One of American Bandstand's most enduring influences was how it sparked nationwide interest in dances (think the Stroll and the Twist). Teenagers from Miami to Seattle, Boston to Los Angeles and all points in between wanted to do those dances they saw their favorite Philadelphia teens doing on TV.
And the music industry was more than happy to oblige. Popular dances begat popular records, which begat profits for the record companies. One dance that failed to click, however, came early in American Bandstand's long national run on ABC-TV.
In the summer of 1958, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Merlin of California's Wham-O toy company took the idea of Australian bamboo exercise hoops and gave it a decidedly American spin, casting fascimiles in plastic and started giving them away. Soon, however, they were going for a couple of bucks apiece and the Hula Hoop fad was born.
Some 25 million were sold in the first four months, sparking another creation, the "Hula Rock," by Betty Mae Harris, a ballroom dance teacher from Boone, Iowa. The dance borrowed moves from the traditional box step and the then-new Stroll, with a bit of hip swaying, similar to the Hawaiian hula.
The Hula Hoop continued to be a big seller for couple of years, Georgia Gibbs even lip-synched to her Hula Hoop Song on Dick Clark's Saturday night show on Jan. 26, 1959 and Hawaii went on to be America's 50th state later that year, but the Hula Rock quickly faded into oblivion.
Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand -- Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. Go here to learn the story behind the writing of Bandstandland or here to listen to the Pennsylvania Cable Network's interview with author Larry Lehmer.
Larry Lehmer's book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.