# How Dick Clark robbed Simon and Garfunkel of their first $221 pay packet

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/how-dick-clark-robbed-simon-and-garfunkel-of-their-first-221-pay-packet/
- Published: 2026-11-01T20:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-01T20:15:38+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/dick-clark-robbed-simon-and-garfunkel-of-their-first-221-pay-packet/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Simon said Clark kept the duo’s first performance cheques.
- The payment was reportedly $221 per performer.
- They appeared as Tom and Jerry in 1957.

## Summary

Paul Simon said Dick Clark kept the $221 performance cheque that Simon and Art Garfunkel expected to receive for appearing on *American Bandstand*. The story matters because it contrasts the show’s role in promoting young musicians with Simon’s account that performers had to hand Clark their cheques.

The duo appeared on the programme in 1957 as Tom and Jerry, performing their debut single, “Hey, Schoolgirl”, before becoming famous as Simon and Garfunkel. Simon recalled that the union payment was $221 per performer and said they were told to endorse the cheques to Clark. The article says Simon later described the experience in an interview with Howard Stern; the pair went on to become one of the most successful acts of the 1960s.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.