American Bandstand
American Bandstand (AB) is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired regularly in various versions from 1952 to 1989,[1] and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer. It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark. The program was televised from Philadelphia from its 1952 debut until its move to Los Angeles in 1963.
American Bandstand
Bandstand (1952–1957)
- Bob Horn
- Lee Stewart
- Tony Mammarella
- Dick Clark
- David Hirsch
United States
- 37
- (5–WFIL)
- (30–ABC)
- (1–Syndication)
- (1–USA Network)
3,002
- 90 minutes
- 60 minutes (originally two hours and thirty minutes on WFIL-TV/Philadelphia only)
- Dick Clark Productions (1964–1989, 1992, 2002)
- WFIL-TV (1952–1964)
- WFIL-TV (1952–1957)
- ABC (1957–1987, 1992, 2002)
- Syndicated (1987–1988)
- USA Network (1989)
October 7, 1952 –
May 3, 2002
Over the decades, a wide range of musical acts, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run-DMC, appeared in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Artists would sing naturally to the studio audience over a background of their own disc, while viewers at home would hear only the original recording.[2] Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110.
The show's popularity helped Clark become a media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and British series Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.
Program features[edit]
Rate-a-Record[edit]
Clark regularly asked teenagers their opinions of the songs being played, through the "Rate-a-Record" segment. During the segment, two audience members each ranked two records on a scale of 35 to 98, after which their two opinions were averaged by Clark, who then asked the chosen members to justify their scores. The segment gave rise to the catchphrase "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it."[5] In one humorous segment broadcast for years on retrospective shows, comedians Cheech and Chong appeared as the record raters.
Featured artists typically performed their current hits by lip-syncing to the released version of the song.
Revival plans[edit]
In 2004, Dick Clark, with the help of Ryan Seacrest, announced plans to revive the show in time for the 2005 season; although this did not occur (due in part to Clark suffering a severe stroke in late 2004), one segment of the revived Bandstand—a national dance contest—eventually became the series So You Think You Can Dance. Dick Clark Productions is credited as the show's co-producer, and longtime employee Allen Shapiro serves as co-executive producer. While the American series has aired sixteen seasons, its format was also replicated worldwide, from Norway (Dansefeber) to Australia (So You Think You Can Dance Australia).
Dick Clark died on April 18, 2012, at the age of 82.
Location
4548 Market St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
August 5, 1997