The Scene; A Number of Names

The Scene was a television show aired in Detroit on WGPR, the first black-owned TV station in America. From 1975 to 1987 the show served as black culture's reinvention of the "dance show" format - and looking back on these amazing tapes now it hurts to understand why it remained a purely local phenomenon.

While white America was up to god knows what on American Bandstand aired Saturday mornings across America, The Scene was publicizing and helping give birth to Detroit Techno, a moment in American music that was so brililantly cross-pollinated, strange and compelling that it keeps presenting itself as safe material to bite on every like 4 years or so. (Lately it's more a matter of biting on Italians biting on Detroit who were of course biting upon ectomorphs in Germany but even that's working out pretty well.)

This clip from The Scene is choice. It features a track called Sharevari, a now-classic single by a group called A Number of Names. The song's title derives from an intentional misspelling of Charivari, a collective of young local promoters who were at the time making and flashing big bucks throwing parties in Detroit.

Can we bring back roller skates on the dance floor? Please? Here's the track; practice at home.

Comments

[Dan Sicko]

Bread and cheese and fine white wine for all! Here's a great flyer from that era too -- though this is from the social club Charivari (who I guess wasn't afraid of litigation):

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=51772025&albumID=0&imageID=1390955

[Station Manager Ken]

WGPR was also the home of "The Ghoul," one of the great late night TV horror hosts. And I think The Electrifyin' Mojo did his fantastic nightly FM show on WGPR-FM. The Ghoul used to refer to WGPR as "Where Ghoul Power Reigns."

[Maximus]

This is a great find!

(Supposedly the song was named after the club, not the other way around.)

[Ypsi Doug]

That's right Ken! We talk about Mojo a lot around here.

The other GREAT show on GPR was "The New Dance Show" - some clips are available on YouTube.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=the+new+dance+show&search_type=

[EH]

Sharevari also includes a play on Kano's "Holly Dolly"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X10HL8/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk11

[K]

Heh, it looks like a chippendales show at Rikers Island.

[Jim]

The earlier comment about The Ghoul is great to see. Met him again at a comic convention a few days ago; truly a legend. I used to watch The Scene on occasion and recall a soulful theme song ("I'm gonna be on The Scene, yeah...") and some very inventive and uninhibited dancing. WGPR also had great tv ads, including for a diner "where musicians are always welcome," and was locally famous for All Night At The Movies, which showcased a lot of then-long obscure public domain features. Mojo was secretive, so never on TV, but he had a supercool radio show in his prime that may have been the best thing on Detroit FM airwaves in those years. WGPR actually stood for Where God's Presence Radiates.