As we prepare to bid 2013 farewell, this relic is a great example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, the people in this video are all wearing things that look lame now, but will probably be in fashion again in another year or two.
Though Dick Clark is no longer with us, it’s eerie that he chooses to signpost 1989 by referring to it as “a year when The Who and the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney and Ringo came back to visit with us.” That could have been 2013, too!
He mentions the popularity of “rap music and heavy metal and dance music” as well. And whaddaya know? Those things are all still big!
And yes, people still gather in Times Square and climb up things like idiots and they probably will do that forever too, whether or not Dick Clark or Ryan Seacrest are talking about them.
The only thing that really dates this is the sampling of musicians that the World’s Oldest Teenager had on his show this year.
He announces, “Michael Damian, Dion, Expose, Martika, Stephanie Mills, The Temptations, they’ll all be with us! Through the night!”
Expose had a handful of hits, so they make sense as high-profile guests. However, Michael Damian had a hit with a cover of a song called “Rock On” that year, and Martika was huge with “Toy Soldiers,” but neither had very prolific careers. Stephanie Mills belonged to the 1970s, the Temps belonged to the ’60s and Dion belonged to the ’50s. Was that Clark’s M.O. with his show? To remind people that old musical acquaintances should NOT be forgotten? Interesting.
