“45 years of rock n roll, baby”
August 5 1957– Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
It aired regularly in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer.
May 3, 2002 was the final episode.
Over the decades, a wide range of musical acts, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run-DMC, appeared in person to lip-syncone of their latest singles. Artists would sing naturally to the studio audience over a background of their own disc, while viewers at home would hear only the original recording. Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110.
The show's popularity helped Clark become a media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and British series Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.