From the annals of manufactured superstardom comes this, er, talent from Philadelphia.
Back in the late 1950s, a guy named Bob Marcucci discovered Frankie Avalon and turned him into a teen pop star. When Avalon's stardom proved to be short-lived, Marcucci went on a search for the next big thing. His search took him to his next-door neighbor, and while the neighbor was having a heart attack (I kid thee not), Marcucci spotted the guy's 14-year-old son. The problem was that this teenage boy had no singing experience and little natural talent, but Marcucci reasoned that the boy had enough good looks and charm to be a teen idol. The boy, wanting to raise money for his family, reluctantly went along.
Fabian, as the boy became known, had a string of top-40 hits (aided in large part by Marcucci's very aggressive marketing) before quitting the gig. While he could not sing very well, he was a natural as an actor, and had a 13-year career in the movies. To this day, Fabian still performs with Avalon and Bobby Rydell under the banner "Dick Fox's Golden Boys." For his part of the act, Fabian tells most of the jokes.
Here's Fabian's "Turn Me Loose."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdaZ7N-W9vw
