Dick Clark, the "perpetual teenager" died today at age 82. Although shocking, I've been expecting this news since DC had his strokes a few years back; hopefully he's at Peace now.
Like perhaps 3 generations of others, I grew up with American Bandstand, and watched it faithfully into my mid-teen years. Once I started performing publicly myself though, I gradually weaned off it, telling myself that perhaps one day I'd hit that stage in my own right, which obviously never happened. Sobering indeed to realize I have clear memories of Elton John, Alice Cooper, the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, and Kiss, among many others when they were all prime "AB" candidates, instead of staples of "classic rock" like they are today.
AB pretty much encompassed all three great rock explosions {Elvis, the Beatles / British Invasion, and the post-Disco/punk mainstream revival of 1980-89}, as well as dabbling in the new rap and power-ballad / hair band trends. Dick Clark presided over all but the very last season in 1989, earning his "perpetual teenager'' moniker the hard {good} way. And I daresay he made life just that much more fun with his simple show about the music - they way it once was before all the image-mongering and showbiz BS brought on by both music-videos, and pop music as Mega-Big Business.
No, AB kept the focus squarely on the tunes and performers themselves, which is why such later "image-over-substance" performers like Cyndi Lauper and dear old Madge didn't make quite the same splash on AB as say, Elton {way before he was a Sir}, Rod Stewart, or even Kiss, even though they were more theatrical spectacle themselves. There will never be another show - or a more perfect musical forum - than Dick Clark's American Bandstand, IMHO. How ironic that it predeceased its' creator by nearly a quarter-century!!!
Godspeed, Dick - you'll be sorely missed. And THANK YOU for so many wonderful memories; the memories of our youth, indeed. Let the band play on, wherever you are.............
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