IT’S A STYLE THAT’S SUCCEEDED FAMOUSLY : For Los Amigos Coach Hooks, Life Remains a Lively Dance

Hey kids, are you ready, can you stand the coach with most? That coo-coo cat who, if he’s nothing else, is Famous?

He’s funky, he’s hip, he’s tooooo hip. The undisputed, unrestrained King of Coaching Cool.

He once bopped on The Bandstand, now he boogies on the basketball court. That’s right, he’s hot. Which is to say, he’s cool. Put a bullet by this guy’s name and, Oh Daddy, what a name! Got a great beat and it’s easy to dance to.

You know him, you love him, you can’t live without him. Los Amigos High School’s pride and joy, Ladies and Gentleman, This Is . . . Famous Hooks!

. . . Whaddya mean you never heard of him?

You never watched “American Bandstand”? “Shebang”? “Lloyd Thaxton’s Dance Party”? “Ninth Street West”?

Oh, Famous used to cut it up one side and down the other on those shows. For eight years, he danced his way into the hearts of countless boppin’ teens who wanted to A) meet Famous, B) be like Famous, C) be Famous.

That all ended in the mid-’70s, a lot of stuff did. Famous coaches basketball these days at Los Amigos. Wanna know something? The dude is still groovin’.

Still moving, still smiling that Famous smile--got a lot of letters on that one. He still approaches life like one long peppermint twist. And everything is still working out for Famous, as it always has.

Why, early in his first season at Los Amigos, Famous has led the Lobos to a 5-3 record. That may not get them in the Top 10, but dig, with two more victories the Lobos will equal their total number of last season.

It’s always been that way for Famous. Dance and he shall receive, smile and it will be opened up to him.

It worked that way when he got on “American Bandstand” at the age of 12--he told them he was 16 and they bought it.

It worked that way when as a quarterback he led the Los Angeles High School football team to two City Championship games.

It’s worked that way since he got into coaching. He’s won varsity league titles in swimming and water polo, and lower-division league titles in basketball.

To ask Famous about all this is to get no real answer except for a wide-open, all-teeth-bared smile, that says something about his attitude, or lack of it.

Famous Hooks is one part Dick Vitale, one part Chubby Checker and one part Pee Wee Herman.

Famous can talk. Oh, can he talk. Excited, animated, his words jump out of his mouth, grab you by the collar and demand your attention.

And yet he doesn’t talk a person down, a well-known dialect in coaching. Famous can dance. Anyone who saw any of the aforementioned shows will attest to that. So will the 250 pieces of mail Famous was receiving every month at the peak of his popularity.

And Famous can take pleasure in the smallest matters, can make the most mundane of activities seem all-important and worthy of full energy.

“I’m an enthusiastic person by nature,” he said. “My team takes after that. If they see me veg-out, they’re going to play that way. I have to stay up for them. Actually, that’s not too hard.”

Perhaps that’s why he finds kids hanging around at his English classroom door at all hours.

“I think they come by sometimes to just look at me.”

Famous puts his hands over his face, parts them just a bit, mugs pure embarrassment and horror, and continues on with the story.

“So my mother says, ‘My son has been trying to get on “American Bandstand” for weeks and he’s been getting nowhere,’ ” Famous says in a high voice. “The she says, ‘I want to talk to that Dick Clark.’ I just went, ‘Omigod, I’m dead.’ ”

Famous’ mother, Arthurene, never did get through to Dick Clark, but she did talk to a production assistant who got Famous on the show.

“You have a very dynamic mother,” the production assistant told Famous.

Famous just said: “I know.”

It was Arthurene who sewed the polka-dot shirt that became Famous’ trademark on the dance shows.

“Pretty soon everybody wanted one because I was wearing one,” he said.

Remember, everyone wanted what this 12-year-old, who happened to be tall (5-10) for his age, was wearing.

By the time he was 16, he was hitting his full popularity stride.

The letters rolled in: Famous, you are a babe and a half .

Famous, you’ve got a cute smile .

I want to be just like you, Famous .

Famous, you’re bitchin’.

Dancing, playing football and basketball at Los Angeles High, and still getting good grades.

In the business, and by the business, of course, we mean the industry, Famous was said to have the P-BS-I, the Perfect Bandstand Image.

“That’s just the way I was,” he said. Then he grinned. “It’s just the way I am.”

Not that All-American kids are flawless. Famous’ two-week stint as a water polo player was cut short when he belted an opponent in the mouth.

“The guy tore my Speedos,” he said.

Well, there are boundaries of decency.

But scattered scenes of aqua-brawling aside, Famous is pretty much a model citizen.

He graduated two years early from high school. He was a cheerleader at Cal State Long Beach, and, of course, was president of his fraternity pledge class.

The principal who hired Famous at Los Amigos said it was the best thing he ever did.

“I know I have a unique way of approaching things,” Famous said. “I know some people, some coaches, may think it’s strange. But I don’t apologize for any of it.”

Why should the man? Perhaps a few coaches should take notes. When Famous took over the Los Amigos program he set about to meet every kid, at each level.

“I wanted to know all about them,” he said. “It can be tougher, takes a lot more of your time, but I think the rewards are there.”

Scratch coaches, insert people.

For a guy who bares his soul the way Famous does, there are still some mysteries about him.

Where does he get all the energy? Is there a dark side, an In-Famous?

Why is he successful at everything he does? Has he ever failed?

Answers to all of those seem just as cloudy to Famous as anyone else.

But at least there is one thing to take solace in. It is that a man such as Famous Hooks is around and doing well. That a guy who still says “neat,” when he means good, can not only survive but conquer.

“I hate to lose at anything,” he said, smiling, of course. “But I’m not going to die. I mean to win at everything would be neat, but I’d rather be happy. But, then I guess I’m always that.”