S. Florida Musicians Remember Their Friend Dick Clark
MIAMI (CBS4) - Many of Dick Clark's friends now live in South Florida and went on to do great things in the music industry. One friend owns a music studio in North Miami called Audio Vision.
"He was responsible for so many people's lives, including mine," said Steve Alaimo, Clark's friend.
When Alaimo met Clark in 1962, Alaimo was a teen idol pop singer who appeared on the show, "American Bandstand." He would go on to handle all of the music for one of Clark's other shows, "Where The Action Is."
"I made all that music so cheap for him. He liked to save money," a smiling Alaimo told CBS4's Gio Benitez.
He says Clark was as much a businessman as an entertainer.
"If it wasn't for him, there'd be no music. It's a big statement to make, but he kept it alive," said Alaimo.
"If Dick Clark played it, it was a hit. It didn't have to be good! Dick Clark just had to play it," said South Florida radio legend Rick Shaw.
Shaw remembers when Clark asked him to fill in for him on one of Clark's shows.
"Oh my God. Yeah. It was the best experience of my life," said Shaw.
He calls Clark a visionary, with heart.
"He was honest, he was sincere, he would go out of his way to use the fact that he was Dick Clark to help you," said Shaw.
Now these two men remember their friend.
"He had something that he did after every show that he performed. And he would salute. And I salute him. That's all I can say," said Alaimo.
