American Bandstand
| American Bandstand | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | Bandstand (1952–1957) |
| Presented by |
Bob Horn (1952–1956) Lee Stewart (co-host, 1952–1955) Tony Mammarella (1956) Dick Clark (1956–1989) David Hirsch (1989) |
| Narrated by | Charlie O'Donnell (1958-1969) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 37 (5–WFIL) (30–ABC) (1–Syndication) (1–USA Network) |
| No. of episodes | 3,000 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 90 minutes 60 minutes (originally two hours and thirty minutes on WFIL-TV/Philadelphia only) |
| Production company(s) |
Dick Clark Productions (1964–1989) WFIL-TV (1952–1964) |
| Distributor | LBS Communications (1987–1988) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
WFIL-TV (1952–1957) ABC (1957–1987) Syndicated (1987–1988) USA Network (1989) |
| Picture format |
Black-and-white (1952–1967) Color (1967–1989) |
| Audio format | Monaural (1952–1983) Stereo (1983–1989) |
| Original release | October 7, 1952 – October 7, 1989 |
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer. The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run–D.M.C.—would usually appear in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon holds the record for most appearances at 110.
The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired 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.
American Bandstand premiered locally in late March 1950 as Bandstand on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV Channel 6 (now WPVI-TV), as a replacement for a weekday movie that had shown predominantly British films. Hosted by Bob Horn as a television adjunct to his radio show of the same name on WFIL radio, Bandstand mainly featured short musical films produced by Snader Telescriptions and Official Films, with occasional studio guests. This incarnation was an early predecessor of sorts of the music video shows that became popular in the 1980s, featuring films that are themselves the ancestors of music videos.
Horn, however, was disenchanted with the program, so he wanted to have the show changed to a dance program, with teenagers dancing along on camera as the records played, based on an idea that came from a radio show on WPEN, The 950 Club, hosted by Joe Grady and Ed Hurst. This more-familiar version of Bandstand debuted on October 7, 1952 in "Studio 'B'," which was located in their just-completed addition to the original 1947 building in West Philadelphia (4548 Market Street), and was hosted by Horn, with Lee Stewart as co-host until 1955. Stewart was the owner of a TV/Radio business in Philadelphia and even though he was an older gentleman, his advertising account was a large one for WFIL-TV at the time and was put on the program to appease the account. As WFIL grew financially and the account became less important, Stewart wasn't needed and was eventually dropped from the program. Tony Mammarella was the original producer with Ed Yates as director. The short Snader and Official music films continued in the short term, mainly to fill gaps as they changed dancers during the show—a necessity, as the studio could not fit more than 200 teenagers.
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