DICK CLARK’S AMERICAN BANDSTAND MAY RETURN

Efforts to revive Dick Clark’s seminal American Bandstand series of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s have been stymied for years over rights issues over the recorded music used on the program. But Michael Mahan, president of Dick Clark Productions, has hinted that there may be a way to bring the show back to life again, after all — on the radio. In an interview with the New York Times, Mahan said, “Look for American Bandstand to relaunch on the radio in the very near future.” While the Times noted that Mahan “declined to share details,” putting the show on the radio would solve numerous problems connected with its reuse. Radio stations have blanket licenses from ASCAP and BMI to play records, and it’s conceivable that the radio version would simply swap out the recordings from the video with modern-day CDs and use Clark’s introductions and interviews. Virtually all of the singers on American Bandstand simply lip-synched their performances to their records.