Hey everyone and happy Sunday!
I know I have been tweeting less and more thoroughly blogging!
I think it is a sign of the times to talk in soundbites and I have been getting back to a little more old school….. hand written thank you notes, phone calls over emails…. slowly calming things down a bit if that makes sense!
Not that I won’t have a hyper tweet fest soon! I am sure I will !!!
I am also organizing a soon to happen live Facebook chat!
Hoping for sometime this week so stay tuned and get those hard hitting questions ready : )
The biggest news of the week was Dick Clark’s Memorial service. Out of respect for privacy I did not mention it prior to… I feel good talking about it now as much has been written about what was a true celebration of one man’s life. One amazing man who connected music, artists, and music fans in a way no one else had ever done.
I remember my Mama telling me about how she would rush home from school and, much like the lead character in Hairspray, she was that outcast who found a whole new world open up to her through American Bandstand. There was no one to judge you in your very own living room and, knowing this was airing LIVE across the nation, she was connected by a silent yet powerful thread to people who shared a common theme. They LOVED music and they LOVED Dick Clark!
At the memorial, amazing people like Marie Osmond and Reba got up and recalled their memories with such heart it was as if Dick was there with us all. And….he was! The only tears were of joy for having crossed paths with such a magnetic and kind soul.
When I first walked in…after meeting Wink Martindale (OMG!!!)…I noticed a tapestry made of signed photos. They are transferred to fabric and all addressed to Mr. Clark. My heart skipped a beat (one that you could dance to!) as I spotted familiar handwriting. There it was…. a picture and personal message of my own included on this amazing tapestry woven of musical history. To be a part of that….. my eyes and heart are full right now! I signed it Deborah which made me know in an instant that I had felt a personal connection to the man right away. I always signed things with my stage name of “Debbie Gibson” back then but obviously the tie to Dick Clark went beyond. He was fatherly and mentor-ish to all young acts he met. He did not teach through teaching. He taught by being. By watching this man speaking to dancers, fans, rock stars, and the viewing audience at home in the same exact tone, with the same warmth and authenticity, I learned that to connect with people, all you had to do was be YOU and people would be drawn to you. You did not have to try to be something else or to try to be edgy or cool. Dick Clark’s coolness came from the fact that he was always rooted in true Americana and family and in a love of music while still keeping up with the times.
He took a chance on having a teenager co-host the American Music Awards way before that was a common occurrence. He treated me like a pro and so I was able to rise to the occasion. He recognized something in me, and therefore I found it in myself. He then put his stamp of approval on me representing the American Bandstand Box Set for Time Warner. A role I did not take lightly. When I found out my co-host was Frankie Avalon I nearly died! I have a love of Frankie’s type of music as my Dad serenaded me with Venus as a child! I knew that Dick had integrity and so I felt i was doing something right if he deemed me suitable to represent his life’s work. And going back to where it all began… American Bandstand… I remember saying to my Mom “I am SO glad I started early enough to be able to do this show!” I had made it just under the wire as it went off the air shortly thereafter. I felt I was at the end of an era that truly set the stage for everything we are hearing now. ALL music forever and ever. There can only ever be one pioneer….and that pioneer was Dick Clark. There was a line at the memorial that stuck with me. “He became an icon while making others icons”. How very cool and generous and a sign that there is enough to go around! Do what you love and the rest just follows!
I was going to write more but I would like to keep this solely about Dick Clark. I will write to you all in the coming days to update you on all else that is going on but, on this Sunday take a moment to reflect and maybe pull up some YouTube videos to relive some great moments in musical history as brought to you by the one and only Dick Clark!
Warmly, DEBORAH
