There’s not much else to say about it. Dick Clark, you will be missed. This is the guy who’ve I’ve listened to every year on New Year’s Eve since I was a little kid, the guy I have to thank for giving stars like Madonna and the Mamas and the Papas their start on “American Bandstand,” the guy who I suspect may have softened my mother to the rock ‘n roll back in the 50′s when it was a newfangled idea. Geoff Boucher of the LA Times put together a really nice 3-page spread honoring Clark that I’d like to share:
Photo Courtesy of the LA Times
“Dick Clark, the youthful-looking television personality who literally introduced rock ‘n’ roll to much of the nation on “American Bandstand” and for four decades was the first and last voice many Americans heard each year with his New Year’s Eve countdowns, died Wednesday. He was 82.
Clark died after suffering a heart attack following an outpatient procedure at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, according to a statement by his longtime publicist, Paul Shefrin. Clark’s health had been in question since a 2004 stroke affected his speech and mobility, but that year’s Dec. 31 countdown was the only one he missed since he started the annual rite during the Nixon years.
With the exception of Elvis Presley, Clark was considered by many to be the person most responsible for the bonfire spread of rock ‘n’ roll across the country in the late 1950s. “Bandstand” gave fans a way to hear and see rock’s emerging idols in a way that radio and magazines could not. It made Clark a household name and gave him the foundation for a shrewdly pursued broadcasting career that made him wealthy, powerful and present in American television for half a century.”
To read more about Clark’s incredible life, accomplishments, and story click here.
As Dick himself used to say, “For now, Dick Clark…so long.” So long, indeed, Dick.
