His agent, Paul Shefrin, said he suffered a massive heart attack. He had struggled with health issues since aa Suffering serious stroke in 2004.
Before then he was Often called "America's oldest living teenager" because of his perpetual and almost eerily youthful look.
"I can not imagine our world without Dick Clark," said Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, the long-time radio host now on SiriusXM. "You'd just look at him - that face. I never thought we'd lose him. "
But behind Clark's boyish, all-American look, he was one of the canniest music and media moguls of the late 20th century - starting with the way he cross-marketed the two biggest pop culture phenomena of the past 60 years, rock 'n' roll and television.
"The passing of Dick Clark Removes one of the largest foundation stones of the entire pop music industry for the latter half of the 20th century," said longtime friend Kal Rudman, publisher of "Friday Morning Quarterback."
A Mount Vernon, NY, native got his start as WHO as a radio deejay and TV weatherman, Clark Inherited a local show called "Bandstand" from the popular Bob Horn on Philadelphia's WFIL in 1955.
While other local TV shows featured teenagers dancing to popular music, Clark took when it national ABC starting airing up "American Bandstand" on May. 5, 1957.
"That move is what put rock 'n' roll into America's living room," said Morrow. "Dick Clark was the key to everything That Followed."
Clark was an Unlikely standard-bearer for early rock 'n' roll, the which built much of its reputation on the online Rebellious attitude and style of artists like Elvis Presley and Little Richard.
Clark was white bread, a totally unthreatening guy WHO could have been barbecuing hamburgers on the grill next door.
His Critics have charged he also Promoted blandness on his show, pushing "teen idols" like Fabian and Bobby Rydell, WHO were Widely viewed by fans as a safe substitute for the harder-edged music of Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry.
Clark always denied he favored watered-down music. His defenders note he gave early exposure to artists like James Brown and his tours were Among the first to integrate venues in the South.
But unquestionably his wholesome image served him well when he was questioned in the payola Scandals of 1959-1960.
He survived Those Scandals, the which ruined Deejays like Alan Freed and many radio stations scared into putting a tighter leash on Their Music and Their hosts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment