When Rockin' Robin, host of the hit TV show At the Bandstand!, announces an on-air dance-off to join the popular Bandstand Kids, Cindy and her gaggle of girlfriends jump at the chance! But in order to succeed, Cindy will need to out-shine the spoiled daughter of the show's corporate sponsor. This easy-to-stage musical is an absolute blast, with familiar '50s songs, clever characters, and hilarious punch lines to spare! Titles: At the Bandstand! * Rockin' Robin * Save the Last Dance for Me * Johnny Angel * Sh-Boom * Splish Splash * Shake, Rattle and Roll * Great Balls of Fire.

American Bandstand, one of the most popular television shows ever, broadcast from Philadelphia in the late fifties, a time when that city had become a battleground for civil rights. Counter to host Dick Clark’s claims that he integrated American Bandstand, this book reveals how the first national television program directed at teens discriminated against black youth during its early years and how black teens and civil rights advocates protested this discrimination. Matthew F. Delmont brings together major themes in American history—civil rights, rock and roll, television, and the emergence of a youth culture—as he tells how white families around American Bandstand’s studio mobilized to maintain all-white neighborhoods and how local school officials reinforced segregation long after Brown vs. Board of Education. The Nicest Kids in Town powerfully illustrates how national issues and history have their roots in local situations, and how nostalgic representations of the past, like the musical film Hairspray, based on the American Bandstand era, can work as impediments to progress in the present.

From Elvis and a hound dog wearing matching tuxedos and the comic adventures of artificially produced bands to elaborate music videos and contrived reality-show contests, television--as this critical look brilliantly shows--has done a superb job of presenting the energy of rock in a fabulously entertaining but patently "fake" manner. The dichotomy of "fake" and "real" music as it is portrayed on television is presented in detail through many generations of rock music: the Monkees shared the charts with the Beatles, Tupac and Slayer fans voted for corny American Idols, and shows like" Shindig! "and "Soul Train "somehow captured the unhinged energy of rock far more effectively than most long-haired guitar-smashing acts. Also shown is how TV has often delighted in breaking the rules while still mostly playing by them: Bo Diddley defied Ed Sullivan and sang rock and roll after he had been told not to, the Chipmunks' subversive antics prepared kids for punk rock, and things got out of hand when" Saturday Night Live "invited punk kids to attend a taping of the band Fear. Every aspect of the idiosyncratic history of rock and TV and their peculiar relationship is covered, including cartoon rock, music programming for African American audiences, punk on television, Michael Jackson's life on TV, and the tortured history of MTV and its progeny.

Dick Clark, known widely as "America's oldest teenager," single-handedly formed the culture of the day on American Bandstand, and helped give rise to rock 'n' roll. He was a man of many roles: an entrepreneur, producer, game-show host and much more. It didn't feel like New Year's Eve in America if you weren't watching Dick Clark count down the minutes. The statistics are staggering; Bandstand brought in 40 million viewers a day when the country's population wasn't even 200 million and when many people were at work-one might size that up to airing a Super Bowl every day! However, Dick Clark's influence transcended the music. Against dissent, he integrated the dance floor and gave Baby Boomer America a daily vision of what a non-segregated society could be; early guests on his show included Chuck Berry and James Brown, as well as Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers. Clark even made television an interactive pastime by reaching out to his viewers and getting them to call in and say what they thought about the couple of the day, or the song. This made Bandstand the progenitor of much of today's TV culture-shows like American Idol, The Voice and Dancing with the Stars. Dick Clark was also a friend of LIFE's; in this book, we bring back an earlier LIFE piece in which he reminiscences about the exciting early days of rock 'n' roll. He was a legend who introduced us to other legends, and for that, he will always be remembered.

Called America's oldest living teenager, Dick Clark, from 1956 until 1989, hosted "American Bandstand" the dance show that reflected America's youth culture for more than 30 years. This rich and vibrant retrospective of the very best of "Bandstand" is lavishly illustrated with stunning photos and jam-packed with fascinating sidebars, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and interviews with guest stars from Chuck Berry to Madonna. 250 photos. Index.

The best of the cult-favorite music magazine Roctobers conversations with overlooked or forgotten artists, from the Outlaw Country singer David Allan Coe to the frustrated interstellar glam act Zolar X.