There was never anyone in America like Dick Clark, who died today. Many musical performers have created memorable popular music, but as the host of ABC-TV's "American Bandstand," which started on WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV) in Philadelphia and later moved to Los Angeles, Clark was instrumental in presenting it to a wide audience. He made rock and roll music as mainstream as it was rebellious by helping to make it fun. In rock's early years, he helped black artists break the color barrier by featuring them on TV performing their own songs rather than have white performers cover them. There was a reason he was called "America's oldest teenager," and it wasn't because of his unchanging looks. It was because he knew what the kids liked and knew how to relate to them. Although he was never able to book the biggest acts on "American Bandstand," such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, or the Rolling Stones, he presented a unique cross-section of rock and pop on his show, presenting everyone from Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke to Janis Joplin and the Jackson Five . . . even unlikely acts like Jethro Tull. Clark pretty much had his finger on the pulse of pop.
"American Bandstand" eventually went off the air in the eighties - a likely victim of MTV - but Clark's production company continued to thrive, producing TV movies, game shows, and award shows. (The American Music Awards, awarded based on popular choice rather than by an academy, were created by Clark in response to ABC-TV losing the broadcast rights to the Grammys.) And he remained a reliable presence every New Year's Eve - right up to December 31, 2011 - presiding over the ball drop in Time Square. New Year's Eve will still rock, but without Richard Wagstaff Clark, it'll never be the same again. R.I.P.
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