Awesome / American Bandstand

• To whoever decided to book the famed John Lydon-led experimental art rock band Public Image Ltd. - a band who never troubled the US pop charts - to perform on the show in 1980.
  • Especially when John Lydon showed his jovial side while being interviewed by Dick Clark and when he decided to invite all the Bandstand kids back up to the dance/stage space for the band's second song. One of the best music TV moments in American TV history.
  • Clark intially expressed disdain for the band upon hearing they were booked; Reflecting the notoriety of Lydon from his previous band, Clark asked the band's manager "What can I expect from this asshole?" before they went on air. He later named the performance one of his favorites in the show's history.
• Some other unconventional American Bandstand musical guests, this time from the show's 1960s incarnation — Captain Beefheart (via telephone interview with Don Van Vliet and an unlikely-looking young female fan who continues talking to him happily while the "Bandstand" kids dance to "Diddy Wah Diddy") and, in one of their first appearances on American television, Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett still in the band, back when they were still playing esoteric psychedelic rock. Dick Clark had his finger on the pulse of the FUTURE of music back then!
  • Surprisingly, American Bandstand were rather quick to book Psychedelic Rock bands right as the genre was taking off in 1966. The earliest artists were Love, who performed "My Little Red Book" that July and The 13th Floor Elevators, who performed "You're Gonna Miss Me" in October.
• Two decades later, Clark and the show were also fairly on the pulse with booking Alternative Rock and unconventional New Wave bands. Aside from PiL, artists like The Psychedelic Furs, X (US Band), Devo, Wire Train, The Alarm, The Jam, Split Enz and Wall of Voodoo performed on the show during the 1980s.
  • There are also a few instances of Retroactive Recognition for musicians who would become famous in the '90s: What Is This?, a band that featured Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons and future Queens of the Stone Age sideman Alain Johannes, appeared in 1986.
• When Dick Clark said in an interview that he would never join the A.A.R.P. because he never wanted to lose touch of "the kids". One got the feeling that if he could've done so, he would've kept "Bandstand" going until he couldn't stand anymore.
• The time Madonna made her first appearance on the show; it was her first appearance on national television and she was already full of confidence. When Dick Clark asked her in the post-performance interview what her plans were for the future, she confidently said, "To rule the world."
• The "Bandstand" kids of the late 1970s managed to invent a dance that is still danced to this day at wedding receptions and other such gatherings; they pioneered the moves that everybody does when dancing to the Village People's "YMCA".
• Even though new wave art pop band Sparks never had a Top 40 hit in the US, Dick Clark loved them so much that he had them perform four different times between 1982 and 1986. You can even see him develop a bit of a rapport between himself and Ron and Russell Mael in each of their interviews.
• Blue Cheer introduce Heavy Metal to the Saturday morning viewing audience with their version of "Summertime Blues" in 1968.
• In it's heyday only three musical acts made it to #1 without appearing on the show: Ricky Nelson, who was already famous; Elvis Presley, manager Colonel Tom Parker wouldn't let him; and Alvin and the Chipmunks, because they're animated.

---