26 replies to this topic

[KimberlySayWhat]

I was watching the original "Hairspray" the other evening which is set in 1962 Baltimore and centers around a local dance show.

"American Bandstand" was a dance show in Philadelphia before it went national in the early/mid '60s.

For those of you old enough to remember, do you recall any local dance shows in Houston around that same time?

Just curious. I love the early/mid '60s era. In fact I'm about to download some music right now.

[EastEnd Susan]

KimberlySayWhat, on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 @ 9:07pm, said:

I was watching the original "Hairspray" the other evening which is set in 1962 Baltimore and centers around a local dance show.

"American Bandstand" was a dance show in Philadelphia before it went national in the early/mid '60s.

For those of you old enough to remember, do you recall any local dance shows in Houston around that same time?

Just curious. I love the early/mid '60s era. In fact I'm about to download some music right now.

The only local dance show I remember around here was The Larry Kane Show. I think it came on Saturday mornings in the 60's. He would have popular bands play and the dancers would dance in front of the stage. Thats Larry Kane in the middle, check out those white shoes, with Ron Dante on the left and Jeff Barry on the right.

Edited by EastEnd Susan, Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 9:46 AM.

[KimberlySayWhat]

Oh, that's cool! It looks '70s, though. I thought dance shows had died out by then. It looks more like a variety/talk show.

Love that set.

[EastEnd Susan]

KimberlySayWhat, on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 @ 10:18am, said:

Oh, that's cool! It looks '70s, though. I thought dance shows had died out by then. It looks more like a variety/talk show.

Love that set.

Heres another pic from the sixties when Boyce and Hart were on the show. Larry Kane ran into the early 70's. Check out the cool clothes. It was a dance show but he would interview the bands. There is a video on youtube of a 60's band called Southwest FOB performing a song. It doesnt show the dancers but it prety cool anyway. Do a youtube search for southwest FOB and you should be able to find it. Actually the song is pretty good. And a must see for the clothes alone.

Edited by EastEnd Susan, Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 11:16 AM.

[MidtownCoog]

I thought there was one where the old Ch 8 is. I think it was hosted by Ch 13. Were they in the old Ch 8 before?

[gonzo1976]

Didn't Channel 2 show a program called Videocity? Wasn't it from a dance club at Astroworld in the 1980s?

[KimberlySayWhat]

Quote

EastEnd Susan:
Heres another pic from the sixties when Boyce and Hart were on the show. Larry Kane ran into the early 70's. Check out the cool clothes. It was a dance show but he would interview the bands. There is a video on youtube of a 60's band called Southwest FOB performing a song. It doesnt show the dancers but it prety cool anyway. Do a youtube search for southwest FOB and you should be able to find it. Actually the song is pretty good. And a must see for the clothes alone.

That's fun to watch!

There are three videos of the Larry Kane show, but they're all the same one.

Quote

gonzo1976:
Didn't Channel 2 show a program called Videocity? Wasn't it from a dance club at Astroworld in the 1980s?

That came to mind when I was posting this thread, but I thought it was just a dance club at Astroworld. I remember Videocity and the arcade, but I recall it being for teenagers and I was younger than that at the time.

Edited by KimberlySayWhat, Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 4:04 PM.

[FilioScotia]

MidtownCoog, on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 @ 11:10am, said:

I thought there was one where the old Ch 8 is. I think it was hosted by Ch 13. Were they in the old Ch 8 before?

Yes. Ch 13 built that tiny building on Cullen south of the University when it went on the air in 1954. They quickly outgrew it and built the current studios on Bissonett sometime just after 1960, and donated their former home to UH. Ch 8 then moved out of its original studios in the Ezekiel Cullen Bldg into the donated facility on Cullen. Ch 8 operated there until it moved into the new building on Elgin about five years ago.

As for the timeline on American Bandstand, I remember watching it every day after school when I was in high school in 1960. It was a daily show from Philadelphia.

Edited by FilioScotia, Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 8:27 PM.

[Retama]

I also recall a local show in the early 1980s that was on either channel 26 or 39. It cut in dance footage from a club up on I-10 in the Heights (I believe) with music videos which were the rage then.

The club had some vintage automobiles inside and could clearly be seen from the road well into the 1990s.

[brucesw]

Besides Larry Kane both 2 and 11 had teen dance shows in the late 50s, but neither was nearly as popular as Kane. Channel 2's show was hosted by Bob Byron who had been a dj in Houston since the 30s, had worked at KLBS as a top forty jock before it became KILT, then teamed up with Tim Nolan for the Tim and Bob Show on KPRC, mornings for over a decade. Tim and Bob were like Houston's version of Bob (Elliot) and Ray (Goulding). By himself, Byron was very low key, as I recall. This was before Top 40 jocks had to be Boss and many were very off-beat, nerdy. On TV, Byron seemed to want to come across like Wally Cox/Mr. Peepers, as I remember it.

The Channel 2 show was sponsored by Pepsi.

The Channel 11 show was hosted by different jocks each week, not all of whom were top 40 jocks. I don't think it lasted very long.

I liked Byron's show best, mainly because I had liked him on the radio. Never got into Kane, but had been a big fan of AB. According to the Wikipedia article on AB, it was not seen in Houston between 1959 and 1971 because of the Larry Kane show on 13; I hadn't known that.

I think all the shows were on early Saturday afternoons. The shows on 2 and 11 were just 1/2 hour shows.

Besides that, earlier, in 53-54, KNUZ-TV had had Paul's Place every afternoon featuring their biggest star, Paul Berlin. It took place in a studio with bleachers for an audience and showed film clips of musical performances and interviewed artists in town, but I don't know if they had dancing.

As I've posted before on the KVVV-TV thread, the facility on Cullen was built by the University of Houston in 1953 as the University Television Center or Texas Television Center (both names in newspaper stories I've seen). It was leased to KNUZ-TV, Channel 39, for the 8 months it was in existence, then Houston Consolidated Television took advantage of the space and equipment to get Channel 13 on the air quickly after 39 failed. After 13 moved out, it was leased by the University to NASA for 1 year for a computer center, then Channel 8 moved in for over 3 decades.

It's now the TLC2 center - whatever than means.

[ChannelTwoNews]

KimberlySayWhat, on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 @ 4:03pm, said:

That came to mind when I was posting this thread, but I thought it was just a dance club at Astroworld. I remember Videocity and the arcade, but I recall it being for teenagers and I was younger than that at the time.

I came across an old tape in our storage room from 1986 and there was a promo for a show called "Video Magic". Is it the same show under a different name or something else entirely?

Since I don't have a tuner, I just have the audio of the promo.

Edited by ChannelTwoNews, Saturday, September 15, 2007 at 10:09 PM.

[Retama]

Quote

AB, it was not seen in Houston between 1959 and 1971 because of the Larry Kane show on 13

In fact, American Bandstand wasn't seen in Houston until the mid 1980s. I didn't see it until I moved to Corpus Christi.

[plumber2]

I was friends with a guy who's father was general manager of Channel 13 in the late 1960's. We used to go to the studio on saturday mornings and eat the free doughnuts that were for the participants of the Larry Kane show.

[METALHOUSTON]

gonzo1976, on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 @ 2:33pm, said:

Didn't Channel 2 show a program called Videocity? Wasn't it from a dance club at Astroworld in the 1980s?

Yeah, it was called "Videocity Live" and filmed at Videocity in Astroworld.
I've been lookin' and lookin' for anyone with any old copies of that show because I was on it quite often. No, not for dancing. lol All I did was headbang with lots of friends when anything from Metallica (yes, Videocity would sometimes play Metallica but I never heard it on the TV show) to KISS to poison and even Bon Jovi and Nelson.
I don't remember seein' much of our "headbanging" on the show but I do remember seein' more than a few shots of us just hangin' out or walkin' around. I'd kinda like to find copies of those tapes to show my kids what I was like back then (not much has changed).

Peace

[adcessories]

KimberlySayWhat, on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 @ 10:07pm, said:

I was watching the original "Hairspray" the other evening which is set in 1962 Baltimore and centers around a local dance show.

"American Bandstand" was a dance show in Philadelphia before it went national in the early/mid '60s.

For those of you old enough to remember, do you recall any local dance shows in Houston around that same time?

Just curious. I love the early/mid '60s era. In fact I'm about to download some music right now.

Hi, I just ran across your question today. Yes, there was a show on Channel 13 called the Larry Kane Dance Studio. It was on Saturday afternoon with a local host, Larry Kane, who was a local lawyer during the week and just did the Dave Clark American Bandstand knockoff on the weekend. You had to be student at the Jerry Roe Dance Studios in order to be one of the dancers on the show as they did not want to have a bunch of lumps who could not dance, or have lewd dancing, on camera. One of the cameramen was Jim Corolla, the former News Director at KILT radio, and he might have many more "behind the scenes" stories about the Larry Kane show. We started at the studios over by the University of Houston and wound up at the new KTRK studios out on the west side of town. It was a lot of fun to the dancers and we got to see and meet the recording artists who were popular at that time.

[Heights2Bastrop]

I took lessons from Jerry Roe, first at the American Legion on Golf, then at Bill Mraz on 34th. But I lost interest, and thus didn’t make it to the Larry Kane Show. However, I had already had my moment in the spotlight by square dancing on the Don Mahoney Show in the 5th grade.

[rreini]

Retama, on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 @ 9:42pm, said:

In fact, American Bandstand wasn't seen in Houston until the mid 1980s. I didn't see it until I moved to Corpus Christi.

Since the thread's been revived, I'll contribute something -- I do remember AB airing around '72 and '73. It might not have been on channel 13, though; I seem to remember it possibly being bumped to channel 26. I could be mistaken on that. But I definitely remember seeing Bandstand -- for some reason, an appearance by Cheech and Chong sticks out in my mind.

[djrage]

Retama, on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 @ 4:28pm, said:

I also recall a local show in the early 1980s that was on either channel 26 or 39. It cut in dance footage from a club up on I-10 in the Heights (I believe) with music videos which were the rage then.

The club had some vintage automobiles inside and could clearly be seen from the road well into the 1990s.

That was the teen club Carrz (sp?). I don't think that place survived into the 90s though

[brucesw]

Dredging up an old thread here to see if anybody has anything to add. I've discovered a lot of material about the show in a trade magazine archive and I'm doing a piece on Larry Kane for my History blog and need some more personal information. I was away from Houston for all of the 1960s except for occasional visits and I had no idea how big a phenomenon he was. At one time the show produced by KTRK was aired in as many as 100 markets.

Anyone know when he graduated from San Jac, what station he worked at it high school, when/where born and raised? Any more personal tales of being on the show or specific information? One source gives Jan 1, 1959 for the launch of the show but numerous other sources indicate it was on in 1958.

Kane died in 1998 at the age of 62. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame last year.

[jshirar]

I read on another blog that he graduated from San Jac in 1954. That's probably about right.
My older brother was the president of his fan club while he was still on KNUZ. My bro graduated from San Jac in 1958, and I did in 1962.
I also danced on the tv show from about 59-61, I think. Had allot of fun, and learned to dance too. What a deal.
I'd love to be able to see some of the old shows, as I'm sure some others would too, while






we're still kickin'

I read awile back that one individual has all the rights to the old productions. Wish he'd make some are all of them public.

jshirar43@comcast.net

[TJones]

Retama, on Wednesday, August 8, 2007 at 4:28 PM, said:

I also recall a local show in the early 1980s that was on either channel 26 or 39. It cut in dance footage from a club up on I-10 in the Heights (I believe) with music videos which were the rage then.

The club had some vintage automobiles inside and could clearly be seen from the road well into the 1990s.

Retama, the club you are thinking about was called CARRZ !

Edited by TJones, Monday, May 17, 2010 at 5:29 PM.

[COH2000]

adcessories, on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:09 AM, said:

Hi, I just ran across your question today. Yes, there was a show on Channel 13 called the Larry Kane Dance Studio. It was on Saturday afternoon with a local host, Larry Kane, who was a local lawyer during the week and just did the Dave Clark American Bandstand knockoff on the weekend. You had to be student at the Jerry Roe Dance Studios in order to be one of the dancers on the show as they did not want to have a bunch of lumps who could not dance, or have lewd dancing, on camera. One of the cameramen was Jim Corolla, the former News Director at KILT radio, and he might have many more "behind the scenes" stories about the Larry Kane show. We started at the studios over by the University of Houston and wound up at the new KTRK studios out on the west side of town. It was a lot of fun to the dancers and we got to see and meet the recording artists who were popular at that time.

Have you seen the You Tube post on the Larry Kane Show which is actually late 62 or early 63?

[COH2000]

brucesw, on Monday, April 19, 2010 at 12:34 AM, said:

Dredging up an old thread here to see if anybody has anything to add. I've discovered a lot of material about the show in a trade magazine archive and I'm doing a piece on Larry Kane for my History blog and need some more personal information. I was away from Houston for all of the 1960s except for occasional visits and I had no idea how big a phenomenon he was. At one time the show produced by KTRK was aired in as many as 100 markets.

Anyone know when he graduated from San Jac, what station he worked at it high school, when/where born and raised? Any more personal tales of being on the show or specific information? One source gives Jan 1, 1959 for the launch of the show but numerous other sources indicate it was on in 1958.

Kane died in 1998 at the age of 62. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame last year.

Edited by COH2000, Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 10:48 PM.

[annelm_2010]

Please visit my facebook page https://www.facebook...MorpheusDigital and you will find some video and photos from the Larry Kane show when I was on for 4 years and also some vintage footage on Vimeo on the KNUZ Buddy McGregor Show on the trip to Garner State Park. My former dance partner Glenn Pitts also on facebook has many photos on the Kane Show as well.

Enjoy!

Anne

[LTAWACS]

I remember that Kane show.

[Minihorse-Breeder]

LTAWACS, on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 2:34 AM, said:

I remember that Kane show.

There was another dance show in Houston during the 60's. It was called "This Is It" and I have been trying to find more information on it. I can't remember if it was on 39 or 26. I think it was 39 and it was on just after the station opened. Neal Ford and the Fanatics and B.J. Thomas played on it numerous times. A couple of friends and I were among the dancers on the show. I wore a shiny gold mini-dress with 3" fringe all over it and matching "go go" boots. We were required to take dance lessons but, I can't remember where we took them. I think the weather man at the station at the time was Pat Brown. I would love to find more information on it and hopefully, some tape of the show.

[brucesw]

Minihorse-Breeder, on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 11:40 PM, said:

There was another dance show in Houston during the 60's. It was called "This Is It" and I have been trying to find more information on it. I can't remember if it was on 39 or 26. I think it was 39 and it was on just after the station opened. Neal Ford and the Fanatics and B.J. Thomas played on it numerous times. A couple of friends and I were among the dancers on the show. I wore a shiny gold mini-dress with 3" fringe all over it and matching "go go" boots. We were required to take dance lessons but, I can't remember where we took them. I think the weather man at the station at the time was Pat Brown. I would love to find more information on it and hopefully, some tape of the show.

Channel 26 didn't come on the air until 1971. According to Billboard, KHTV (39) launched a show called 'It' in May, 1967, featuring Joe Ford of KNUZ as host, Neal Ford and the Fanatics were among the guests. 'It' replaced an earlier show called 'Standing Room Only' that aired only once. That's all I've been able to find in Billboard.

Pat Brown was an announcer at KHTV but I don't know if he was the weatherman.

You probably will have to search YouTube for videos or contact the station (current call letters KIAH).

Edited by brucesw, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 11:23 AM.