10: The Sinatra Kids

On January 19th, 1945, hundreds of Sinatra-haters violently descended on a small group of young fans who had come to see STEP LIVELY (1944) at the Empire Theatre in Sydney, Australia. The angry mob jeered and assaulted members of the Sinatra Club, bitterly deriding them as “swooners." Police broke things up, but the haters stayed to boo throughout the screening then stalk fans through the streets as they headed home. This terrifying incident was the result of months of anti-Sinatra resentment boiling over in Australian society. In response, photographer Ivan Ives decided to give the Sinatra Club a chance, and set out - in a series of remarkably beautiful candid shots, only recently unearthed - to show the world who they really were.

Meanwhile, the Step Lively brawl had sparked a national controversy that culminated in a near-riot of thousands in Melbourne four months later. And by 1947, ‘Sinatra clubs’ had become a national phenomenon that seemed to bring the best and worst out of the nation’s youth - everything from tranquil listening parties and camping trips to gang violence, a vengeful home invasion and even an illegal attempt to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Through it all, there was the Voice; for these kids, Sinatra was their whole world.

These surreal events were all but completely forgotten with time and have never been reported on since they occurred. Until now.

Photo gallery for this episode: https://archive.org/details/sinatra-kids-gallery

Special thanks to Trove, the National Library of Australia, the Mitchell Library, and the State Library of New South Wales, courtesy of ACP Magazines Ltd.

Sinatra Club members included: Shirley Gormley, Tess Rix, Audrey Gurd, Leslie "Digger" Williamson or Les Williamson, Terry Ryan, Arthur Stevens, Beryl Atherton, Mari Dryden, Marion McKenzie and Shirley Ryan - and in Melbourne, Oliver Gilpin and Norm Kirkwood.

Since the recording of this episode, we've learned that there was no "Edward J. Dorogokleepetz"; his actual name was Alexander Ivanovich Dorogokupetz. J.P. Robinson has written an extensive article on him here: https://flashbak.com/the-teenager-who-egged-frank-sinatra-and-the-bobby-sox-riot-new-york-city-1944-433028/ 

If you can shed any more light on any of this, we'd love to hear from you.

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