Despite all that history, for the interlude this week we're going to stick with Dick Clark's first and still most famous TV venture, "American Bandstand." Now, I'll admit that I wasn't even close to being around when the show was first on the air and I've only read about its impact on pop culture through various communication classes I have taken over the years. But, there is no denying its impact. If you just look at the list of musical acts who performed on the show you can see that it is like a of catalog of the musical history of America. The show was willing to evolve with the times and covered a wide range of genres, so everyone who was anyone eventually made their way onto "American Bandstand". Musical icons like Michael Jackson made numerous trips to the show, but for today's interlude we're going with a little Earth, Wind and Fire. Despite the not-great audio, I liked that the video starts with a clip of Dick Clark but, if I'm being honest, the reason I picked this particular video from all the "American Bandstand" performances available online could be summed up in one word: Gino.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Bandstand Boogie
When I heard that Dick Clark died on Wednesday, I have to admit, I was expecting the news to be greeted with more fanfare. After all, the guy had been on television for close to 60 years, so it wasn't like there wasn't a lot of material to work with. What made Dick Clark so fascinating was that you could ask three generations of Americans about him and get three totally different answers. The Baby Boomers would talk about his impact on "American Bandstand", others would mention his time as host of "Pyramid" (still my favorite game show ever) and then the majority of people would immediately think about him counting down to midnight on New Year's Eve on their television. But that was just the tip on the iceberg. The other day I mentioned how many random TV ventures Al Roker was associated with through his production company. Well, Dick Clark Productions not only invented the "Bloopers" shows, but also invented the American Music Awards, put the Golden Gloves on TV and gave the world shows like "So You Think You Can Dance." It was would not be an over-statement to say that for a while Dick Clark was the most powerful man in Hollywood.
Despite all that history, for the interlude this week we're going to stick with Dick Clark's first and still most famous TV venture, "American Bandstand." Now, I'll admit that I wasn't even close to being around when the show was first on the air and I've only read about its impact on pop culture through various communication classes I have taken over the years. But, there is no denying its impact. If you just look at the list of musical acts who performed on the show you can see that it is like a of catalog of the musical history of America. The show was willing to evolve with the times and covered a wide range of genres, so everyone who was anyone eventually made their way onto "American Bandstand". Musical icons like Michael Jackson made numerous trips to the show, but for today's interlude we're going with a little Earth, Wind and Fire. Despite the not-great audio, I liked that the video starts with a clip of Dick Clark but, if I'm being honest, the reason I picked this particular video from all the "American Bandstand" performances available online could be summed up in one word: Gino.
Despite all that history, for the interlude this week we're going to stick with Dick Clark's first and still most famous TV venture, "American Bandstand." Now, I'll admit that I wasn't even close to being around when the show was first on the air and I've only read about its impact on pop culture through various communication classes I have taken over the years. But, there is no denying its impact. If you just look at the list of musical acts who performed on the show you can see that it is like a of catalog of the musical history of America. The show was willing to evolve with the times and covered a wide range of genres, so everyone who was anyone eventually made their way onto "American Bandstand". Musical icons like Michael Jackson made numerous trips to the show, but for today's interlude we're going with a little Earth, Wind and Fire. Despite the not-great audio, I liked that the video starts with a clip of Dick Clark but, if I'm being honest, the reason I picked this particular video from all the "American Bandstand" performances available online could be summed up in one word: Gino.
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