Message From Candy Johnson

Dancer Candy Johnson performing with the Exciters.

In recent months I have received emails from a relative of Candy Johnson after this relative had read a blog post I wrote about my remembrances of Candy Johnson from last February 2, 2011.  This relative was kind enough recently to share some of Candy's personal photographs  and memorabilia with me that I could share on my blog.  One can imagine how thrilled I was to receive these precious photos and clippings. Two very special photos of Candy were for me personally, not to be shared on the internet. What a special and treasured gift!  I had always been a fan of the dancer Candy Johnson after seeing her perform in Beach Party with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.  (At the end of this blog  post, please click on my link to read my previous Candy Johnson blog post)  Candy's niece wanted Candy's fans to know she  "is really flattered that people still remember her aunt and wants to thank them all for keeping that era alive and her contribrution to it."


For those fans wondering what happened to her, she would just like to say after her career ended, her life did not. She has enjoyed living a quiet but fulfilling life enjoying the things she loves and being with her family.  She never remarried after Red her manager but has many friends with whom she spends her time. She still loves to dance, although at her age she doesn't twist anymore but loves a good slow dance every now and then.






Candy celebrating 400 hours of dancing at the
El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs.



A smiling and dancing Candy with the Exciters.  Could
she ever WoW a crowd!



A magazine article about Candy performing
in Muscle Beach Party, 1964.





Thanks again to the niece who graciously sent me the photographs and other memorabilia of her aunt.  Candy's niece also has this message for me to share with all the Candy Johnson fans:



Thanks for keeping my aunt alive in your blogs, she got a raw deal in life and when I told her about you and all her other fans she was absolutely thrilled. So Thank You and your other bloggers, you can pass that along.

A detail from the above magazine article.  What a description of Candy,
the writer referring to her as this "Phenomenon of the Century".

Candy started taking tap dancing lessons
while in high school.

Candy giving an up close dancing demonstration.
One-of-a-kind, I can't imagine anyone else
being able to dance like Candy.

Candy performing with the Exciters on Halloween 1963.



Candy between takes of filming
on the set of one of the beach movies.
Notice the onlookers in the background.



Here is my favorite YouTube of Candy dancing.  Crank up

the sound and get ready to smile.

Please take a moment to see my original blog post posted last February, 2011, by clicking on the link below.  In it I shared

some remembrances of Candy Johnson:

http://cindyellison.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-are-you-candy-johnson.html

I like what "Drew" said in the comments on my previous Candy Johnson post:  "If you are not grinning from ear to ear after watching Candy dance, my friend ... something inside you is broken.

I could not agree more, Drew!

♥ We all love you, Candy Johnson! ♥

Where are you Candy Johnson?

Candy Johnson




Where I first discovered Candy Johnson,
The Perpetual Motion Dancer

 


While a Statewide Power Emergency has been declared in the state of Texas and our electricity goes out for 15 minutes or more every couple of hours due to blizzard like conditions, my thoughts are not turning to spring time but to summer ... hot summers!


I feel like I need to ask for some patience as I indulge in a fantasy of my youthful days.  I have had the old beach party movies on my mind recently.  Beach Party (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, Muscle Beach Party (1964),  Beach Blanket Bingo and the list continues.  I loved these movies when I was in my pre-teen and teenage years.  I did not identify so much with Annette, she usually sat on the beach without a hair getting out of place and wore that boring one piece swimsuit.  I daydreamed of being one of those carefree girls with long blonde hair that surfed and danced on the beach all day.


In the 1960s, most people were not as concerned about skin damage from the sun.  A tan was considered healthy looking and QT or Quick Tan was introduced to give one an instant tan. ha!  Remember those orange ankles, knees and palms of hands? You had to have a tan to be "in" with this beach crowd!

To this day I love the smell of Coopertone products.

After making this photo, I had to open a bottle for a whiff of that summer scent.



Younger looking skin tomorrow?  I don't think so!



Also for my California surfer fantasy, there were products for lightening hair.  Who remembers products such as Sun In?  I would try every new product that came out.  They didn't show the brassy stage on brown hair in the ad.

Back to the beach movies of the 1960s, there were so many unforgettable characters such as Eric Von Zipper and I was always fond of Beach Blanket Bingo that involved a story about a mermaid named Lorelei.  Remember Eric Von Zipper, he was the leader of the motorcycle gang that wore black leather? :-)



Jerry Van Dyke was in Muscle Beach Party.  I had an unexpected surprise of seeing
Jerry make an appearance at the Clay Cooper Theatre in Branson,  November 2010,
when Clint and I were there.  He was promoting his appearance
in The Sunshine Boys.  Funny as ever!



As a teenager, I loved the water and the sun and daydreaming about

being on the California coast!

The most unforgetable character in the movies was Candy Johnson. I learned her name early on, I can remember sitting there until the credits stopped rolling so I could find out her name. Until recently, I had not been able to find out much about her. I did learn she was born on Febuary 8, 1944.  An early Happy Birthday greeting, Candy ♥ There was no way I could even begin to attempt to dance like her.  The closest I could come to being a go go dancer was being on a local teen dance show in 1967 in Knoxville, Tennessee.  It was called Disco Teen, hosted by Al Adams.  It was fun and made me feel like a "star".  For a few hours, anyway!

Love these fringed dresses, just like Candy wore! Every time I would

see a fringed dress like these above, I would be reminded of Candy.

No, I didn't wear such attire on the local dance program

but being there still made me feel like I was a real go go dancer!

Now ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Candy Johnson ...

                  


While searching for information about Candy Johnson's whereabouts, I could not find much information.  I did find a website for a Candy Johnson that was "under construction".  There is one rumor about Candy being a choreographer in Branson, Missouri.  I feel this is truly only a rumor, no one could dance like Candy Johnson and one thing for sure, her style could not be taught!  You have it or you don't.


So much for my winter day fantasy of beach party movies and Candy Johnson.  Decades have passed and I  live far from the beach but in my little back "yard" I can still dream of being at the ocean with Annette, Frankie and friends ... having a ball dancing, surfing and watching Candy dance!