In the early hours of this morning, while perusing Twitter, I saw the news that Dick Clark had died. The name doesn't really mean a lot in this country, but in America he is a cultural icon. In this country his name has been heard in film and television, most famously on an episode of Friends titled 'The One With The Routine'. Dick Clarke's New Years Rockin' Eve was an example of 'event television' that will probably never be equalled in popularity in America. I can't really think who the equivalent person is in this country; part John Peel maybe because of his ear for new music, but a much more populist version.
Starting his career in radio, Clark became the second string presenter on a programme simply called Bandstand. The main presenter, Bob Horn, was accused of 'sexual impropriety' towards members of the teenage audience, and Dick Clarke was promoted to main presenter of the newly named American Bandstand. The revamped show kicked off in August 1957, and ran until 1989 with Dick Clarke presenting, earning him the nickname of 'the world's oldest teenager'. I was hoping to get through this blog without using that line, but he and the tag go hand in hand.
Dick Clark owned American Bandstand, a rarity in those days when the networks were the boss. Nowadays, most presenters make their own programmes to sell to the channel. He had a good ear for musical trends, and an appearance on American Bandstand was a passport to success during the show's thirty year run. His stake in a large number of record companies earned him royalties, which was his only brush with anything close to controversy during his career, while the 'payola' scandal was being investigated. Clark was cleared of any wrongdoing, but was forced to choose between his investments or the show, and chose the show. American Bandstand not only broke new acts to a national television audience, but also broke ground in 1950s America by featuring black artists on the show, and black teenagers in the crowd, unheard of at the time. The British television show Oh Boy! was based on the American Bandstand model, after Jack Good saw what was happening. Of course our version didn't have the same longevity, and only Top Of The Pops comes close.
The New Year's Eve events were must see television, the like of which we in this country just won't ever get our heads around. Jools Holland's Hootenanny doesn't even touch the sides. Although he had a stroke in 2004, he carried on with a co-presenter.
Aside from his flagship shows, his company produced game-shows, films and television drama, and owned a chain of American Bandstand themed diners. Dick Clark Productions was sold in 2002 for $136 million, though he kept his hand in as chairman.
American pop culture will never his like again, and yet he remains something of a mystery to us Brits. Mentioned on Grease, Happy Days, and others, we kept hearing the name but didn't come to the party. In another rare move in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when live television output wasn't archived, Clark kept his own tapes of American Bandstand episodes, building a rich treasure trove of popular music history. BBC4, get on the phone to someone now!
