different start for c.j. nitkowski. >> thanks it for our show tonight. i'm randi kaye. >> and i'm drew griffin. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight, america's eternal teenager dead at the age of 82. the man who taught how to rock nd role to american bandstand the man who rocked america's new year's eve for nearly 40 years. >> i'm going to go. i'm going to be there. it's part of america's tradition. >> teenage disk jockey at his father's radio station to multimillion-dollar media mogul, on $25,000 pyramid and more. dick clark literally did it all. the stars who knew him best pay tribute.

plus, only in america. the legacy of dick clark for the generations of superstars he helped create. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. you're looking wlif at tiemgz square where dick clark celebrated new year's eve for 37 glorious years. the big story is the death of dick clark, die of a massive heart attack today in a santa monica hospital. he was 82 years old. he is being celebrated a's a pioneer. he was a genius behind american bandstand, making stores of some of the biggest names in the business and the man who rang in america's new year's for decades. listen to his great friend ryan seacrest paying tribute to dick clark on "american idol."

>> without dick, a show like this would not be possible. he will be missed greatly. our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. i know that he's in a better place, saying, hey, let's get on with the show, okay? you got it, boss now for our "big story." we'll bring in other all-stars, people who knew dick clark better than most. larry is here with me. larry, you knew dick clark for 40, 50 years, an absolute legend of the business. put him in context, historical context. how important was dick clark, do

you think? p of well, he was a pioneer. he revolutionized music on television with american band stand. talking before he went on he had blacks and whites dancing together, unheard of. a lot of young people watching said, what? that's crazy. that was crazy then, risk taking. he was involved in so many programs that the public didn't even know about. >> here's the thing. i knew you were responsible for this show alone before i came along. for 7,000 shows. now, dick clark apparently was responsible, in all his guises, for 7,500 thousand hours on television. >> his longevity is amazing. there are so many things he touched as a producer, he owned a radio show. he produced "donny and marie." he produced their show.

he was everything. >> if you could bottle the dick clark magic, what would you call it? what was the secret ingredient that he had? >> he was a great generalist the. he could do anything. he was very, very good. you wouldn't go around quoting dick clark. he has no memorable, great moments, but he was kind of everyman. he was there. he entered the room well. the camera liked him. he was gentle. he was kind. he was smart. he was revolutionary in music. for example, even as he aged, most people get older. you and i -- not saying you're old -- we could not name the billboard top ten. >> right. but he could. >> he could have named it probably yesterday. >> let me bring in connie francis. you've appeared on many top tens in your years. you've known him since you were 19 years old.

what was dick's importance to you and your career and life? >> well, there would have been no career without dick clark so he impacted my life greatly. i would have probably been a doctor, would have been a different -- for a different life. but the interesting thing, piers, that i did not discussion with the woman i discussed the show with this afternoon was the last two weeks of dick's life and where his head was during that period of time. how little the acquisition of money had become to him. because he was worth well over $1 billion. it really was how my it desire to help veterans, wanted it to become his desire, too. and finally he was going to join with me in that effort starting january 17th in california when i was being honored by --

>> you think, connie, that in the last few days of his life that he began to realize that actually money, which he had made no intention of wanting to seek lots of money and success, he was quite unashamed about that, and he was very successful, made tens of millions of dollars in his time. dow think in the end he realized that wasn't what was important to his life? >> it was really -- up until i think -- i think i saw him a year and a half ago. i went to visit carrie and dick at their home in malibu. it was the most magnificent -- i can't even call it an estate. it's like a lot of different estates. i think it has to be in different zip codes it's so magnificent. and i looked about this beautiful place and he said to me -- he was in a wheelchair and

he still is the most magnificent mind, the brilliant mind. he said, you know, this small little place, there were several homes, this is worth $75 until. the acquisition of money was always very important to dick. but the last couple of weeks, it didn't mean a thing to him. and i wanted something else to become important to him, and i remember i was with my hair dresser carol and she was listening because i had the phone down. she was doing my hair and finally he said, you know, i want to be there with you, connie. i'll be there january 7th. but for some reasons medically i couldn't be there. but he was committed to helping veterans in the last few weeks of his life. last few months of his life. >> connie, let me just bring in -- that's a very touching story. let me bring in donny osmond. donny, you knew dick clark for over 40 years. what i'd first like to ask you is, what was the importance of "american bandstand" to any young musical act in america?

>> well, it was the show everybody wanted to be on because it presented their talent, they could become stars, become legends, thanks to dick clark. you know, he had such a great personality, he'd be on television, great businessman as connie was saying. but when you talk to him -- and i've known him ever since i was 12, 13 years old when i had my first number one record i was o "bandstand." he had this ability to treat you as a friend. you know, we can come up with words and larry even said it, ryan seacrest said it, used the word "pioneer." yes, he is. but i'd like to look at it a little different way, piers. who is the next dick clark zm when you think about it, there's a lot of influential people in this world, you being one. you have a voice to the world. you have a lot of influential television shows that present talent out there. but i think you'd be very hard-pressed to find someone to fill dick clark's shoes and what

he was able to accomplish, what he was able to do and how he did it and the legacy that he left. you know, you look at it from that perspective, when we say the word "legend," we think about elvis presley and frank sinatra sinatra. but if somebody can't fill your shoes, you're a legend. dick clark is a legend. >> that's a very good point. irreplaceable is the word that springs to mind with dick clark, larry. the importance he had on american popular culture 4 its time and then for the generations that followed. really he is irreplaceable. nobody ever did it quite like dick clark. >> no one did it or as in things as he did. i think seacrest comes the closest in he's a producer, he has television shows, the e! network. he would come the closest to touching it. but there will never be another clark. >> let me bring in gloria's stefan. great sadness at the passing of dick clark.

how did you feel when you heard? >> well, of course we were all sad. our family because he was very close to us. he actually had one of my granddogs, one of my dalmatians. he had come after my accident to visit me here in florida, and he had met my dalmatians and he wanted one of them. what i think was most amazing about dick clark is he was a human being. you know, he was one of the top people that you wanted to get your music to and you knew that if he put you on your show you were a success. yes, he produced a lot of things but he produced it because he loved it. you could tell what he was doing was because it was in his heart and soul. and he was real. you know, you meet so many people out there in hollywood and in the industry that, you know, when you meet them they kind of let you down a little bit because you realize that there's something there that's lost in humanity a little bit. dick clark was quite the opposite. he was such an amazing human being, warm, loving, caring,

always humble and talking to everyone and just trying to resolve problems. he wasn't problematic in the least. he just tried to do the best for all the artists that he really believed in, and he would let you know when he believed in you. he also loved people that were real, and i think that set him apart a lot. >> great statement actually from the president, barack obama, tonight. he said, michelle and i are saddened to hear about the passing of dick clark. with american bandstand, he introduced decades' worth of viewers to the music of our times. he reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative producer and of course for 40 years we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the new year. but more importantly his groundbreaking achievements was the way he made us feel, as young and vibrant and optimistic as he was. and as we say our final so long to dick clark, america's oldest teenager, our thoughts and prayers to his it family and friends. >> very well said. >> touching statement.

>> you know what i was thinking? dick clark with all the fame and money wasn't a limousine guy. dick clark was a regular guy. he was a regular guy. >> there was a lovely quote he said actually that he never lost touch of his love for hot dogs, for going to the ball game, for going to a mall. he sort of kept in touch with the average american, which i suspect enabled him to instinctively have an average american's taste. >> you wouldn't call him mr. clark. he was dick clark. he was one word, dick clark. >> hold that there. we'll take a break. everyone stand by. we'll have more reminisces of the great dick clark after the break. ♪ ♪ wow... ♪ [ female announcer ] sometimes, all you need is the smooth, creamy taste of werther's original caramel

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i said, there will be a day when music will come in our homes, we'll never see a record, never know anything. and lo and behold, it's here. >> dick clark, an all-american genius, an interview with larry king in 2004. larry is with me, connie fran cis, donny osmond and more. you said prophetic, larry. >> the man stayed in touch with the times. like he knew about the way we would communicate, what would happen. we could never predict -- you and i couldn't say what it will be like in five years. we know it ain't going to be like today. dick knew.

>> how many people, of all the people you ever interviewed, had that instinctive gut feel for what the majority of americans would like to see and hear. >> i'd have to think. steve jobs, interviewed him early on. he had it. not many. >> there aren't many. >> that know about tomorrow. boy -- >> a real talent. >> i tell you one thing, if you do know, you're going to be very rich. >> paul anka, you appeared on american bandstand, you knew dick well. put his legacy into perspective for me. >> well, i've known dick for 54 years, and i think all of those topics were touched with my previous friends on his legacy. i think everyone has kind of mounted that. he's first of all a human being, as someone said earlier, has to be accounted for. he was an incredible friend. and i knew him through even

adversity. his wife had left him and the paola scandal. he had to restore his integrity. that was the character of the man that would -- when we talked about that, it almost destroyed him and it cost him millions of dollars. where he really got back up on his feet again and created this empire. and that in itself tells you the kind of man that we're talking about here. as someone else touched upon, when you knew him as a friend, the humility that was a lot of continuity in his life and right down to the last time i had lunch with him, it was always amazetion. he was like a brother, the father. he was the guy that never chajed. those kind of people are very rare, and dick was that. first a human being and very grateful for his life. >> donny osmond, you've produced -- you had a show with your sister marie in 1998-2000. it was a dick clark production.

so you knew him in many different guises. what everyone is saying about him is he was as nice offscreen as he appeared onscreen. was that your experience 0? >> actually, piers, i had an experience that makes me laugh every time i think about it. he was our producer. he is able to produce peace out of chaos. show business is chaos. marie and i were interviewing this person, i can't remember who it was, but we were both on each other's nerves. i was on her nerves. she was on mine. we came to a commercial break. i look at dick clark who's sitting at the producer's desk behind the camera and i said, stop tape! i take marie behind the wall. now everybody in the studio can hear this conversation. we proceed to rip each other's heads off. and we're just yelling at each other because we were just on each other's nerves. around the corner comes dick clark. he comes walking toward us and this man, he knew how to diffuse any situation.

he walks up to us, puts one hand on marie's shoulder, one hand on mine. he looks at us and says these two words -- now children. and we always realized how childish we were. but dick had the most unbelievable way of bringing everybody back together and making everybody friends and creating peace out of chaos. >> i love that. gloria estefan, i remember interviewing you after the horrific back injury you sustained in a bus accident. it was dick clark that got you back performing. tell me about his powers of pr purr suasion. how was he in that persuasive mode? >> well, i've got to tell you, only dick clark could have talked me into doing that because, you know, twice in my life my knees have knocked, and that was one of them. i thought that was just an

expression, but it actually happens. and since it was right after i was coming back from my accident, i thought people were going to believe thai still just couldn't walk, that i was paralyzed. i did that for him because he was always such an incredibly supportive person. ever since we came on scene, he had us on "bandstand," he really loved us and supported everything we did. when he came to me and said, i want you on sh show, i was pretty much still recuperating. i had the accident in march of 1990 and this was january of '91. i was just starting to really feel like i was getting back to normality. and i kept telling him, dick, i'm afraid. i don't know if i'm ready. you know, he just gave me such peace in saying, we're going to take care of you. everyone is going to be fine. people are really dying to have you come back. and i would love it for it to be on our show. we had also won an award, the

american music award, for best new group couple of years before that. so he was an amazing person. you know, we're very sad that we have lost him. i know we're going to miss him very especially every new year's eve because we watched him. but he has such a well-lived life. i think that everyone can be very happy that he had that kind of life that he did and that he made such a huge impact on so many lives, both performers and people who watched him on television and listened on radio and everything he did. >> connie francis, i mean, you went through some pretty tough times in your life. there's an extraordinary story you've told where dick clark actually flew across the country to help you on one occasion. tell me about that. >> yes. i had during the '80s actually 17 involuntary commitments to mental institutions. the first time dick heard about

it, he flew in a private plane, and dick didn't like to spend a lot of money, flew a private plane cross-country to the hospital. and he begged on his knees for me to take lithium because i was diagnosed -- actually misdiagnosed with bipolar. another time he came to my home in bel air and had me committed because he thought that's what i needed, to be committed. he has been there for every crisis of my life, and when i was the victim of rape in 1974, i did not appear publicly for seven years. and in 1977 he pleaded with me to play his westchester theater

and there was no way i was going to do that. and then in 1977 i lost my voice completely due to some nasal surgery. and dick wasn't buying that. he said, no, it's all in your head, connie. it's in your head. i said, it's not. and i'll show you the doctor's reports, it's not. he said, yeah, it is. he said, fly to l.a. we'll go to the studio, and you do one line at a time. i don't care if you do a hundred takes. then we'll put it all together and you can lip-sync on the show. i said, that's cheating. i'm not lip-syncing. you know how much your public is dying to see you? you've got to do the show, connie. so that's what we did. it had to be 200 takes. we put this thing together. it was a reasonable facsimile of my voice, not that great. but it was a wonderful response.

>> the point is he gave you that confidence. that's a very powerful story, thank you. >> but it was dick's reaction. it was a moment in tv history, his reaction to that. that was what was wonderful. he was amazing. >> thank you, connie. just touch on that, larry. he clearly had great persuasive powers. he was a great showman. but he also had a very caring side and also had an ability to give a lot of very insecure performers, for whatever reason, the confidence to perform. we saw that with gloria, connie. what was it about him that enabled him to persuade people? >> he was an everyman. you know, he was, as someone said, he was your uncle, he was your brother, he was your kid brother, he was your older brother. that great line to donny, now children, that's a dick clark line. and so he made you feel better about -- and he could be very persuasive. i almost left the radio network i was with to join his, and he

just -- i couldn't do it. it was just a contractual thing. he just looked at me and said, you're not coming? you're not coming? he was sweet. he was genuine. >> what do you think america has lost today? >> they lost an institution. when these people leave us, they leave a hole that doesn't get filled. he's just -- he's going to be remembered a long, long, long time. this business owes him a debt. >> that's very true. thank you, larry. thank you also to connie, donny, and gloria and paul. we'll be back after the break with more memories from other people that knew dick clark very well. >> dick clark was a great friend of mine. he lived in one of my buildings for years in new york. he was just a real icon. i would watch "american bandstand" and i would also watch every new year's eve.

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one of today's most powerful vocal sounds and wouldn't you know it, they are from philadelphia. the multiaward-winning boyz 2 men.

♪ just see that i need you near and away from me at all times ♪ ♪ my feelings are there ♪ that i won't let go >> dick clark introducing boyz 2 men on "american bandstand," also the commodores, a supergroup with lionel richie also had some memorable performers on "bandstand." you said you sounded on key. is this an unusual event? >> it happens more than people think, the off-key thing. >> what does it mean to you to see dick clark introducing you as a group? how big a moment is that for any musical act? >> think i appreciate it now more than i did then. because back then, we were still very much kids and everything at that time, our success came from fast. so everything just came at our

heads, so it was one of those things where, yes, dick clark is awesome, we know who he is, we know how important he is, but it was just more about just going out there and singing, but now looking back and seeing all of the things that mr. clark has done for us and so many other people, i realize how great those moments, watching them really are. >> william king, i mean one of the key things that i felt that dick clark did, which has probably been underplayed today, amid all the tributes, was the incredible gamble he took in bringing racial integration to american television sets. he really did go out on a limb, you know, he had the first interracial audiences dancing together. he interviewed young black teenagers on his show, all this stuff at the time something that may cause advertisers in the south to run a mile. could be damaging, maybe career damaging. tell me about that side of dick clark.

>> i'll tell you this, we won one year the pop award on the amas, american music awards. and i believe the bee gees won the r&b award that year. so, i mean, that shows you right there that -- that was something that i think he felt really good about that he was probably the pioneer of pop music as we know it today and that he -- that it was all diverse to him. you know, he just brought all the music to everybody all the time. and i think he got a great joy out of that. >> we've actually just had a statement from your commodores colleague, lionel richie. he says dick clark was one of m mentors, he understood artist try as well as the dna of artists and gave me the confidence to pursue and execute my career goals. for that, i will always be

thankful. i will miss him dearly. that says it all, there, lionel, doesn't it? >> i remember the time we first met him, he kept saying, gentlemen, gentlemen, dick clark would say to me us. every time we did his show, i think we did his show about six times and he would always come back and see us before we went on the show, and he would always say gentlemen. i stopped him one time and i said, you always say gentlemen, gentlemen, he said, i just want to make sure before i let you on that you're still gentlemen. the thing with dick clark, he was always fun. every show he never did, from the bloopers to everything he did, was always fun, it was more childlike, i would say, than anything else, and that it reached the the side of us that we all enjoyed and where we all wanted to be. i think that's why he's so successful. >> william stay with us, and

we'll be joined after the break by debbie gibson who also had dick clark help launch her career. but first a look at the beastie boys on "bandstand." this is great. watch this. ♪ you wake up late for school man you don't want to go ♪ ♪ you ask your mom please but she still says no ♪

five, four, three, two, one -- happy new year! >> it's hard to imagine new year's eve without dick clark courting down. joining me again, boyz ii men sean stockman, william and joining me by phone debbie gibson. debbie you were just 19 years old when you first appeared on "american bandstand" with dick clark. did you realize at the time what a big deal it was? >> you know, i did realize it was a big deal. i know that a lot of young artists now don't hold that musical history in high regard. i grew up with music in my house and my mom saying, oh, my god, i used to come home every day and dance in front of the tv with

dick clark and "american bandstand." at that moment, i felt like i had arrived in the music big. and when he said my name, i remember thinking, oh, my god, dick clark just said my name. and the name of my song. >> that says it all, doesn't it? sean, you said when you first appeared you didn't realize the significant of it. but there's debbie saying, hearing dick clark say your name, it was a huge deal. >> yes. >> it seems absurd now, in 2012, we could even talk about integrated audiences as a big deal. but when dick clark did this, as i said in the last segment, 'twas it was a huge deal. it was a groundbreaking, risk taking thing. he was known as a pioneer for block groups. tell me about that side of dick clark and the importance to you.

>> it was extremely important, and it started way back in '57 when the show started and when we took on the helm of actually being a host, he was actually a replacement host for someone else. but he understood very clearly a long time ago, that to put it plainly white kids listen to black music. an he was very much in tune with that, and even today, the correlation between dick and boyz ii men is pretty much the same. we kind of fought the same fight, so to speak. his was a lot more profound because of the times he was living in. but being as though we were black kids, young black teenagers singing r&b music, to mainstream america we may have seemed a little like the stigma. but people realized that once people got to know us and understood who we were, not to mention bow ties and, you know, plaid shorts and chucks didn't

hurt, you know, everybody's guard went down. and dick understood the connection that music had. it wasn't about black and it wasn't about white. same thing with boyz ii men. you come to our shows, you see young, you see old, you see black, you see white, you see asian. it was really what was going on in america, but it wasn't popular. >> william king, would you go along with that? would you say dick clark played a valuable and significant role in the civil rights movement, because of the way he brought black bands and singers to american television? >> i don't think it's a stretch at all. if you think about the shows that were on during that time, that dealt with music, like we had midnight special, which i'm sure all the kids out there today don't remember. then we had soul train. but each one of those shows were specifically geared toward a sound of music, midnight special

was more rock 'n' roll, soul train, the name soul, r&b. but what dick clark did was straight across the board. so he had such a warm mingling of all of the music, all of the acts, the blacks, the whites, whatever, that it became natural. i mean, it wasn't like you saw all of these black acts and all of a sudden a white act came on. it was just such a wonderful intermingling that it was all natural. so i think people grew up looking at this show thinking and saying, it's all the same, it's all wonderful. there's no difference here. we can like and love any of the music that we want to. i think that's the thing that dick clark gave the world, he enabled them to understand that they can love all music, no matter where it comes from. >> i totally agree, and i really hope it gets reinforced over the next few days as we remember him. because it was a very important and brave and groundbreaking thing that dick pioneered there.

debbie let me come back to you, you hosted the bandstand 50th anniversary show with frankie avalon. every generation seemed to love him. what was it about him that made him so universally popular? >> well, i think it's what the guys were saying. you know, he didn't put his own opinion -- he really represented the music that america loved and wanted to hear. i remember as a very young teenager seeing madonna on the show. and, again, it wasn't like he was some kind of fuddy-duddy gloss-over host that was just going to put these pristine acts on the show. he dug into what real americans wanted to hear. and i think that's what really made him who he was. like the guys were saying, he introduced all kinds of music to

people and he was just versatile, he loved it all and he was so respectful, i know that like as a teenager, for instance, a lot of people were very quick to kind of act condescending towards me if you will. i actually hosted the american music awards, i remember him sitting with me as a professional and he was very nurturing and very respectful. >> he was a great man, i think in many ways debbie gibson, thank you very much. sean stockman and william king, thank you. we're back after the break to talk about dick clark the businessman, his impact on television and music. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. and now, here is your host, dick clark! >> hey! thank you very much. welcome to the $25,000 pyramid. >> the $25,000 pyramid, the game classic game show hosted by dick clark. he was a pioneer of american pop culture and that legacy endures today. joining me exclusively from "new york times," two reporters. gentlemen, welcome. let me start with you, bill. put into context for me dick clark's business brain and his phenomenal tv output. >> it's an incredible number of productions that he did. when he did "american bandstand"

he realized that there was a market in teenaged viewers. nobody had ever done that before and it really changed television because it introduced to abc that was struggling at the time the fact that they could go for a young youth market that nobody had done before and it really invented demographics in television. nobody approached it in that way that you could just go after young viewers, so they went more >> he was sprinkling, you know, this magical dust of sorts across television with award shows and reality shows and game shows. and i think that may have been what was so surprising to younger viewers, people that knew him from new year's eve on abc. to realize that he had his hands in all of these different game shows over the years. game shows like "$25,000 pyramid" versions of which we still have on the air today.

to realize that he had his hands in all of these different game shows over the years. game shows like "$25,000 pyramid" versions of which we still have on the air today. >> bill, there's a brilliant secret to the success of his new year's extravaganza. he filmed a lot of it in august. >> that's one of the most amazing things is that because the big stars weren't necessarily going to be available on new year's eve, he made a deal where they would show up at a studio in hollywood in august dressed in their new year's eve gowns and pretend the dance part you would see on new year's eve, it was actually in august and they were in these sweaty, hot outfits. they performed and then that would show up on the show as though it was live. >> quite amazing. brian stelter, people are saying how do you replace someone like dick clark?

he's obviously been quite unwell for some period of time. but people say that ryan seacrest is the nearest to dick clark. would you go along with that? >> i think people say he's the closest and larry king said that dick clark was a great generalist. that's the word that people use for ryan seacrest as well. he's been on new year's eve for almost a decade now and he's taking more and more of a role every year. and he has said he'd be a sidekick for as long as dick clark wanted to be on the show. it was notable on abc when they did a two-hour retrospective about dick clark's last 40 years of the show, it felt like his last show. when he e-mailed me -- he wouldn't do phone calls anymore because of the condition of his voice, just e-mails. he certainly seemed to suggest that it could be his last show. it doesn't mean to imply that he knew that he may pass away soon, but he certainly may have sensed that he wasn't going to be on

new year's eve for much longer. >> yeah. >> i think it's interesting, piers, when you talk about replacing, it's impossible to replace a guy who started when basically television started. he had opportunities people won't have again. it's like asking, who will be the next beatles? he had the opportunities that no one else is going to have again. he was able to enter the void. he jumped into every opportunity he could find including inventing the american music awards which really took the place of the grammys for a while because the grammys didn't know how to respond to the youth music. he was very on top of opportunities like that. >> his growth mirrored the growth of television. he understood the importance of live television. live tv is more important than ever. i remember last december my friend was having a new year's eve party without a tv set. i went to best buy, bought one and we hooked it up so we could watch dick clark. i can't imagine a new year's eve without him. >> yeah. very true. >> and he became the institution you had to see.

i can't see another person getting that stature. it's not going to happen again. >> no, i think it's -- the word "great" is often used often wrongly and so is the word irreplaceable. but i think we've lost a true great tonight and someone who's going to turn out to be irreplaceable. thank you both very much. coming up, only in america, remembering the extraordinary dick clark who got emotional himself when he was inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame in 1993. >> you did it. i had a speech! i had a speech! i've got to get ahold of myself.

tonight's "only in america," i want to pay my own personal tribute to the late great dick clark. few people have had a more profound influence than this charming new yorker with a cheeky smile and perennial twinkle in his eye. from "american bandstand" to the specials he produced as well as new year's eve, he was a constant and welcome fixture for more than a half century and he became one of the best loved tv presenters in history. he dismissed what he did saying i have been a fluffmeister for a long time. but he was so much more than that. dick clark spotted and nurtured and inspired more young musical talent than arguably anybody else before or since. his shows became the place to be if you wanted to be credible or have success. if dick clark wanted you, then everybody else would want you too.

he broke down race barriers when many considered that a gamble. he was not only a genius, but a brave and bold genius. at the same time, dick clark remained a man who lived a normal, quintessentially normal life. as he said himself -- my greatest asset in my life was i never lost touch with hot dogs, hamburgers, going to the fair and hanging out at the mall. this was that common touch that enabled him to know distinctively what many wanted to hear and watch for more than six decades. i can think of no better way to end this tribute show than by showing clips from three iconic performances on dick clark's "american bandstand" starring jerry lee lewis and the beach boys and then the michael jackson who owes a great, as well as each of us, debt to dick clark. ♪ you shake my nerves and rattle my brain ♪ ♪ goodness gracious great balls

of fire ♪ ♪ you came along and you moved me honey ♪ ♪ goodness gracious great balls of fire ♪ ♪ and she said, don't worry, baby ♪ ♪ don't worry, baby don't worry baby ♪ ♪ don't worry, baby ♪ don't worry, baby ♪ ♪ walk around this town with you all up in my stuff ♪ ♪ and i do know that i want ya ♪ let's dance let's shout ♪ shake your body down to the ground ♪ ♪ let's dance let's shout ♪ shake your body down to the ground ♪ ♪ let's dance let's shout ♪ shake your body down to the ground ♪