Posted 5:39 PM by Gene

Al Alberts led The Four Aces, a Philly "neighborhood" close-harmony group that made the big time singing mostly big sentimental ballads (and as the pop-cult know-it-all Will Friedwald insists, flat). But then came the doowop they led in and the rock 'n' roll juggernaut, and they were finished -- but not Al; for several decades he emceed a local talent show called Al Alberts Showcase, introducing Teddy Pendergrass and Andrea McArdle (the original Annie, now known only in Branson East's precincts), and thousands and thousands of young flat singers, and young female dance groups in too-tight tutus -- seeing them was truly an education -- and those beaming parents, ready to say "You were wonderful!" as though on some intergalactic cue; and above and beyond all the Teenieboppers, the three-year-olds dressed in formal wear as though bound and gagged, telling him stupid jokes mostly in a heavy grimace, as though they knew better, but not Al. For me the show became as watchable as C-SPAN; but his very loyal fans could count on his tunes and his heavy-duty toupee until his retirement eight years ago. As a ghetto with social pretensions our city can't turn out the talent that can make life livable any more, and this as much as the show-biz' ossification has made future Al Albertses impossible. One could celebrate it; it is far worthier to regret it.