American Bandstand

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American Bandstand
Image:American Bandstand.gif
American Bandstand logo
Format Music
Starring Dick Clark (1957–1989)
David Hirsch (1989)
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 883 (surviving)
Production
Running time 90 Minutes / 60 Minutes (originally two hours and fifteen minutes on WFIL-TV/Philadelphia only)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC (1957–1987)
Syndication (1987–1989)
USA Network (1989)
Original run August 5, 1957 – October 7, 1989
Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand
Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand

American Bandstand was a television show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, hosted until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer. The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40-type music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act - over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run DMC - would usually appear in-person to lip-sync one of their latest singles.

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[edit] Show description

It premiered locally as a live show, Bandstand, on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV) on October 7, 1952 in "Studio 'B'", which was located in their just-completed addition to the original 1947 building (4548 Market Street), and was hosted by Bob Horn, with Lee Stewart as co-host until 1955. Tony Mammarella was the original producer with Ed Yates as director.

The series originally featured Horn merely hosting two collections of filmed musical performances from both Snader and Official films (forerunners of modern music videos), but this was soon changed to the familiar format of having kids dance to hit records, an idea that came from a Philadelphia radio show, The 950 Club.

On July 9, 1956, Horn was fired after a drunk driving arrest as WFIL and dual owner Walter Annenberg's The Philadelphia Inquirer at the time were doing a series on drunk driving. He was replaced temporarily by producer Tony Mammarella before the job went permanently to Dick Clark. After some badgering of the network by Clark, the show was picked up nationally by ABC (becoming American Bandstand) on August 5, 1957. The program was broadcast daily (first live, then on kinescope when Clark went on tour with the singers) until 1964 and then aired weekly until 1989. The show's popularity helped Clark become an American media mogul and inspired other similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his dick clark productions company.

"Studio 'B'" measured 80'x42'x24', but appeared smaller due to the number of props, television cameras, and bleachers that were used for the show. The show was briefly shot in color in 1958 when WFIL-TV started experimenting with the then-new technology. The size of the studio made it possible to only have one camera (RCA TK-41) where three black & white models were used before (RCA TK-10). WFIL-TV went back to black & white two weeks later when ABC-TV refused to carry the color signal and management realized that the show lost something without the extra cameras.

Clark would often interview the teenagers about their opinions of the songs being played, most memorably through the "Rate-a-Record" segment (to which the phrase "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it" is credited, perhaps apocryphally).

[edit] Theme music

 Audio sample:

Bandstand originally used "High Society" by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of "Bandstand Boogie" composed by Charles Albertine, including the big-band version performed by Les Elgart remembered by viewers of the daily version. From 1969 to 1974 "Bandstand Theme", a synth instrumental version written by Mike Curb opened each show. Moreover, from 1974 to 1977 an orchestral disco version of "Bandstand Boogie" arose playing during the opening and closing credits. Joe Porter was the music arranger and performer of this orchestral disco version of American Bandstand's theme song at this time.

From 1977 to the end of its ABC run in 1987, the show opened and closed with Barry Manilow's rendition of the theme, which he originally recorded for his 1975 album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. The song's new lyrics, which heavily referenced the series, were co-written by Manilow and Bruce Howard Sussman.

The Manilow version was replaced by an updated instrumental arrangement of "Bandstand Boogie" when Bandstand went into syndication.

From 1974 onward, Bandstand featured another instrumental at its mid-show break—Billy Preston's synth hit "Space Race".

[edit] Changes

The show moved from its weekday slot to Saturday afternoons on September 7, 1963.

Production of the show moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on February 8, 1964, which coincidently was the same weekend that WFIL-TV moved from their 46th and Market location to their new facility located on City Line Avenue. Color broadcasts began for good on September 9, 1967.

Bandstand moved from ABC to syndication on September 19, 1987, and to cable's USA Network on April 8, 1989 with a new younger host, comedian David Hirsch and was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. Clark remained executive producer. The show ended on October 7, 1989.

In 2004, Dick Clark announced plans to revive the show in time for 2005; although this did not occur, 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 DC employee Allen Shapiro serves as co-executive producer.

[edit] References in popular culture

Main article: American Dreams
  • The show was featured prominently in the 2002–2005 NBC-TV drama series American Dreams, which like Bandstand was executive produced by Dick Clark. In a 2005 episode of American Dreams, Eddie Kelly and Bunny Gibson—one of the most famous couples to appear on American Bandstand in the Philadelphia years—were the only two to make cameo appearances on the acclaimed TV series. Along with that, Eddie Kelly and Bunny Gibson were named a number of times in the script and Eddie Kelly referred to in the last episode.
  • In the movie Grease, Rydell High School plays host for a dance contest on a televised show similar to American Bandstand, called National Bandstand.
  • In 1988, the popular John Waters film Hairspray's The Corny Collins Show is a mix between this and Baltimore's Buddy Deane Show.
  • In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, English teacher John Keating, played by Robin Williams, belittles the school's poetry textbook's introduction to poetry. The introduction describes a method of giving poems numerical scores of "perfection." He derides this by saying "we're not laying pipe, we're talking about poetry. How can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? "I like Byron, I give him a 42 but I can't dance to it!"
  • In 2001, IGT acquired the rights from Dick Clark Productions and created and developed a slot machine based on the long running music series.
  • In 2004 the band Low released the compilation album A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities, featuring the track "Peanut Butter Toast And American Bandstand" which mentions the show.
  • In 2005, rapper Bow Wow came out with the featured single Fresh Azimiz from the album Wanted. The song, produced by Jermaine Dupri mentioned the popularity of American Bandstand in the line, "I'm goin' down in history like American Bandstand."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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