Ron Hargrave

Ron Hargrave has never registered as a familiar figure, even to dedicated followers of rock and roll lore, yet brief encounters with major cultural vehicles briefly positioned him near the threshold of wider recognition. Born in New York to vaudeville performers, he relocated with his family to California in 1936; after finishing high school, he aimed for work in motion pictures. The opening years of the 1950s found him handling small-scale stunt assignments and minor roles in inexpensive films until conscription intervened. During his military service he met Lou Costello of Abbott & Costello, who took on management duties for the young performer. Once discharged, Hargrave landed his largest screen part as Ernie the hipster in Dance With Me Henry, Abbott & Costello’s last picture. The role cast him as a comedic embodiment of the male rock and roller then emerging in public consciousness. On screen he played a teenage seducer pursuing Gigi Perreau’s foster-daughter character, a figure constantly strumming a ukulele and singing rock numbers. In one memorable exchange Costello, playing the irritated guardian, orders him to drop the “oogley doogly,” prompting Hargrave’s reply, “That’s bop man -- bop!”; Costello retorts, “You’re gonna get bopped!” The film’s title came from a Georgia Gibbs single itself a sanitized adaptation of Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me Annie,” and the appearance marked Hargrave’s most conspicuous film credit. Alongside Ronnie Burns, who portrayed Wallace the hipster in the Honeymooners roller-skating episode, he became one of the clearest early pop-culture images of a youthful rock adherent just as the style gained momentum. At Costello’s urging, producer Jesse Kaye placed Hargrave under contract at MGM Records, where he recorded six singles; none charted, though several delivered convincing rockabilly. “Latch On,” “Drive In Movie,” and “Buttercup,” each carrying Hargrave’s writing or co-writing credit, later appeared on Bear Family Records’ That’ll Flat Git It series. Hargrave revealed himself a capable vocalist situated stylistically between Jerry Lee Lewis and Ricky Nelson and equipped with a comedic sensibility recalling J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson. His next notable cultural footprint arrived through songwriting: early in 1958, via MGM connections, he supplied the title theme for High School Confidential, then filming on the studio lot. A managerial arrangement awarded co-writing credit to Jerry Lee Lewis, who recorded the song for both single and soundtrack and performed it on camera. The track became Lewis’ final rock and roll hit before his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin halted his momentum. Hargrave toured with Lewis that same year prior to the downturn. The composition and the film have nevertheless remained enduring cultural references, and the opening sequence of Lewis miming to the number stands among the most familiar rock performance excerpts preserved from 1950s cinema. Hargrave later moved to Capitol Records and, ten years after High School Confidential, scored a hit in Japan with “Lonely Soldier Boy.”