Post by Rob Durkee on Apr 18, 2012 16:24:24 GMT -5
By ROCKIN’ ROBIN
Dick Clark, the legendary TV and radio personality famous for “American Bandstand,” “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “TV’s Bloopers And Practical Jokes,” “Where The Action Is” and “The $25,000 Pyramid,” died of a heart attack today (April 18, 2012). He was 82.
Clark overcame a stroke in 2004 and learned how to talk all over again. He made it back alongside Ryan Seacrest for “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in 2006.
Clark’s legacy goes back to the 1950’s. He’d been hosting a local Philadelphia-based TV show critics said would never work. He’d prove the critics wrong when that TV show displaying teenagers dancing to rock and roll music, “American Bandstand,” debuted on national TV on August 5, 1957. Over the years, “Bandstand” would have hundreds of singers visit, lip-synch to their latest hit records, be interviewed by Clark and then sign autographs.
Virtually every famous performer imaginable would visit “Bandstand” with the exception of Elvis Presley and Rick Nelson.
Clark would host “Bandstand” for over 30 years.
On the radio, he had a lookback show at pop music with the weekly weekend show, “Rock, Roll And Remember,” which was also the title of one of autobiographies. He began his own countdown show on Memorial Day weekend, 1981, with “The Dick Clark National Music Survey.”
However, it was a suggestion by Clark that would forever change weekend radio countdown show history. In the first two years and eight months of “American Top 40,” host Casey Kasem would be recorded to real time. That is, the jingles, records and Casey’s voice would all be recorded at once. If there was a mistake, the segment would have to start over and be re-recorded…and Casey and his staff would have to hear all the records involved again.
When Dick Clark was preparing to fill in for Casey for the March 25, 1972 AT40 show, he was told about how everything would be recorded at once. Essentially, Clark told the AT40 contingent that the show would sound better and would be recorded better if Casey’s voice tracks were recorded and edited in. Casey would hear the records he’s introducing and back-selling in his headphones to get the most of out his voice inflections. Clark’s suggestion was followed…and AT40 sounded even better.
Clark was behind at least two major hit records. When a teenage vocal group was trying to hit big with a song called “Do The Bop,” Clark suggested that the group change the song’s title to “At The Hop.” That song would become a huge #1 hit in late 1957 and early 1958 for Danny And The Juniors. Plus, “At The Hop” was the first song used to dance to for a “Bandstand” dance contest.
In 1960, Clark was amazed how teenagers would dance to a Hank Ballard dance song that was the B side of “Teardrops On Your Letter.” However, the song was a bit too suggestive and R&B-sounding in Clark’s opinion. He thought the song would be a hit for someone else. Freddy Cannon was suggested.
But, in the end, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker became a #1 hit, the greatest dance song ever and the #1 chart song when Casey Kasem counted down the Top 40 hits of the rock era (1955-72). Additionally, Clark’s wife gave singer Ernest Evans a stage name. She compared the singer that made “The Twist” famous by comparing him to Fats Domino by observing “you’re sort of chubby checker."
It was Dick Clark who gave a stirring back-cover endorsement for the book, "American Top 40: The Countdown Of The Century." It was a gesture this writer will forever to Dick Clark for writing.
Dick Clark, the legendary TV and radio personality famous for “American Bandstand,” “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “TV’s Bloopers And Practical Jokes,” “Where The Action Is” and “The $25,000 Pyramid,” died of a heart attack today (April 18, 2012). He was 82.
Clark overcame a stroke in 2004 and learned how to talk all over again. He made it back alongside Ryan Seacrest for “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in 2006.
Clark’s legacy goes back to the 1950’s. He’d been hosting a local Philadelphia-based TV show critics said would never work. He’d prove the critics wrong when that TV show displaying teenagers dancing to rock and roll music, “American Bandstand,” debuted on national TV on August 5, 1957. Over the years, “Bandstand” would have hundreds of singers visit, lip-synch to their latest hit records, be interviewed by Clark and then sign autographs.
Virtually every famous performer imaginable would visit “Bandstand” with the exception of Elvis Presley and Rick Nelson.
Clark would host “Bandstand” for over 30 years.
On the radio, he had a lookback show at pop music with the weekly weekend show, “Rock, Roll And Remember,” which was also the title of one of autobiographies. He began his own countdown show on Memorial Day weekend, 1981, with “The Dick Clark National Music Survey.”
However, it was a suggestion by Clark that would forever change weekend radio countdown show history. In the first two years and eight months of “American Top 40,” host Casey Kasem would be recorded to real time. That is, the jingles, records and Casey’s voice would all be recorded at once. If there was a mistake, the segment would have to start over and be re-recorded…and Casey and his staff would have to hear all the records involved again.
When Dick Clark was preparing to fill in for Casey for the March 25, 1972 AT40 show, he was told about how everything would be recorded at once. Essentially, Clark told the AT40 contingent that the show would sound better and would be recorded better if Casey’s voice tracks were recorded and edited in. Casey would hear the records he’s introducing and back-selling in his headphones to get the most of out his voice inflections. Clark’s suggestion was followed…and AT40 sounded even better.
Clark was behind at least two major hit records. When a teenage vocal group was trying to hit big with a song called “Do The Bop,” Clark suggested that the group change the song’s title to “At The Hop.” That song would become a huge #1 hit in late 1957 and early 1958 for Danny And The Juniors. Plus, “At The Hop” was the first song used to dance to for a “Bandstand” dance contest.
In 1960, Clark was amazed how teenagers would dance to a Hank Ballard dance song that was the B side of “Teardrops On Your Letter.” However, the song was a bit too suggestive and R&B-sounding in Clark’s opinion. He thought the song would be a hit for someone else. Freddy Cannon was suggested.
But, in the end, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker became a #1 hit, the greatest dance song ever and the #1 chart song when Casey Kasem counted down the Top 40 hits of the rock era (1955-72). Additionally, Clark’s wife gave singer Ernest Evans a stage name. She compared the singer that made “The Twist” famous by comparing him to Fats Domino by observing “you’re sort of chubby checker."
It was Dick Clark who gave a stirring back-cover endorsement for the book, "American Top 40: The Countdown Of The Century." It was a gesture this writer will forever to Dick Clark for writing.
