Goodbye, Dick Clark

Last Updated on: 30th July 2022, 01:47 pm

I guess Dick Clark really does age after all.

According to all sorts of reports, he suffered a massive heart attack this morning and died at the age of 82.

Dick Clark was another one of those broadcasters that you don’t see much of anymore. The type who could host pretty well anything and seem to fit right in and feel right at home.

My first childhood memories of him are the guy who cohosted Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Ed McMahon and The $100000 Pyramid. It wasn’t until a bit later that I learned about things like American Bandstand and all of his other contributions to music. I never got attached to the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve the way a lot of people did because we didn’t have cable until I was well into my teens and we couldn’t always pull in ABC to watch it, but I did tune in for the countdown and ball drop a few times and was sad to see him have to give up that gig after his stroke in 2004.

I wonder if our copy of Dick Clark’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Christmas still lives at my mom’s house. If it does, I’m going to make sure we listen to it when we have our party this year. That was the first place I ever heard King Curtis’ version of The Christmas Song, which for my money is the best one around.

Exposing me to King Curtis and making me want to learn more about him is the kind of thing Dick Clark spent his life doing, and the kind of thing musicians and fans everywhere owe him a debt of gratitude for. He’s one of the last of a dying breed and he’ll certainly be missed. there’ll never be another like him, without a doubt.

Here he is being interviewed about his career a few years ago. Video runs 25:42.

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