MUNCIE, Ind. - In an upcoming book, a Ball State University pop culture expert attributes the early growth of rock and roll to Dick Clark and his "American Bandstand" television show.

Without Clark promoting the latest dance craze or booking new stars, rock music may not have played the same role of shaping American culture of the late 1950s and early 1960s, said Richard Aquila, history professor.

"You cannot exaggerate the importance of Dick Clark because of the effects he and his show had on our culture," he said. "If Elvis Presley was the era's key singer, Dick Clark was the key promoter. Without him, the popularity of rock may not have spread as fast.

"Clark and his show, which featured well-dressed young teens, made rock acceptable for America," he said. "He brought rock music to millions of people. Back then if your city didn't have a rock station, you had to depend on Bandstand."

Aquila dedicates a chapter to Clark in "Sh-Boom: Or, How Early Rock 'N Roll Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love America's Cold War Culture." The book is due out next year.

The chapter focuses on the heyday of Bandstand from 1957-64 when it aired weekday afternoons on the ABC television network. ABC is running a two-hour special in primetime May 3 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the program.

Aquila has been working on the book for about 11/2 years with many of the interviews coming from when he was host of the National Public Radio show, "Rock and Roll America," in the late 1990s.

Bandstand began in 1952 as an afternoon dance show aired in the Philadelphia area. Clark became host in 1956 and a year later he brought the program to the national airwaves for the first time. The show went on to play over 65,000 records, which were danced to by over 600,000 in-studio teenagers.

"I was about 10 or 11 when I first saw it and it had an effect on me and everyone else," Aquila said. "Teen hangouts were virtually empty in the afternoons because everyone ran home to see the latest fashions and their favorite groups.

"When it was on every afternoon it was a soap opera because all teens wanted to know which couples were dating," he said. "American youth culture was being played out in a public forum every day."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Aquila at raquila@bsu.edu or (765) 286-8231.)