Bandstand

Super low budget dance party to pop hits that only lasted because it had no nationwide competition. I saw it since the early 70s. Once MTV began, it died a well deserved death.

If you liked anything but the most predictable comfortable safe bland suburban hits, you were out of luck. Soul Train had much better music and certainly better dancers. Bandstand had suburban kids who couldn't really dance. They just slightly bounced and moved their hands and never their hips.

All of it presided over by the clueless Dick Clark. Clark who never cared for pop and esp rock music by his own admission. Clark who even from the start peddled the blandest music, pushing Pat Boone instead of Little Richard.

Watch Soul Train, or Don Kirshner instead.

All the greatest songs ever recorded.

All the Number One Hits.

All the latest dances.

All the greatest musical guests of all time.

For three decades,Dick Clark brought you the best in entertainment.

From 1957 until 1989,this show was a Saturday afternoon staple for the teenage set.

That show was American BANDSTAND. It ran for 37 years on ABC-TV. For the three decades that it ran on the ABC network,it went on to become the third longest-running musical variety show of all time. During the last nine seasons of the show(1980-1989)the show saw a decline to some heavy competition,but due to the loyal support of the viewers,the show survived inspite to some newer viewers and a whole new generation.

It's easy to understand why it lasted three decades and was one of the top shows among the teenage set.It also paved the way for the next generation and the beginning of the "MTV" status that was to follow. Dick Clark was always the excellent and cordial host,who held his own,and remain so until the final episode of the series in 1989. Thank you,Dick Clark for making this possible.

This was MTV before MTV. No one ever heard of Dick Clark until American Bandstand. If you were an up and coming Music Group, you fought to get on one of two shows, Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand. All the oldsters watched Ed while all the teens of the time watched American Bandstand. When I was growing up EVERYONE watched American Bandstand. Even on the small screen with tiny speakers, it was the only place you could actually see the bands you loved without going to their concerts. Then along came Soul Train. That was just a sad copy. I have no idea who hosted that show, but, EVERYONE knew who Dick Clark was. Am I right?

I remember watching this show every Saturday afternoon when I was a child and I always had a lot of fun doing it. It featured a lot of awesome musical talent in the many years that it was on and Dick Clark was always an excellent and cordial host. The dancers always looked so alive on the dance floor and you could just tell that they were loving every minute of it. My memories of this show are very easily among my favorite memories of sitting in front of the television set when I was a child. It's very easy to understand why it lasted so many years.

I am very fortunate to have danced on American Bandstand during 1962 when it was live from WFIL studios at 46th & Market Streets in Philadelphia, PA. I was 18 at the time and used to go down there whenever I could get out of school early. I once got on the record review panel and remember rating 3 new releases, one of which was "Do You Wanna Dance". According to my high school newspaper which printed a story about my being on the panel, I rated that one the highest. I still have that school paper in my scrapbook along with a snapshot I took of Dick Clark interviewing Sandra Dee. To this day, I am amazed at how being on that show was something I almost took in stride. What great teenage memories I now am privileged to enjoy!