Remember a time when popular music had no political agenda, didn't advocate violence against anyone and wasn't the center of a drug culture?
Remember a time when near-pornographic "music videos" were not a career requirement for musicians catering to the teen crowd and there were no "wardrobe malfunctions?"
Dick Clark did, and so do the tens of millions of Americans who still remember his old "American Bandstand" television show.
"America's Oldest Teenager" Clark, 82, died this week, after a career proving it was possible to be a wildly popular entertainer - and make lots of money - with shows few families would object to their children seeing and hearing.
"American Bandstand," with Clark as its host for many years, debuted in 1957. It went off the air 30 years later.
Often, Clark was criticized for not making the program more "edgy." Wiser than those who wanted less "square" performances, he responded, "I knew at the time that if we didn't make the presentation to the older generation palatable, it would kill it."
And so Clark became, in effect, one of the foundations of rock 'n roll music - which has evolved enormously since the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was Clark who introduced a number of black entertainers to a wider audience by inviting them to be guest artists on his program, which at the time was a major gamble on his part. Later during his broadcasting career, Clark produced and sometimes hosted a variety of other television fare, including being the host for the "Rocking New Year's Eve" program and a game show and "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes." It was all family entertainment.
That is how he deserves to be remembered - as a rock 'n roll pioneer who understood vulgarity and violence were not necessary if the music was good.
