Greatest hits of the rock era?

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dick Clark,
aka America's oldest teenager, but wish he
would have consulted us regarding the
Greatest Hits of the Rock Era.

Even if they had been hamstrung by some really goofy, restrictive rules, even then we don't know how they could have decided on the songs they chose as the Greatest Hits of the Rock Era. Crazy rules like:

-- Must pick one song each from the 50s, 60s and 80s.
-- One song must be by a black artist.
-- One song must be by a duo.

Even with rules like that we don't think it would have been possible to settle on these three songs:

Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley
Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel
All Night Long, Lionel Richie

Yet those were the Chosen Three on this day in 1986 during Dick Clark's America Picks the No. 1 Songs. We don't suppose it's any real surprise that American Bandstand, which Clark had hosted since 1957, was canceled not long after. VH1 and music videos, after all, had became all the rage.
 
We do, however, miss learning the steps to dances like the Watusi and Frug, and watching our favorite artists lip-synch their hits.