The Clay Cole Show
| The Clay Cole Show | |
|---|---|
 Cole (left) with The Isley Brothers in 1962 | |
| Also known as |
Rate the Records Talent Teens Teen Quiz The Record Wagon[1] Clay Cole's Discotek[2] |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |
WNTA-TV WPIX-TV |
| Original run | 1959 – 1968 |
The Clay Cole Show (1959–1968) was a rock music television show based in New York City, hosted by Clay Cole.
First broadcast on WNTA-TV (now WNET) in September 1959 as Rate the Records, within two months the format was changed, and an hour-long Saturday-night show was added. In the summer months, the show was expanded to an hour, six nights a week, live from Palisades Amusement Park, where Chubby Checker first performed and danced "The Twist".[1][3] When WNTA-TV was sold in 1963, the show moved to WPIX-TV, where for five years it was successful, thanks to first-time guest appearances of the Rolling Stones (on a program with one other guest, The Beatles), Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, Simon & Garfunkel, Richie Havens, Tony Orlando, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Rascals.[1][2] In 1965, the show was renamed Clay Cole's Discotek.[2] Clay produced a full hour with just one guest, Tony Bennett. Clay's all-star, ten-day Christmas Show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater holds the all-time box-office record for that theater.[4][5]
Cole was the first to introduce stand-up comics such as Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Fannie Flagg to a teen audience.[1][3] He was the first to produce a full hour of all-black performers, his historic Salute to Motown[1][3] Unlike other teen music show hosts, Cole danced to the music he played on his shows; he was also unafraid to book lesser-known performers.[1][3][6]
In 1968, at the height of his show's popularity, Clay, unhappy with the shift in pop music to psychedelic acid rock and heavy metal, left the show.[1][3]
Clay Cole's memoir of the early years of rock and roll and live television, Sh-Boom! The Explosion of Rock 'n' Roll (1953-1968) has been published by Morgan James.[7][8] Cole died on December 18, 2010.[1][2][3][9]
See also
- Buddy Deane Show
- Groovy Show
- The Milt Grant Show
- John Waters
- Brooklyn Paramount Theater
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Grimes, William (24 December 2010). "Clay Cole, Host of Teenage Dance Shows, dies at 72". New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Grimes, William (26 December 2010). "Clay Cole; hosted teen show that drew rising musical stars". Boston.com. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Hinckley, David (21 December 2010). "Clay Cole, legendary 1960s rock 'n' roll teen guru who introduced Rolling Stones, dies at almost 73". New York Daily News. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ "Clay Cole and the Paramount Theater". Brooklyn Music. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ "Brooklyn Paramount". New York Theater Organ Society. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Weintraub, Bernard (16 February 2003). "Pioneer of a Beat Is Still Riffing for His Due". New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Hinckley, David (3 December 2009). "City traffic reports are cutting through the gridlock". New York Daily News. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Cole, Clay; Hinckley, David, eds. (2009). Sh-Boom!:The Explosion of Rock 'n' Roll (1953-1968). Morgan James. p. 318. ISBN 1-60037-639-8. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed December 2010