Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve has been around for so long, it's almost impossible to imagine how it started. 

For one thing, the original broadcast back in 1972 was actually on NBC. For another, the talent was all on tape - and with the exception of Clark bringing viewers the ball falling at the stroke of midnight in Times Square, almost none of it took place in New York. And unlike this year, it never ran anything close to four hours. 

"Originally titled Three Dog Night’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, it premiered on NBC as a one-hour program hosted by the band Three Dog Night. The show featured pre-recorded performances by artists like Helen Reddy, Billy Preston, and Three Dog Night themselves, filmed aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Dick Clark, already a household name from his long-running American Bandstand, anchored the coverage from Times Square, providing live updates on the ball drop."

It has since become as traditional on ABC as Auld Lang Syne. But like many traditions, what it is now is far from how it began. 

53 Years Ago: The Dawn of a New Year’s Tradition with Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve