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I so remember being in junior high and then high school and watching Bandstand on Friday afternoons with my cousins. For those of us from small midwestern towns, Dick Clark brought the latest music to us. We learned the twist, the jerk, the locomotion, and so many other dances from watching the kids. We were able to see all the latest artists--Chubby Checker, the Supremes, the Seekers, the Mamas and Papas, Sonny and Cher, the Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin--all performing their latest hits. Black and white couples danced side by side--all a few years before the big Civil Rights clashes of the late 1960s. We also learned the latest clothing styles and hairdos--we watched pegged pants evolve into bell bottoms and pencil skirts become minis. Ducktails became Beatle cuts and short hair with bangs become longer flipped-up hair and eventually long hair parted in the middle. Suede bucks became penny loafers and pointed-toe flats became white go-go boots and then platform heels. Bandstand was a great social equalizer of its time--we were just all teenagers who loved music and loved to dance--period.
All of these memories have made me smile in spite of the loss of Dick Clark. He was a social and class reformer whether he realized it or not, and those of us from that era will always be grateful for his influence. And--how about his famous "rate that song" segment? These words will forever define those wonderful songs--"It has a good beat and I can dance to it!" What else is there?
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