What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

I haven't blogged in a while. Things in my life have been a whirlwind! but I couldn't let this event go by without saying something. Last week the world lost an American Icon, Dick Clark. I suppose, depending on your generation, Dick Clark was something different to all of us. I'm sure many of us, myself included, first met Dick Clark on American Bandstand. I watched AB every Saturday at noon. For those of you not familiar, which I cannot imagine that would be anyone, Bandstand was an American show dedicated to promoting rock and roll music of the day. It usually consisted of a studio full of young teens dancing to the latest hits, and a "live" performance (I put live in quotes because I'm pretty sure they always lipsynched to their own recording) by one of the popular recording artists of the day, a spotlight dance and the ever popular rate-a-record, "It's got a good beat, and I can dance to it." The show was hosted by Dick Clark from 1956 until it ended in 1989. He began hosting at the age of 27, but he looked like he was 17. Dick Clark seemed eternally young, ageless. He did so much for music. Many artists, I'm sure, owe him for the explosion of their careers. Others may know him as the host of what began as the $10,000 Pyramid, a game show that paired celebrities with everyday people in a game of describing and guessing with the final round being a pyramid of dollar amounts that if guessed correctly from the clues given and completed, the contestant won $10,000. I, personally, loved this show and watched every day on summer vacation. You might have known Mr. Clark from his co-hosting spot next to Ed McMahon on TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. This was the precursor to Ashton Kutcher's "Punkd" The show usually targeted a celebrity with an elaborate practical joke set up, and the other parts of the show were outtakes from television shows that were currently running. I watched that show too. The fascination with this show was seeing celebrities as they really were. There's really no need for that today with tweets and social media we see celebrities as themselves all the time. Dick Clark also created the American Music Awards, but the one thing that Dick Clark did that I'm sure every reader of this blog has seen at least once was help us ring in the New Year. New Year's Rockin' Eve was born on December 31, 1972. Produced and hosted by Dick Clark, it consisted of a live broadcast of the Madness from Times Square in New York City on New Year's Eve. Artists performed each year, but what I tuned in to watch was Dick Clark do the countdown when the ball dropped. I probably spent more New Year's Eves with Dick Clark than my ex-husband.

Dick had a genuineness about him, and unmistakable charm that wasn't phony or put on. It didn't hurt that he was very handsome and stayed handsome all through his twilight years. When he died last week, the headlines read "America's Oldest Teenager" He truly was. He was a pioneer, and did more for TV and music in this country than we will ever know. He spent years in our homes and our hearts, and he will be missed!