| American Bandstand ,
the most popular rock-n-roll dance show of all time
introduced us to many of the hottest dance moves over
the years and became a part of American television
history by bringing rock-and-roll music into millions of
households.
This long-running dance show
was hosted by "America's oldest teenager,"
Dick Clark. Regular features on AB were "Rate-A-Record,"
"The Spotlight Dance," AB's "Dance
Contest" and the AB "TOP TEN."
American Bandstand began as a
local Philadelphia dance show called Bandstand on
October 13-17, 1952 on WFIL-TV Channel 6 and Dick Clark
brought this show to national attention on August 5-9,
1957 when the show first debuted on ABC-TV. It was a
daily fixture from its premiere up to August 30, 1963
when the show found its permanent home on Saturday
afternoons beginning on September 7, 1963. Not only did
the schedule change, but the show itself moved from its
home in Philadelphia, PA to its new permanent home in
Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 1964. But despite the
changes, American Bandstand's fans remained loyal to the
series, which continued to present the latest music and
dances. It even inspired another long-running dance show,
Soul Train, which is still running today.
American Bandstand's long association with ABC ended on
September 5, 1987. The series returned 2 weeks later on
September 19, 1987 in first-run syndication and on April
8, 1989, American Bandstand made another move, this time
to the USA cable network. It also featured a new host,
David Hirsch. This version lasted only 6 months with the
final show airing on October 7, 1989. In 1995, VH-1
began showing classic episodes of American Bandstand.
These edited into 30-minute reruns featured many of the
stars that the show had made famous. |
