Remembering Dick Clark on New Years Eve

In recent years, as I watched the ball drop on New Years Eve with Dick Clark, I wondered if it would be the last.  The pop culture icon, who will always be remembered as "America's oldest teenager," seemed to never age until recent years.

It was evident after his stroke in 2004 and made me so sad to watch the changing times through Dick Clark's deteriorating health and his struggle to simply speak.  Since then, I had so much more respect for Dick Clark as a person for putting himself out there instead of going into hiding, although it was very difficult to watch.  He so loved his place in our lives!

As a lover of pop culture in general, it is my opinion that Dick Clark was the pop culture king of our times . . . an entertainment innovator extraordinnaire and super media mogul!

In the beginning, he landed a gig as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia in 1952 with a show he called "Dick Clark's Caravan of Music." Little did he know that he was about to change pop music as we knew it back in the day . . . or did he?  Dick Clark broke into the big time, hosting Bandstand, an afternoon dance show for teenagers.

American Bandstand was born in 1957 as ABC took over the show with the whole country watching.  The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences . . . anyone who was or was going to be anyone in the music industry showed up on the show, launching the careers of too many megastars to mention.  He was a starmaker who brought the music AND the performers to the masses and we loved him for it!  American Bandstand ran from 1957 to 1987.

How many of us learned all the latest dance trends watching the show?  I know I did!!

Dick Clark Productions formed in 1963 and cranked out one hit show after another with the "$25,000 "Pyramid" to "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" to the "American Music Awards." 

In 1972, Dick Clark became synonymous with one of the biggest nights of the year and we have celebrated New Years Eve with him since.

Ryan Seacrest, who has taken the lead in recent years, will be ushering the new year for the first time without his mentor.

"Ryan Seacrest tells TMZ ... the countdown to 2013 will be a special one, because he'll be honoring his late friend and mentor ... the great Dick Clark."  Read more here. 

This year, ABC is set to air “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party,” a two-hour celebration of the show, which will lead into “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” . . . but it will never be the same again.

For now, Dick Clark. So long!

Where the Action Is

"Where the Action Is or (WTAI) was a music-based variety show which aired on television in the United States during the 1960s. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon. Created by Dick Clark as a spin-off of American Bandstand, Where the Action Is premiered on June 27, 1965.

The show's theme song, "Action", became a hit single for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, peaking on the charts (#13) in September 1965. Most of the telecasts, all of which were produced in black-and-white, were taped at various locales in Southern California. The theme song was written by Steve Venet and Tommy Boyce who would later write songs for The Monkees.


The program had its own stable of performers, most notably Paul Revere & the Raiders, who served as the de facto house band. When the group departed the show in 1966, they were replaced by The Robbs. Other regular performers on Action included the dance troupe Pete Manifee and the Action Kids. Individual episodes featured a wide range of guest performers, as detailed below.

The weekday program was cancelled on March 31, 1967, with the network giving its local affiliates the time slot. However, members of the program's mainstay band Paul Revere and the Raiders (with lead vocalist Mark Lindsay) hosted very similar follow-up shows; both Revere and Lindsay hosted Happening '68, a Saturday afternoon follow-up to American Bandstand, and a weekday version of the same show, It's Happening, from 1968 to 1969. Both shows were produced by Dick Clark's production company for ABC."

Source: Wikipedia

Theme Song Lyrics

Title: "Action"

Composed By: Tommy Boyce & Steve Venet

Performed By: Freddy 'Boom Boom' Cannon

Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
It's so neat to meet ya baby where the action is.

In every little town cross the U.S.A.
There's a spot where the people tangle everyday
Just leave your problems and get away
Come down and listen to the guitars play.

Dance, dance dance when you hear that beat
Dance, dance dance get up off of your seat
Dance, dance dance let your back bone slip
Let's go to the place on the Sunset Strip
Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
Oh, baby come on, let me take you where the action is.
It's so neat to meet ya baby where the action is.

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