]

Hi JEFF...Again, this is simply AWESOME! Here we see the "hipper facial hair era" of Don ....I had no idea how many reunions Don must have attended over the years....What fun! Those outside studio / parking lot pics were really great....My fave Don dance here is where he is dancing to the Madonna song...Effortless & flawless. And Jeff, those early 70s color ABs are absolutely RARE here on You Tube...Those are the ones I remember watching on Saturday mornings after "Johnny Quest" LOL. Cheers to Don Sanuskar as well as Jeff! We really appreciate the research and effort to get this up and going. :---) (P.S. Like Don, I too have been a teacher for MANY years now...Headed to the "Don Sanuskar Teacher Retirement Era" in about a year or two. It's been a long ride but a very fulfilling and rich career....Somehow the kids keep you young!)

[@dancerdon9175]

mrob75 you bet Mario, the kids do keep you young. I retired after 35 years. Dancing with Karen to Madonna is one of my favs too. And the color AB clip from '73 totally blew me away. Jeff outdid himself on this one. You've always got kind words to say and always a new surprise tidbit or two in your comments -- fellow teacher! ~~ Don

[@mrob75]

....this upcoming fall will be Year #34....If I stay around much longer, I'll be teaching kids from a "Hover-Round"....ha!

[@dancerdon9175]

ROFL Mario -- hover-round" -- good one. Hey just look at my selfie at the end of the montage. Not the 14 year old teen from almost 54 years ago. But at least I can still walk, talk, chew gum and dance. ^5

[@mrob75]

amen! hey, you still look great! Wouldn't it be nice if we could all look like we did when we were teenagers, LOL

[@ABdancers]

Hi Mario. Thank you for the excellent comment. I agree the photos outside in the American Bandstand parking lot from the early 1970s are incredible! Thank goodness Mr. Sanuskar decided to keep these. You're right Karen and Don are perfect on the dance floor together at this 1985 Alumni event. Also great to hear you’re a fellow Saturday morning Johnny Quest cartoon fan. - Jeff

[@willjarmon4418]

Great montage! I'm so happy to see the 1973 footage. I saw the AB exhibit for the Rock n Roll HOF and wondered was that picture slide the openning used from 1971 to 1974 and it was! Really cool at Don and how life has treated him after the Bandstand.

[@ABdancers]

Will Jarmon That's awesome you got to visit the AB exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I agree Don has had a wonderful life during and after American Bandstand. In my opinion he had some of the best dance partners ever on the show with Karen, Robin and Pat. Thank you for the excellent comment Will. - Jeff

[@dancerdon9175]

Will Jarmon thanks for the kind words. Jeff did a fabulous job producing this montage. ~~ Don

[@dancerdon9175]

@@ABdancers Thank you Jeff! I know you spent hours producing this montage. You nailed the chronology perfectly. Props, as always, to your masterful talent.

[@YCDTI]

The Monkees clip at the beginning was the first time I ever saw Don. I really loved seeing Don dance with Karen in “Jean” (one of my all time favorite clips) and seeing him in color on the 69-74 set! (That blew my mind!) I wonder what year that was? Excellent use of AB and modern footage and pictures! You did an outstanding job of capturing Don’s “evolution” through the years. Absolutely outstanding work, Jeff, on all 3 segments and especially this 3rd part!

[@dancerdon9175]

Aaron, the color clip from the 70's blew my mind too!

[@ABdancers]

YouCanDanceToit! Thank you very much Aaron. The clip of “Jean” is an all-time favorite of mine as well. It was so beautifully done. I never get tired of watching Don spin Robin at the end. Seeing the 69-74 AB set also blew my mind! The clip is from 1973 of the Charlie Rich song. - Jeff

[@dancerdon9175]

Oops Aaron, Robin Miller is my dance partner in the "Jean" by Oliver clip.

[@YCDTI]

dancer don - I’m off my game today, yes of course that was you and Robin Miller in Jean. (I’m blaming the hot Florida sun and humidity, lol)

[@mrob75]

So AGREE!

[@bufb]

Don always a classy dancer. But what I noticed was his hair was always so nice

[@ABdancers]

Mary Lynn Johnson-Kerker "Classy" is a perfect word for Don Sanuskar both on and off American Bandstand. Thanks for the comment Mary Lynn. - Jeff

[@good03boy]

Amazing clip! It looks like Don danced on the show through the very early days of disco. 5:41 to 6:27 is the best part to see the 1969-74 set in color and the intro to an episode from 1973 or 1974. I wonder if Don was still dancing on AB when the 1974-78 set debuted?

[@dancerdon9175]

Stephen Short I was there for a few tapings in the fall of 1974 when the '74-'78 set debuted. Though many liked the "Bandstand Theme" by Mike Curb, when the '74-'78 set debuted, "Bandstand Boogie" returned as the AB theme, this time by Barry Manilow. All of us regulars literally applauded the return of the boogie theme. ~~ Don

[@good03boy]

That great, Don. Glad you have great memories of AB.

[@ABdancers]

Stephen Short Thank you for comment Stephen.

[@dancerdon9175]

P Dee :--) OMG! How great that you found this montage. Hope you're well, too! Some vintage still pics here and I was hoping you'd catch those of us, as well as Buggi and Charlotte. ~~ Don

[@BomberMonkAssassin32]

I gotta give props to dancer don he danced and lasted on AB for 9 years i know in one comment on another AB compilation vid it said he became a teacher in 1973 i gotta give my respects to that too i hope he had a long career and loved it too but if dancer don looks at this comment i just gotta say do you ever wish that you would have stayed on AB for one more year making it ten years plus to add i believe that the clip of AB from the early 70's thats in this vid is from one of handful of eps from 1971-74 that ended up surviving

[@dancerdon9175]

@@BomberMonkAssassin32 Thank you kind sir. Indeed, that is a rare piece of original Bandstand broadcast color footage from 1973 seen here. Jeff did a superior job producing this montage for his ABdancers channel.

[@BomberMonkAssassin32]

@@dancerdon9175 another ? I know you were there for the beginning of 1974-78 set & the Joe Porter bandstand boogie disco theme question is was that version of bandstand boogie(closing credits theme)was it easy to dance to when the credits were rolling I always wanted to know

[@dancerdon9175]

@@BomberMonkAssassin32 Much easier to dance to. From ‘64 through mid ‘74 Bandstand closed the episodes in a variety modes. The fall of 1974’s disco Bandstand boogie set the standard for the show’s closing format thereafter. Your question was excellent. I haven’t fielded that one before. Kudos!

[@Mickey.SilverStaXXX]

@dancer don I finally found my way over to see your video series and enjoyed them immensely! I really appreciate that you're answering questions and posting comments on these threads as well. I see that Pat had posted here but wondered about Charlotte and Teresa. Do you know if they're still around? I think it would be so cool to lure some of the other alumni into the chat! With so many of the early 70's episodes missing, it might help to clear up some of the mystery. I saw that Charlotte was the scorekeeper on another episode so that was the only way to put together a name and face. I think that is her 'dipping' you at the @5:20 mark on this video. Someone should make trading cards for the regulars here. 80)

[@davidphillips2177]

Cool

[@aisishadkennedy1984]

At 9:59 That's Eddie Sanchez, Hal Laws and Sondra Gomez.

[@ABdancers]

Aisisha Kennedy You're correct. This was an awesome picture that Don Sanuskar was very kind to provide me. Also appearing in this photo are 1960s American Bandstand dancers Frank Herrera, Robin Miller and Rudy Mikaelian. Thanks for the comment - Jeff

[@aisishadkennedy1984]

Eddie Sanchez on Black Shirt.

[@heliagomez5111]

Hi ABdancers. I figured that was one of the Mikaelian brothers at the end of this Don S. montage along side of Robin Miller. At first I thought is was Art Mikaelian, but then realized it wasn't, which you validated on the above comment. Art's brother, who came later to on AB a few times. Will you make a montage on Art Mikaelian at some point?? Whatever happened to him? ~ H.

[@ulv2learn2]

hey Don hope all is well that was great to have those memories

[@dancerdon9175]

Yes Pat -- all's well and we DO have great memories. Did you catch the 1969 Spotlight with you and Mike along with me and Karen? Some rare footage of you guys.

[@ABdancers]

P Dee So great to see a comment from you Pat. I wish I had more American Bandstand footage of you to show here. I’m very happy to see you and Don communicating on my ABdancers channel. If you have any questions about my montages you’re welcome to contact me at [e-mail]. - Jeff

[@jessiegonzales9504]

Was that Damita jo freeman dancing on the riser during “the most beautiful girl” song?

[@thruthealcove]

Jessie Gonzales It sure was, dancing with fellow Soul Train regular Bernard Toller, and Lil Joe Chism on the riser behind them.

[@ABdancers]

Thruthealcove KC I also noticed the wonderful Damita Jo Freeman in this very rare 1973 American Bandstand clip. Thank you very much for identifying the other Soul Train dancers of Bernard and Joe.

[@thruthealcove]

ABdancers No prob! There's another Soul Train regular in that same clip, the tall guy with the big afro wearing sunglasses at the beginning of that clip, but I forgot his name. I'll come back to this comment if/when I do remember.

[@thruthealcove]

ABdancers Just remembered, his name is Ricardo.

[@nymet2454]

and the dancer at 6:13 might be Peaches Johnson with the red halter top. It was fun watching Don Sanuskar danced in 1973. That's about the time I started watching AB.

[@onlyonemgpatch9612]

Now I know which dancer is Don. Does he go by the name Dancer Don?

[@ABdancers]

Martha Patchin Yes Dancer Don and Don Sanuskar are one in the same. You're welcome to ask him as question. I'm sure he'll respond back. Thanks for watching the ABdancers channel.

[@ulv2learn2]

OMG

[@chrislehman8996]

Very cool! What date in 1973 was the episode with the color clip originally aired?

[@ABdancers]

Chris Lehman Unfortunately I don't know the exact American Bandstand episode date for that color clip but I believe it was sometime during the fall of 1973. Thanks for the comment.

[@gsnman]

@@ABdancers, I got WRAL, WGHP, and WCTI flashbacks from this!

[@darrylh1971]

Will you ever post complete opening credits from a 1973-1974 Action show?

[@ABdancers]

@darrylh1971 Unfortunately I don't have footage of the opening credits for the Action show. Thanks for the comment.

[@DomFalance]

So I can presume by the footage that this was not long before the '74-'78 set debuted?

[@ABdancers]

Dom Falance You're correct. The 1974-78 American Bandstand set would debut about 10 months later after the Charlie Rich song clip that appears in this montage. Thank you for watching the ABdancers channel.

[@wilsonmjw2001]

The 1974-1978 set was actually the Chico and The Man Set.

[@georgemusic4all4seasons]

Curious, why the vids on Sanuskar? Is he okay or did he pass. Who is he?

[@ABdancers]

Cudahy 1960 Thankfully Don Sanuskar is alive and well. If you read the video description and watch the entire montage you will learn more. Thanks for the comment.

[@georgemusic4all4seasons]

ABdancers Great to hear, was just curious and I enjoy watching and sharing your vids. Great form of entertainment!!!!

[@dancerdon9175]

Cudahy 1960 I'm alive and kicking. LOL. It's just that I danced on Bandstand for so many years I guess. I was there when AB was new to L.A. and was lucky enough to continue dancing on the show to see the dawn of the age of disco. ~~ Don

[@mrob75]

as Simple Minds sang: "Alive & Kicking" :---)

[@dancerdon9175]

Touche`

[@DomFalance]

I have a question about the intros used during the '69-'74 era. The earliest ones appear to be quick cuts between the lights and the logos on the doors that covered Dick's podium. The intro displayed here is a montage of still images. Not expecting anyone to remember specific details, but were these the kind of intros used for the whole period, or were there others?

[@ABdancers]

Dom Falance The American Bandstand episode introduction clip that I included in this montage is from the 1973 season. To my knowledge these intros were modified visually during the 1969-74 time period but always contained the Mike Curb theme music. Great question! Thanks for watching the ABdancers channel.

[@gsnman]

I had no idea! I always wondered what the 1969-74 version looked like.

[@willjarmon4418]

I think the montage started in 1970, but for sure know they had the montage by 1971. The story behind it is the doors were stuck and the 2 version of the intro I saw from 1969 and 70 everything bounced off the doors

[@RAYFORDHENDERSON-dc2op]

DON WONT BELIEVE THIS AND I DONT KNOW IF ITS TRUE BUT AN INTERIM DANCER TOLD ME THE JOKE IN 68 WAS THAT THE AB EMBLEM WAS CALLED "DON'S ANUS SKAR"... SEEMS A STRETCH TO ME.