The Clay Cole Show
| The Clay Cole Show | |
|---|---|
Cole (left) with The Isley Brothers in 1962
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| Also known as | 'Rate the Records Talent Teens Teen Quiz The Record Wagon[1] Clay Cole's Discotek[2] |
| Release | |
| Original network | WNTA-TV WPIX-TV |
| Original release | 1959 – 1968 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
The Clay Cole Show (1959–1968) was a rock music television show based in New York City, hosted by Clay Cole.
First broadcast on WNTA-TV (now WNET) in September 1959 as Rate the Records, within two months the format was changed, and an hour-long Saturday-night show was added. In the summer months, the show was expanded to an hour, six nights a week, live from New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, where Chubby Checker first performed and danced "The Twist".[1][3] When WNTA-TV was sold in 1963 the show moved to WPIX-TV, where for five years it was successful, thanks to first-time guest appearances of The Rolling Stones (on a program with one other guest act--The Beatles), Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, Simon & Garfunkel, Richie Havens, Tony Orlando, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Rascals.[1][2] In 1965 the show was renamed Clay Cole's Discotek.[2] Clay produced a full hour with just one guest, Tony Bennett. Clay's all-star, ten-day Christmas Show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater holds the all-time box-office record for that theater.[4][5]
Cole was the first to introduce stand-up comics such as Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Fannie Flagg to a teen audience.[1][3] He was the first to produce a full hour of all-black performers, his historic Salute to Motown[1][3] Unlike other teen music show hosts, Cole danced to the music he played on his shows; he was also unafraid to book lesser-known performers.[1][3][6]
In 1968, at the height of his show's popularity, Cole--unhappy with the shift in pop music to psychedelic acid rock and heavy metal--left the show.[1][3]
His memoir of the early years of rock and roll and live television, Sh-Boom! The Explosion of Rock 'n' Roll (1953-1968) has been published by Morgan James.[7][8] Cole died on December 18, 2010.[1][2][3][9]
See also
References
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed December 2010
