KPIX Dance Party

KPIX Dance Party was an afternoon television show hosted by Dick Stewart which was broadcast on CBS KPIX-TV Channel 5 in San Francisco. It ran from 1959 to 1963. It featured teenagers dancing to popular music.

KPIX Dance Party
Presented byDick Stewart
Country of originUnited States
Release
Original release1959 (1959) –
1963 (1963)

Background

The original host of the show was Ted Randall. After he resigned from the position, KPIX held some auditions to find a replacement. The winner of the auditions which were broadcast was Dick Stewart. His actual starting date with the show was February 23, 1959. Stewart was a musician in his own right, having led his own band. He was also an actor. The director and producer of the show was Bill Hollenbeck, formerly of KGO-TV where he had held the positions of producer, director and program manager.[1] He joined the outfit in 1961.[2] It was announced in Billboard in the January 1963 edition that the show which was being aired afternoons a week had been cut back to one.[3]

The four years that Stewart spent with the show elevated his popularity.[4]

Acts

Barbara Bouchet was a dancer on the show when she was a teenager.[5][6] She later went on to be a prolific actress,[7] acting in films such as Sweet Charity,[8] and The Diamond Connection.[9]

Paul Mooney was a dancer on the show. He skipped school one day and managed to convince the producer he could dance. He was told he would start at 3pm that day.[10]

Joe Piazza and the Continentals were one group that played regularly on the show, and were essentially considered the show's house band.[11] The lineup was Johnny Johnson, Dan, Joe Piazza, Jim Lufrano and Jerry Martini.[12] The group provided music for events such as the Twist Party, which was hosted by Dick Stewart.[13] At one stage, Sylvester Stewart was a member of the group,[14] and they even played on the song "Yellow Moon" which was a hit for his group The Viscaynes.[15][16][17] They had also backed Janet Ericco on an early recording, "It Was A Lie" bw "Come Along With Me" using the pseudonym The Twilights.[18]

Anne Randall was one of "the regulars" on the show. She started on the show at the age of 14. She spent two years dancing on the show and was still attending school at the time. She would eventually become an actress as well as becoming host Stewart's wife.[19]

References
  1. Billboard Music Week, March 20, 1961 - Page 110 TV JOCKEY PROFILE
  2. Radio Daily-television Daily, Volume 88, Radio Daily Corporation, 1961 - Page 190
  3. Billboard, January 12, 1963 - Page 35 Despite Teens' Protest, Their DJ Idol Cut Down
  4. Vince Guaraldi at the Piano, By Derrick Bang - Page 138
  5. Imdb - The KPIX Dance Party
  6. Mymovies.it - Barbara Bouchet, Nudi, splatter e fitness: le passioni della Bouchet
  7. Imdb - Barbara Bouchet
  8. The Movie Guide, By James Monaco - Page 923
  9. Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973, By Tom Lisanti, Louis Paul - Page 83 Bouchet
  10. Black Is the New White, By Paul Mooney - Pag 66
  11. Reverb Central - Janet Errico and the Twilights - It Was A Lie c/w Come Along With Me
  12. Discogs - The Continental Band
  13. Daily Independent Journal, Friday, April 20, 1962 - Page 2 TWIST PARTY
  14. The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul, Virgin, 1998 - Page 304
  15. Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000, By Bob Leszczak - Page 326 SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
  16. Discogs - The Continental Band
  17. The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World, edited by David V. Moskowitz - Page 603 Sly and the Family Stone (1967 - 1983)
  18. Reverb Central - Janet Errico and the Twilights - It Was A Lie c/w Come Along With Me
  19. Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles, By Tom Lisanti - Page 161 - 162
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