By Alyce Wilson
(Standard-Journal,
Aug. 8, 1998)
Picked up by The Associated Press

LAURELTON -- "Keep rockin' and rollin'. It's definitely here to stay," Joe Terry told an overflow crowd at the Union County West End Fair Wednesday evening. And he should know.

He's been in the rock business since 1957. Terry and Frank Maffei were original members of Danny and the Juniors, the group that gave the world such classics as "At the Hop," "Twisting U.S.A.," "Pony Express," and "Rock 'n' Roll is Here to Stay." Turns out they were right.

Not only is rock here to stay, but Danny and the Juniors are still touring, now featuring Joe Terry. Danny Rapp died in 1983.

Dave White, the other original member, was in choir in school, while Terry sang in the church choir and played the trumpet. The four teens brought a record called "Do the Bop" to Dick Clark, whose American Bandstand was still a local television show.

While Clark liked the song, he suggested they change it to "At the Hop," since the dance step "the bop" could soon go out of fashion.

Two weeks before their song aired, American Bandstand went national, and Danny and the Juniors found themselves propelled into stardom.

When their record was sold to ABC/Paramount, the price of $5,000 was the highest ever.

"It's a wild ride. Being so young, it became overwhelming," Terry said.

Overall, the group made 50 appearances on Bandstand, which was filmed in their home town of Philadelphia. They made concert appearances all over the nation.

But in the early Sixties, all that changed. "By 1963, the Beatles came in," Terry said. Record producers urged them to become more like the British Invasion acts, but the group refused.

By 1969, a revival of interest in 1950s rock 'n' roll saw Danny and the Juniors appearing in Madison Square Garden.

Their records never stopped selling. "At the Hop" is the number 23 selling record of all time. The group sells at least one million records a year.

Terry and Maffei tour with new member Johnny Petillo, doing 110 dates a year, or 40 weeks total. This year they're scheduled for Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Florida, among other places.

Their career, Terry says, has found a comfortable middle ground after their soaring stardom and their disappointment in the Sixties. "We're happy to be here till we retire," Terry said, adding, "I don't think we'll ever retire."

Nowadays, the group attracts everyone from 9-year-olds to 90-year-olds. "We're sort of now middle America," he said.

But rock 'n' roll wasn't always viewed that way.

"In the beginning," Terry said, "the loud drumbeat and the fact that it was a black oriented music" scared many people.

Early rock 'n' roll songs often were like swing with a louder beat, Terry said. He points out that "At the Hop" has a swing beat, swing bass and rock 'n' roll piano.

Other early rock favorites like "Sha-Boom," "Teenager in Love" and "Reelin' and Rockin'" share the same characteristics, he said.

Terry, Maffei and the other original members had listened to swing music in clubs. Rock 'n' roll began, in part, when Big Band groups like Louis Prima broke up into smaller combos.

The recent resurgence of swing seems natural to Terry. He said the trend began as "bachelor" music, with guys taking their dates to places that played early Fifties music. From popularity on the West Coast, it spread to the rest of the nation.

Danny and the Juniors never stopped playing music influenced by swing.

"There's a lot of stuff we do that's very lounge-y," Terry said.

The band is currently working on a new album of swing music called "Lounge Lizards." It's due out in September or October.

They are currently on a CD called "The Originators of Rock 'n' Roll," dedicated to a non-violent America. The CD features a new song called "Together You and I," which is sort of like a modern "We Are the World," Terry said. Singing the song are such acts as The Platters, Bobby Rydell, The Coasters, The Drifters, and Gary U.S. Bonds.

Terry is featured in a new book by Rebecca Price Janey called "Great American Stories," about how religion affected famous Americans. Among the other featured personalities are Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin.

"I have no clue why I'm in this book," Terry joked. He added, however, that religion has played a key role in his life.

"When you find it, you can actually count on it. It pulls you through," he said.

The group is also working on an album of "beach music," not to be confused with the Beach Boys. Terry explained that beach music hearkens back to "real rhythm and blues and early rock 'n' roll." A beach music festival is held every May at Myrtle Beach.

Another major project of Terry's is political. He has been working with Congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., to propose new copyright legislation. Many groups, he said, including some from the Fifties, now splinter off into "franchises," with more than one act touring as the original group.

This, he feels, is unfair to the concert-goer. He would like to see Congress enforce more truth in advertising regarding musical acts.

This is why his group tours as "Danny and the Juniors, featuring Joe Terry." This follows the practice of the Big Bands, who keep the name of the original leader, but mention the current leader in their name.

In the future, Terry may write a book about his experience in rock 'n' roll. "It's an amazing ride," he said.