R.I.P. Bobby Rydell

[Mister Tee]

It marks one an old fart to even notice this. If Rydell survives in memory for anyone under 70, it's as Hugo in the Bye Bye Birdie movie, or the name of the high school in Grease.

But Bobby Rydell was a Billboard star in my grade school years -- as the Times obit notes without spelling it out, he was the kind of dreariness American pop music was reduced to in the years between Elvis' getting drafted and the arrival of the Beatles: "nice boys" your mother would approve of, singing about teenage love. The best thing about Rydell is, he seemed to understand that, and never pretended to be more.

And, to be confessional, I've always kind of liked "Forget Him". So, bon voyage, Bobby.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/arts ... -dead.html