Exactly 30 days before we entered Oceanside High School
as brand new sophomores, "American Bandstand"
premiered nationally on the ABC TV network at 3 p.m. on Monday, August 5, 1957, over 50
years ago. More so than any other network show
before, it was produced especially for us, then the high school youth of America.
For more Bandstand photos, go to http://www.history-of-rock.com/american_bandstand_pictures.htm_bandstand_pictures.htm. In its early days, when we were part of its target audience, Bandstand made teen idols out of Philadelphia street kids, and it made national celebrities out of regular high school kids just like us. Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi, Justine Carelli and Bob Clayton ― they were not our classmates, but they just as well might have been. So many of us watched them dancing and rating the records for 90 minutes every afternoon, copied their moves and felt that we knew them ― and the other "regulars," too. Bandstand
showcased our favorite rock 'n' roll
By spinning those records from his Philadelphia base, in the tiny studios of WFIL, clean-cut Dick Clark became a virtual pied piper to the American teenager of the late 1950s. As he tried to smooth over rock 'n' roll's rough edges and clean up its tarnished image, Bandstand quickly became one of the most memorable icons of our music and our time in high school and nothing less than an American cultural institution ― and it was created just for us!
"It's
got a good beat, and you can dance to it.
_______________ * For your information, Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson never appeared on Bandstand.
Copyright © 2002-2007 by Howard B. Levy and 1960 Sailors Association Inc. All rights reserved.
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― lip-synching to their latest hit (or
would-be hit) records. In fact, it soon became quite common for
songwriters to mention Bandstand in their lyrics just to get their records
played on the show.
