Al Isaacs

In October 1967, articles and ads began appearing across the country announcing that New York based songwriter/musician/orchestra leader Sidney (His name was alternately shortened in articles to “Syd” or “Sid.” According to his son Eric, he preferred “Sid.”) Bass was planning on having what the newspapers excitedly referred to as a “Rock ’n’ Roll Miss America Pageant” to be held the following year. They were looking for “youthful musical talent” with “go-go looks.” You know, “Go-go looks.” Okay, I don’t know what that is, either, but I think we can surmise that it meant “attractive.” Just one example from the Pennsylvania Standard-Speaker on December 27, 1967 I almost missed the big announcement completely in the October 8th Evansville Press on Page 87, as the story came right after the news that Ken Berry might replace Andy Griffith as the lead on television’s The Andy Griffith Show, and I was stuck wondering why that wouldn’t make it The Ken Berry Show if Andy was out. My brain does that, and believe me, I am none the better for it. As The Glens Falls Times put it in February 1968, Sound of Youth was “the first national program to coordinate the interests of government, labor and industry with those of the entertainment world through such a constructive recreational activity of American Youth.” If that doesn’t scream “rock and roll,” I don’t know what does. Some papers went so far as to put a potential cure for the common “juvenile delinquent” spin on the competition. The January 7, 1968 edition of The Daily Breeze in Torrance, California was hoping that this contest would “substitute the enthusiasm of a rock ’n’ roll vocal group for the desire to throw rocks at school windows.” Yes, the newspaper folks probably should have flipped that sentence, but you get the gist of their views on the young people of the day. Sid Bass was a 45-year-old songwriter and orchestra leader from New York who had some showbiz success. Don’t confuse him with the Texas billionaire investor also named Sid Bass. Our Sid was first accompanying acts like Desi Arnez and Della Reese in the mid-50s, then arranging credits a few years later for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ hits “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” He received a Grammy award nomination for his arrangement of Gale Garnett’s “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” in 1964, losing out to Barbara Streisand’s “People.” Baseball fans in New York hear his music every time “Here Come the Yankees” is played before each New York Yankee radio broadcast. Now he was looking for financial backers to run this nationwide talent search he was calling Sound of Youth. Mr. Bass was about to bring his competition to the airwaves 37 years before Simon Cowell ever donned a black T-shirt on American Idol. First were the local shows held in over 100 cities. In Michigan alone thirteen contests were held, each with a sponsorship from a chapter of the Jaycees, also known as the United States Junior Chamber. The organization helped young adults develop leadership skills through community service, individual training, management skills, and business development. Graduates included Presidents, Senators, Hall of Fame athletes, and even Elvis. Before girls were allowed to join in 1984, the Jaycees had more than 300,000 members. Judges for the preliminary rounds of Sound of Youth included Sid Bass, the head of the local Jaycees chapter, a representative from Kapp Records, and usually the mayor of the town where the contestants competed. They divided the categories into group for bands of five or fewer, male vocalist, and female vocalist. Participants competed at local and state levels before a final televised round, where one winner was crowned. Very Idol-esque. Sid had big hopes for Sound of Youth. He changed the name to Sound of Youth, U.S.A., with visions of taking the competition international. He is quoted as saying, “Music knows no boundaries, and young people all over the world are creating and singing their own music. It is an international language and can create good-will amongst young people all over the world.” A big step in that direction was partnering with Alexander Cantwell (remember that name for later), producer of The Miss America Pageant to handle the televised finals, giving a new level of credibility and experience to the team. Originally scheduled to be held in Miami Beach, the finals with the top contestants in each category was taped live on August 5 - 6, 1968 in a New York television studio, hosted by the legendary Duke Ellington. Judges that night included singer Tommy James (without The Shondells), saxophonist King Curtis, Gary Loizzo, the lead singer from American Breed, as well as Father Norman O’Connor, “The Jazz Priest.” The Sound of Youth, U.S.A. finals aired nationwide on November 16, 1968. Alas, young Sid’s lofty plan for global conquest was not to be. Bass couldn’t get sponsors for a year two series, so 1968 marked the one and only airing and the end of Sound of Youth. Why do I bring all of this to your attention? Sid Bass passed away in June 1993 at the age of 80. And while his obituary in Brattleboro, Vermont’s newspaper talked about his work at RCA, his many orchestrations, and how Sid arranged the songs of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, including his 1966 patriotic hit “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” the obituary did not mention the Sound of Youth contest. Nor did it mention how the grand prize winner of the only national Sound of Youth competition ever held was a very talented 18-year-old girl from Flint, Michigan named Mary Ellen Smith.