Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 In my last few visits to DL I haven't seen my favorite Dapper Dan, Shelby. Anyone have any information on him??
Originally Posted By friendofdd Shelby hasn't sung with the Dapper Dans since they created the new group a couple of years ago. The last time I saw him, he was leading a special tour. I told him it was good to seem him and we missed his performances. He was cordial, but couldn't say much in front of his tour group. That has been a few months though.
Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 That's for the update, Fodd! I am glad I got my picture taken with him in 2005 then!
Originally Posted By DlandDug You will find other former Dans performing around the Park. The last I heard, Shelby was working backstage with Entertainment. There is a very nice tribute site for the Dapper Dans here: <a href="http://www.harmonize.com/DapperDans/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.harmonize.com/Dappe...ndex.htm</a> (Please note it hasn't been updated to reflect the new lineup.)
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins I noticed he was the only one left of the original group I knew, a couple years ago. I chalked the change up to progress but really missed the close harmony of the pre-existing group. I guess Disneyland thought we wouldn't notice the change in personnel, but I did.
Originally Posted By friendofdd Actually, Mary Poppins, there was a lot of discussion about the change when word got out. They just disbanded the group, announced auditions for a new group with the same name and told the old group they could audition. I believe they did, but none were rehired. Disney has a reputation for replacing long term musicians with new people. The new hires don't get paid as much as the long termers. It really is just we Disney nuts who object, however. The average guest enjoys the music and doesn't really care who the individuals are.
Originally Posted By ificandreamagain We were big fans of the old Dapper Dans ourselves and were extremely disappointed when Disneyland broke up the old group. But we've found a nice substitute in the Perfect Gentlemen, which has Jim Campbell (who is occasionally with the new group nowadays), Tim Reeder and Dan Jordan, all of whom performed with the old Dans at one time or another. And the Perfect Gentlemen do many of the old Dans songs and routines. Their website is at <a href="http://www.theperfectgentlemen.us/" target="_blank">http://www.theperfectgentlemen.us/</a>. And no, I'm not affiliated with them. My wife and I just saw them last week here in Northern California. They also played at the Alameda County Fair this year and we made two trips just to see them. It was well worth it.
Originally Posted By ificandreamagain I forgot to mention Bill is a regular member of the Bootstrappers, who perform on Tom Sawyer's Island. We saw Tim with them there once, too.
Originally Posted By SBSBelle22 I miss the old ones too, but I don't think the new guys are bad. They were really nice to us and very talented. I mean eventually you'd have to get new people in there... though I think Disney should have let them retire whenever they wanted-not just disbanded the group but whatev... We just saw the new guys at the beginning of Oct. If you want to here them I posted videos on my youtube. Here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j4cez1ntZ4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...cez1ntZ4</a> and Here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP5IMWmmj7k&NR=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...j7k&NR=1</a> They were really nice. They saw me and my friend singing along and asked us to come up after they were done and thanked us for watching and enjoying the music.
