American Bandstand became a powerful symbol of American teenage culture with its nearly four-decade look at the ever-changing tastes of the country's youth. Featuring guest artists who lip-synced to their latest tunes, and a teenage audience whose members danced for the cameras, the show launched a conga line of dance crazes, fashion and hair trends, and sent the latest teen slang expressions echoing from coast to coast.

From its beginning as a local Philadelphia telecast called, simply, Bandstand in 1952, to its 1957 national debut as American Bandstand, and on throughout its run, the show was known for treating teenagers with deference. Congenial host Dick Clark did not pontificate or preach; he instead let the kids and the music do the communicating. The antithesis of courageous rock 'n' roll proponents like fiery Alan Freed, Clark has been accused of homogenizing rock 'n' roll. Music historians have pointed out...