A
segment of
American Bandstand, in which two of the
dancers in the
audience were asked, by host
Dick Clark, to
rate a new
45 on a 35-to-
98 scale. The reason for the choice of
range was, according to Clark, because a
song was never so
bad that it deserved a really low
score, and no song was so
perfect that it deserved a
100.
Since it was a dance show, there was a bias towards the danceable. When asked about why they rated a song with a good score, often Jane or Bobby's answer was something along the lines of "it's got a good beat and I can dance to it", whilst they chomped on their gum. The phrase made its way into Americana.
Clark played a practical joke once. When Mission: Impossible (the TV show) started, there was a 45 of Lalo Schifrin's theme. It was chosen for Rate-A-Record. The dancers danced to it, but quickly became befuddled. The theme is in the not-easily-danceable time signature of 5/4. The dancers soldiered on until the music faded out. I'm pretty sure Jane and Bobby each gave it a 35.