RIP, Dick Clark
Sad news: American Bandstand creator and music business icon Dick Clark has died of a massive heart attack at the age of 82. He was a true pioneer of rock and roll and pop music.
I got to meet Dick Clark when I played on American Bandstand in 1980 with Stanley Clarke; here’s a link to the show’s description at the Dick Clark Media Archives, with a small thumbnail photo (you have to pay if you want the full-sized photo — Dick Clark was very good at retaining control of his intellectual property). Whoever wrote the description got things a bit confused; I played guitar, of course, and Stanley played bass. They got the clothing descriptions spot on, though.
Stanley Clarke zoning out while playing his guitar on American Bandstand in 1980. He is wearing a long sleeved white collared shirt and black leather pants. His bass player is wearing a white polo shirt and light colored pants. His drummer is also seen wearing a white shirt and his keyboardist is wearing a black polo shirt that has white outlines and a light colored hat. One of his backup singers is wearing an animal print jumpsuit with a belt and the other one is wearing a flowery jumpsuit.
As with most American Bandstand performances, we didn’t actually play; we lip-synced the song “Danger Street.”
