Bobby Rydell--He Kept Singing

Between 1959 and 1965, Bobby Rydell charted 30 singles, half a dozen of them inside Billboard’s Top 10. He was one of several teen idols record executives hurriedly signed after Elvis Presley went into the Army in 1958 trying to take advantage of the King’s absence.

Two others were Fabian and Frankie Avalon, with whom Rydell, 59, has been touring intermittently for 13 years as “The Golden Boys.” Their show stops next in San Dimas on Sunday.

Unlike many of his post-Elvis, pre-Beatles peers, Rydell had a legitimate musical background, including several years of vocal training. He started playing drums when he was barely 5, was a regular on bandleader Paul Whiteman’s amateur TV show from 1951-54 and played in a mid-’50s band that included Avalon--not as a singer, but as a trumpet player.

Last year, the lifelong Philadelphia resident and grandfather of two released “Now and Then,” an album mixing new recordings of such pop standards as “Bewitched,” “The Song Is You” and “A Fine Romance” with his early ‘60s hits, including “Wild One,” “Volare” and “Kissin’ Time.” Capitol Records has just released “The Complete Bobby Rydell,” including 25 tracks he recorded for that label from 1964-67.

Question: The early ‘60s are frequently dismissed by music historians as a weak link between the ‘50s, when rock ‘n’ roll was born, and the mid-’60s, when it really began to mature. How did you see it at the time?

Answer: I was very, very young. I just went into the recording studio and did what they told me to do. We recorded the songs, I didn’t know if anything would be a hit. We just went in and recorded.

Q: Many performers from that era simply disappeared after the British invasion and Bob Dylan came along and revolutionized pop music. How did that affect your career?

A: In 1964 I had my last hit record, “Forget Him” [which peaked at No. 4]. That was my last million seller. Then all of a sudden came the British invasion and my recording career pretty much went downhill after that. . . . I’m not trying to blow my horn, but I guess my talent was able to keep me working. . . . In this career you have hills, peaks and valleys, but I’ve been lucky enough to sustain.

Q. And you never had to give up music?

A: Ever since 1959, when I had my first hit [“Kissin’ Time”], I’ve been very, very fortunate in this business. To this day I still love what I’m doing. Now I work about eight months out of the year, in Vegas, Atlantic City, some corporate dates and other things I do on my own. The thing that gets tiring is all the traveling.

Q. You still play drums, too, right?

A: When I’m home, if I have time, we have a place here in Philadelphia called the Clef Club, and we have a 17-piece band that gets together on Monday nights. We play charts by people like Sammy Nestico, Bob Florence, Rob McConnell and it’s wonderful. That’s just a kick for me. I love to sing, but I love to play even more.

Q: You obviously love jazz and the Great American Songbook. Does that carry over into what you most enjoy--singing?

A: Oh, yeah. I recently got to do something that was one of the biggest thrills of my life: working with Peter Nero at the Academy of Music [in Philadelphia] with an 80-piece orchestra, doing some of the tunes from “Now and Then,” like “Bewitched,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Close Your Eyes”. . . . If I had my druthers, that’s the thing I’d really love to do all the time.

Q: Whose idea was it for you to do “Volare” just two years after Domenico Modugno had a No. 1 hit with it in 1958? Dean Martin and the McGuire Sisters couldn’t break the Top 10 with subsequent versions, but yours made it up to No. 4.

A: My mom came up with the idea. She told me “You ought to release ‘Volare.’ ” So I went back to the powers that be [at Cameo Records] and said “My mom thinks it’s going to be a hit.” When we recorded the song in New York City, we didn’t have the three girls singing the backup parts, so they put the girls on and as luck would have it, it proved to be my second million seller.

Q: Do you keep tabs on the boy bands that are all the rage these days, much the equivalent of the teen idols you, Frankie and Fabian were 40 years ago?

A: I have no clue [he lets out a big laugh]. I don’t really listen to [current] music. When I’m in the car, I listen to sports-talk radio. I’m a huge sports fan. I’ve had season tickets for the Philadelphia Eagles for 36-37 years. I love the Phillies, and the 76ers are having a great year. When I’m home, I’ll put on something by [bandleader-composer] Rob McConnell or [vibraphonist] Terry Gibbs or Mr. Sinatra.

Q: What’s the gutsiest thing you ever did as a musician?

A: I remember when we were recording “You Gotta Enjoy Joy”--a song I recorded for Capitol that was written by Milton Berle!--and [former Duke Ellington drummer] Louie Bellson was playing. Louie was so cool. Being a drummer myself, I went over and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Bellson, can you play this just on a closed hi-hat [cymbal]?” I’m telling Louie Bellson how to play drums! But you know what? He said “Bobby, if that’s what you want, you got it.”

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* The Golden Boys--Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Fabian--play Sunday at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, 120 Via Verde Road, San Dimas. With Freddy Cannon, Johnny Otis, Edd Byrnes and Huggy Boy. Noon to 7 p.m. $12. (909) 599-8411.