Sicilian Culture: The News: Former Teen Idol Fabian At Annual Italian Pittsburgh Summerfest

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Former Teen Idol Fabian At Annual Italian Pittsburgh Summerfest
By Scott Mervis, Weekend Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Friday, August 31, 2001 - - When industry people warn that today's teen pop stars can expect to have about three good years on top, they're using a model that goes all the way back to the '50s.
Fabian Anthony Forte -- who really only needs one name: Fabian -- was one of those three-year teen idols, starting his recording career in 1958 when he was 14 and wrapping it up at 17.
"The record business is the least part of my career," says Fabian, who performs tomorrow at the Pittsburgh Italian Festival, "and that's what people remember me for."
In fact, when he goes to the Giant Eagle near Connellsville, where he's settled with his wife Andrea, it's not unusual for the ladies at the bakery counter to break into "Turn Me Loose."
That was his signature song and first Top 10 hit in 1959, when, in the wake of Elvis and Little Richard, he was thrust on the pop scene with two other Philly natives, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell, as squeaky-clean alternatives.
Fabian had no intention of being a teen idol -- and no real talent -- when he was discovered on his stoop at the very moment his father was being taken away in an ambulance with a massive heart attack.
"This guy drove by," Fabian says. "He had a friend who lived right next door. He thought it was his friend who was in trouble. He was one of the owners of Chancellor Records. Guys like Rick Nelson were making it, Elvis Presley, the GREAT Presley. He turned to me and said, 'Are you interested in being in the rock 'n' roll business?' I told him to go to hell."
"Two months later, my dad was home but incapacitated and the disability check was only $45 a week. So this guy came back, asked me again. I said, 'I need to help my family out.' I was 14 1/2, the oldest son. I said, 'If I can make some money, I can give it a try.'"
With voice lessons, tight pants and white bucks, Fabian was groomed to be a pop star and sent out to the Dick Clark sock hop, where the girls screamed when he lip-synched "I'm a Man," his third single. "Turn Me Loose," another song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, put him on "The Ed Sullivan Show," where he was spotted by 20th Century Fox and signed to a seven-year movie contract.
His screen debut was 1959's "Hound Dog Man," also the title of another hit single. By March of 1960, his recording career had run its course. Fabian broke his record contract, he says, because "I wanted to get away from these really possessive people." It didn't help that his name had come up during the payola scandal as an example of someone who benefited from the illegal pay-for-play practice.
"They were trying to use me as an example to get people like Dick Clark, but they never got Dick Clark. They got Alan [Freed], which was a shame, because he wasn't doing anything anyone else wasn't doing."
At the time, Fabian was only a teen-ager, so he had no idea what was behind the pop-star machinery. "It was considered normal business practice. I don't believe my managers did it for me. They did it for like an overall record company situation. And if they did it, they were forced into it because other people were doing it."
Fabian didn't have the kind of movie success Elvis or Frankie Avalon did, but he did star with John Wayne in "North to Alaska," with Bing Crosby in "High Time" and Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation." In all, he's appeared in more than 20 films and made some memorable appearances in episodes of "Laverne & Shirley" and "Murphy Brown."
Though he gave up the recording career 40 years ago, he hasn't stopped performing. He travels the country with "Fabian's Goodtime Rock 'n' Roll Show," featuring acts from the '50s and '60s, and as the Golden Boys with Avalon and Rydell. In January, he will receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Although he can still play to screaming (older) fans, he enjoys the quiet life he leads in Dunbar, hometown of his wife and manager Andrea Patrick Forte, a former Miss Pennsylvania and Miss West Virginia.
They have 20 acres and a fishing pond and he says, "The people are really nice. The way I dress around here, I wouldn't recognize myself. I'm always on my ATV in work clothes. And my tomatoes turned out very good this year. I'm very proud of that. I never grew tomatoes before."
Meanwhile, as he's busy growing tomatoes and jetting off to Vegas or Atlantic City, the 58-year-old Fabian sees a new generation of teen idols currently ruling the pop charts.
"I wish them well ... because at such a young age, a lot of things can happen to your mind," he says. "Hopefully they have some good advisers around them. And I hate to be corny, but I hope they have some good family. That's what I wish for them, because I know it's hard. Especially when things go south, a lot of guys don't make it. When I see Britney Spears and 'N Sync, I'm pulling for them. They certainly don't need any money, but I'm still pulling for them emotionally."
In Pittsburgh , PA Festival hours are noon to 11 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets are $8; $3 for kids 3 to 12. Call 412-323-1919.
Turn him loose: Fabian, now living in Fayette, comes up for the Italian Festival
www.post-gazette.com/ae/20010831fabian0831fnp4.asp

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