TV DANCE PARTY TO LIVE AGAIN IN EVENT SALUTING THE SCENE' rafiTIT ESI Gene Triplett etriplett(9 opubco.com Back when souped-up old Chevys and daddys' T-Birds were cruising through hamburger stands called the Delta, Quik's and the Split-T, B-movies like "Agent for H.A.R.M." were headlining the Northwest Hi-Way Drive-in and the Rolling Stones were having their "19th Nervous Breakdown" 24 times a day over WKY Radio, one of that station's disc jockeys decided it was time to rock local TV. So, Ronnie Kaye launched "The Scene," Oklahoma City's answer to "American Bandstand," in March 1966 on Channel 4, which then shared owners and the WKY call letters with the AM radio station. "I went in just on a lark one day and said, 'You know, I'd like to do a dance show on television"' Kaye said. "And the boss says, 'Well, guess what? We just had a sponsor come in and say they want to do a dance show on television.' I mean, you know, the timing was just perfect." The show, which lasted eight years and boasted such stellar in-studio guests as Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike and Tina Turner and Smokey Robinson, will be celebrated at 7 p.m. Friday when the Oklahoma History Center presents "Ronnie Kaye's The Scene' 1960s Dance Party." The program is one of a series of events growing out of the museum's "Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit." The exhibit traces the Sooner state's role in the history and development of rock music. The dance party will feature live music from The Five Americans, who formed at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant and had the national hits "I See the Light" and "Western Union" in the late '60s, Oklahoma City native Mike Brewer of Brewer and Shipley fame ("One Toke Over the Line"), local rock kingpins of the era Jim Edgar and the Roadrunners, and Oklahoma City-based R&B band the Uptown Syndicate. Kaye will be on hand along with other former Ronnie Kaye, back center, launched "The Scene," Oklahoma City's answer to "American Bandstand," in March 1966. PHOTO PROVIDED BY RONNIE KAYE Ronnie Kaye and Dick Clark. pHOTo provided by ronnie kaye WKY jocks including Danny Williams, Don Wallace, Dale Wehba and Terry McGrew. "We recruited about a hundred kids a week," Kaye said of "The Scene," talking to me while juggling music and commercials during his n a.m. -3 p.m. weekday show, now on KOMA. "We had a nucleus of kids, about 20 who were there all the time. Because it was WKY Television, we called them the 'KYCuties.' They had little costumes, uniforms, and some of them now are enshrined at the history center." The recruits represented a different Oklahoma City high school each week. "We told the kids how to dress, what to wear, how to dance, how to act, how to look, what makeup to put on, so it was a very controlled situation that made the show outlast a lot of other shows that tried in the market and didn't make it like that in dance formats," Kaye said. In those days, many national touring acts took time to visit the studios on Britton Road and lip -sync free of charge to their latest hit, eager to promote their shows and records at every opportunity. But "The Scene" also provided exposure for local and regional bands. The small TV studio was not equipped to televise live musical performances, so bands had to cut records of their music at local studios such as Gene Sullivan's, one of Oklahoma City's pioneering recording facilities. "Kind of a side benefit (to the TV exposure) was that people would go to the recording studios in Oklahoma City and record their song, have them taken to Ronnie Kaye, they'd play it on the TV show and perform along with their recorded song," said Jeff Moore, director of exhibits at the Oklahoma History Center. "That's come up with a bunch of folks. They say, 'If it hadn't been for "Ronnie Kaye's The Scene' 1960s Dance Party" When: 7 p.m. Friday. Where: Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N Laird. Tickets: $15 Must be bought before 5 p.m. Friday at the History Center admission desk or at Thrifty Phara-macies in Crest Foods, May and Hefner or SW 15 and Santa Fe, Edmond. Information: 522-5241. "The Scene," we wouldn't have had our first record.'" During its 1966-74 run, "The Scene" featured such local favorites as the Innkeepers, the Centuries, the Midnight Rebels, the Chosen Few and Hard Rock Candy. Friday night's tribute will include dancers from the Oklahoma City Thunder Girls and the University of Central Oklahoma performing as go-go dancers, a dance floor open to everyone, and when the party finally winds up about 10 p.m., don't be surprised to hear Ronnie Kaye issue his trademark goodbye from the bygone "Scene" days: "Arrivederci, mother."