Thursday, Lafayette, Indiana

It was thirty years ago this week, 1987 that Dick Clark’s iconic teenage music and dance program American Bandstand was cancelled after a thirty year run. Every afternoon for those three decades American teenagers watched the program that featured the top music artists of the day from pop and Rock & Roll. And in between these guest appearances Dick Clark would serve as D.J. as a group of local Philadelphia teenagers danced to the hits of the time.

Among the popular features were the Bandstand Stroll where the group would form two lines, boys on one side, girls across the way, and each couple danced their way down the line toward the camera. If you want to get an image of the program it is satirized in the hit movie and stage musical, Hairspray that depicted the controversy in Baltimore where the television station objected to black and white teenagers dancing together on the program.

The program gave national exposure to a staggering array of musical artists from Jerry Lee Lewis in the early 1950’s through Michael Jackson & the Jackson Five and even Run DMC. On the show the singers lip-synced their songs before the studio audience of teens. Among the famous artists to make their first national appearance were Madonna and Tony Orlando who performed a song with his fly open!

Then there was Prince, who famously refused to answer Dick’s questions except through hand gestures, making clear from the start that, as talented as he was, he was an eccentric freak. As quaint as this show seems today, in that early era Dick Clark gave national exposure to the musicians that kids were listening to on the radio.

In many cases, Clark’s conservative look and demeanor helped many parents come to see the rock stars in a better, less threatening light. No wonder he lasted for thirty years. The contrast was often jarring and Dick Clark masterfully bridged the cultural divide.