Thursday, January 22, 2009
Kirby Scott's WingDing on WDCA Channel 20
WingDing was a Washington D.C. teen dance show that appeared on WDCA Channel 20 during the mid 1960's. After a long day at the local junior high, I'd tune into WingDing which was hosted by a Baltimore AM radio rock jock named Kirby Scott. I guess that WingDing was not that different from hundreds of local tv shows that were broadcasted locally during the 1950's and 1960's. All of them were small scale versions of Dick Clark's American Bandstand. I liked this show because it hosted a lot of local garage bands and sometimes had artists from major labels who would pass through the Washington D.C. area. One very memorable show featured Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention who appeared on the show very early in their career to promote the album "Freak Out." Local bands such as The Hangmen and The Fallen Angels were also featured. I guess YouTube is the place for unknown talent to strut their stuff these days, but I miss shows like WingDing which hosted a lot of great regional talent and a couple legendary acts when they were first getting started.
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79 comments:
Right on...! And I danced with Frank Zappa on that show...!
He picked ME out of the crowd and said "....I want YOU to dance with me on the show..!"
After the show he asked me to have dinner with him.....I declined.... graciously.....but firmly.
Yes and Yes...I was a regular dancer on the show for about a year. Remember seeing some good acts! Kirby would say he wanted to Woa Woa Woa Woa Whip it on ya!
I and my boyfriend skipped (Suitland) school several afternoons to bus it to WingDing. We both loved to dance and loved the show so it was HOT STUFF to be on the show! That studio dance floor was small but it seemed like the biggest place in the world for us, to be on TV! Great memories of the adventure!
I was in one of the local bands that appeared on the show in DC and I'm trying to find someone that might have the shows archived. Haven't heard back from WDCA as of now. We'll see
o yea, i danced on the show the day the "mothers of invention" were on... also smoked a cig out back with drummer, jimmy carl black... told him he was really Cool for an old guy (he was 25!)... it was a Freak Out! :-))
I was the drummer for a Towson band called The Chaparales. We covered Under My Thumb in 1968.
I have been looking for info about Kirby Scott and Wing Ding. I remember when I was in H.S. at Winston Churchill I went to dance on Wing Ding with my boyfriend. I am one of those rarity's in the metro area that was born(parents lived in Fairlington in Arlington, VA) then after a time in Germany we came back and lived in Montgomery County(Kensington, Chevy Chase, & finally Potomac, MD.)I wish they had some tapes of the old shows for us to watch. I remember driving down River Road to the station that I think was near the D.C. line. However since that was 1964-1967 my memory may be a little off. Does anyone else remember dancing on Wing Ding from Winston Churchill in 1964-1965?
My band, The Beau Street Runners, performed 'Got to Get You Into My Life' on this show one afternoon.
I was a regular on the show as well. remember lots of bands dropping by. big names as well. every time a group played the cellar door, they would plug the jig on wing ding and then do a show show at Walt Whitman field house. Even did road shows with KS.. A few of the girls ended up dancing on national shows and few regulars ended up in Hollywood on TV. What A blast.. Bill Miller was a DJ then as well. Doug LLewllen got is start has news caster then set up people's court-- go figure..
I was a regular on the show as well. remember lots of bands dropping by. big names as well. every time a group played the cellar door, they would plug the jig on wing ding and then do a show show at Walt Whitman field house. Even did road shows with KS.. A few of the girls ended up dancing on national shows and few regulars ended up in Hollywood on TV. What A blast.. Bill Miller was a DJ then as well. Doug LLewllen got is start has news caster then set up people's court-- go figure..
I was both a go-go dancer and a regular with a partner, as well as answered the phone for rate-a-record. I loved it and had a fantastic time. Loved the bands, loved the whole atmosphere. Yes, it was a small studio and I remember the lights being really bright. I've called WDCA, but they didn't keep any of the tapes.
I was on the show back when Lainie Kazan was the singer of the day. A few of my classmates were there too. Best fun ever.
My band, The Beau Street Runners' played on Wing Ding and did 'Got To Get You Into My Life'
Spyder: I remember that!
MConnelly
I was the drummer for the Tikis . We did the show and played Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore by the Rascals. Plus a second number I can't remember the name of. Great time to be in the Washington DC area and playing music. Sure wish they had kept the tapes.
Just remembered the second song. "Knock On Wood"
The Tikis Version. We stepped up the tempo and added "Smoke on the Water" type rock overtones.
Smoke on the water wasn't out ''till the early 70's. We must have been way ahead of our time. :)
I was at WDCA-TV in 1967 and mostly worked in Master Control. I did on occasion work camera for Wing Ding and was sometimes Floor Director for the Saturday show, the only one not live but recorded Wednesday evening as I recall. In 1967 a one-hour reel of two-inch quadruplex videotape cost several hundred dollars. Only the Saturday shows were ever recorded and the tapes would have been routinely reused. WDCA-TV only had three tape machines in 1967 and they were mostly used for airing commercials.
DAMN! how CRIMINAL !! i would LOVE to see some (non-existent) recordings of wing-ding. i have an extremely dim memory of seeing link wray on the show!? -did i REALLY?? does anyone know? were they REALLY on wing ding?
this would have been a weekday show.
-as regards to musical D.C. in the 60s' it WAS an absolutely MAGICAL time, that provided some GLORIOUS (and terribly faded!!) MEMORIES!! i remember seeing the hangmen at silver spring boys club battle of the bands, too! anyone remember that?? -IF ONLY there were footage of some of that old stuff!!
I was the drummer for a Towson band called The Chaparales. We covered Under My Thumb in 1968.
Can't believe I've just stumbled onto this blog. I was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The End ... the first local DC band to appear on Wing Ding (until then, Kerby had been spinning record only but he tracked us down at a battle of the bands I recall out at Richard Montgomery). I'm in touch with the rest of the guys because we've been asked to play again at our (gulp) 50th WJ Reunion next year. I'll have to ask what we played - as I recall it was something by the Rolling Stones. Everyone in the studio loved us - but everyone at home said it sounded weird (turns out, being the first live group, they had placed the studio mikes up with our vocal mikes instead of in front of our amps/speakers. Don't know if you can post a photo here - but I have one of us from the era!
My Band played on Wing Ding3 tmes during the late 60s. We were traveling around the Beltway with Jack Alex and most of the DJs on WPGC. We were "Cherry Pink Reason" I was sad to hear a few years ago that Jack died. I have been curious for years about the tapes although my parents recorded one of our performances on a small reel to reel.
Can you remember Jimi Hendrix appearing on the Kirby Scott show in 1967?
Just viewing this 5 years later! I and my boyfriend and others also skipped school ( Eastern) to be on tv! Great times!
I was billed on there as Ringo--the Hollywood stunt man. KS and I would do skits, I'd crush bottles on my forehead, dance . I danced with Pet Clark and her husband a large French guy who looked like Tom Jones didn't like it.
There was a girl named Nikki I remember, but other names are vague.Director was Ed Shellhorn whose father was a USAF Colonel whom I met while serving. Address was 5202 River Rd.
Correction, I crushed cans, not bottles.
The band I played in, Queen Anne's Mutiny, from Winchester, VA played on Wing Ding. Played a Hendrix song but forget which one.
If y'all can, please add the date you appeared or were otherwise involved with Wing Ding (well, at this point, even a year would be helpful). Thanks!
It would have been 1969 for me, possibly 1968.
Wing Ding Timeline: Hosts 1) Kerby Scott (often mispelled "Kirby" or "Scot"); April 21,1966 (WDCA debut sign-on) to March 18, 1967, Mon-Sat
2) WPGC's Harv Moore, Mon-Fri, roughly March 20, 1967 to roughly March, 31, 1967: (according to Wing Ding dancer. The host name was not shown in published TV listings.)
3) WPGC's Cousin (Warren) Duffy, March 25th 1967 to May 13, 1967, Saturdays Only
4) Bill Miller, April 3, 1967 to May 12, 1967, Mon - Fri Only, then May 15, 1967 to August 26, 1967, Mon - Sat (Final W.D. Sat Show, 8/26/67)
5) Scott Wallace, September 2, 1967 to May 10(?), 1968, Mon - Fri
6) Jack Alix, May 13, 1968 to November 1968, Mon - Fri; then show is renamed "The Jack Alix Show" December 2, 1968 to early January, 1969
(Monday to Friday Show Cancelled early January, 1969. Replaced by a Saturday only Jack Alix progressive rock show without dancers in the audience).
Hey anybody remember the Hallmarks on The show in 1967 ? Soul shakin psychadelic Sally ?
I was playing the drums ! Good memories !
Joe Scalzo
Remember Wing Ding on WECA well. Used to bowl at River Bowl in leagues, and WECA was just across the tracks, so somehow got on the show. Was regular for a time - likely between 66-67, as I graduated from Woodrow Wilson in '67. Things I remember best were Bobbie Gentry appearing, lip syncing "Ode to Billie Joe" and dancing with this really neat girl (Carolyn, as I recall). She lived just north of Western Ave., as I recall and likely went to BCC. As life rolled on, lost track of her (and DC for that matter, too).
I've been trying to figure out the name of the theme song of the show. Amazingly, I heard the song this past weekend on the radio. and couldn't believe it since it's from so long ago and never played.
I was a go go girl on Wing Ding. I had so much fun! I'd love to see those old videos.....
Carolyn Allen?
Bob Bell, thanks for your great chronology!
I was a Regular on Wing Ding dancing on the show every day from the first day after the station signed on the air in 1966, and then transitioned from dancer to camera operator in 1969 soon after Jack Alix became the host. I graduated from Walt Whitman in 1969. After Kerby Scott left the show, my favorite interim host was Harv Moore... I had brief contact with Kerby about 15 years ago, and with Harv Moore about 10 years ago. Kerby is Kerby Scott Confer, a principal (I don’t know his actual title) with Forever Communications... (http://forevercom.com/kerbyconfer/)
The Washington Post did a fashion spread in their Sunday color magazine insert using Wing Ding dancers to model fall fashions. A bunch of us were pictured and named in it... and I came across a copy of going through my parents’ things after they had passed away. It brought back lots of fun memories! (Tommy Triage, did I send you a copy of that?).
A few old friends from Wing Ding I’d love to connect with after all these years: Nancy Achauer, Carolyn Allen, Roland Hill, Sherry Breault (spelling?), and... ?
Me and my twin were go-go dancers on Wing Ding....Loved it!!!!
So sad there are no videos. Would love to see them..
I was the drummer in a band from Severna Park, MD, called The Titans. We played in 1966 or 67 on Wing Ding. Anyone know whether the shows are archived anywhere?
Glen...unfortunately, there are apparently no archives of this show (or many local shows of that era). I was wondering if anyone involved in this blog knows if we can publish photos - and how if that's possible. I have a couple from the era, although none specifically from Wing Ding.
It's a long-shot, but here's a link to a photo of our band from the Walter Johnson High School yearbook 1966 ... on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152533038389487&set=pb.735489486.-2207520000.1543319041.&type=3&theater
I went with my older sister and her friends. I was 13 in 1966 so I had to fudge a little (you had to be 14) to get on Wing Ding. The guests that day were The Fallen Angels. The was the day I learned about "lip synching". The song they "played" was "A little love from you". The band was just goofing and the drummer just kept pounding his crash cymbal. Pretty hilarious really...
This is Rick Schaeffer, posting from my daughter's account. I went to Wing Ding the last year - also a bowler across the street at River Bowl for a while. I loved my experience and loved dancing over there, what a good time. Still in the DC area, running Schaeffer's Piano Company in Rockville. I took over the business from my Dad around '75 -- up and running strong since those days. If anyone finds footage from the 1968 - 1969 time period, we would love to see those. Would be a good laugh and great memories.
Rick ... can't help you with '68 - '69 as we were 2-3 years Before in the very beginning. Congrats on your success all this time at Schaeffer's. Do you know Chuck Levin's. Alan, his son and who now runs it, was involved with our band in '65. We were first The Karavans, then The End.
Does anyone know of known posters that were made for the band's that performed on the show? Looking for a band called the fabulous 5
Correction "Fabulous 4"
i, too; have fond memories of the 'ding' i once turned it on when link wray and the wraymen were on. it is my understanding stated by someone (WDCA) supposedly "in the know", they recorded over the tapes of these shows!! in the interest of saving $$ !! well, in doing so; they literally erased history!, now only existing as a "mental tattoo" in the minds of people like me! this act kind of borders on the criminal, but life is often NOT FAIR!
Yes, Robert, sadly you have heard correctly (or, at least we have found no one who disputes that WDCA overwrote the tapes). That's the bad news. The good news? They only erased tapes - the memories are vivid!
Yes...a bunch of us military kids from Bolling Air Force Base would bus it down there to be on TV. Wish they had saved some of those footage.
A bunch of friends also came along who lived in those cracker box houses near the sewer plant called Bellevue.
What was the theme song?
A good friend who worked at WDCA-TV20 during WING DING days located this theme song that was used at some point during the run of the show. http://s93943464.onlinehome.us//Wing%20Ding%20Open.mp3
I was a regular on the Wing Ding dance show. And I was asked to be in the commercial when the show switched over to the Jack Alex Show. Wish we could find some of the recordings; and I tried for years. It was a great time!!
I was at WJ, a few miles away at the time. it was the first time I got high with a friend of mine. I remember Kirby was interviewing the drummer of the local band that day and asked him if he was going to be a professional drummer,...his answer, "of course, I would love to beat off for a living"! crazy times!!
I was in a band called The Crystal Spectrum that played at wing ding with Jack Alix. We covered the Iron Butterfly Theme song that sounded like a crashing butterfly and our second song was The Crystal Ship by the doors, It was a highlight of our lives. Arlo,Phil, Bill, Pete and Boudy were in the band. It was located on Four Mile Run in Shirlington va near 395.They had one of the girl dancers lip sync Janis Joplins Pice of My Heart. I was 16 at the time, I’m 67 now. Sure would like to see those old tapes....
This is Sonny D in Pittsburgh, Pa. I, and my brother Tom, used to stay at my Aunt Rita's in Rockville during the summers when we were kids. We used to love watching Wing Ding since we had our own version "Come Alive" in Pittsburgh. I remember seeing the Mothers of Invention on Wing Ding and wondered what in the world was happening!!!! We were just in our very early teens and had never seen or heard of Frank Zappa. They were oddly AMAZING as they played most of the show, including some of the commercials. I think they were "touring" their Freak Out album, which I still have on wax and cd to this day. Great memories of Aunt Rita's and Wing Ding!
Small world. I went to CCD with Sherry Breault. Yes I think you spelled it right. It was pronounced bro and Sherry spelled it for everyone she met.
Can't believe there are no tapes... Too bad...Anyone know of photos from the show?
Me too. I heard fox bought out their towers. Investigation is underway. I’m 67 too. I was a dancer on the show
So was I on Wednesday
I was a dancer. Maybe 66-67
Very cool
We would leave Shaw Jr High in DC after school and take the P2 bus to 5202 Riva Road. We'd write the station in advance for tickets. I remember James Brown was on the show. We were too young for Teenarama but just right for Wing Ding!
Yes so sad no tapes:(. I was on the show around 1967 maybe 68 with a. bunch of my friends from Bladensburg HS. It was very cool 😎
Yes so sad no tapes:(. I was on the show around 1967 maybe 68 with a. bunch of my friends from Bladensburg HS. It was very cool 😎
I found this page by accident. My band The Jaywalkers played the show a few times. Jack Craig guitar, Steve Summers Lead, Rick Moyer bass and me, Tom Murphy drums. Was great fun even though a long drive from Vienna Va. I have 2 pictures but don't see an attachment add.
My friend Walter, used to take me, my bestfriend, and my cousin to the Friday evening show so we could tape for the Saturday show. My cousin and I won a dance contest doing the "Bop" to Areatha Franklins'; "The House That Jack Built" We were all invited back to dance on few more shows. I wish someone had the foresight to preserve those tapes. Would love to see my younger self back in those days, now that I am pushing 70.
My friend Walter, used to take me, my bestfriend, and my cousin to the Friday evening show so we could tape for the Saturday show. My cousin and I won a dance contest doing the "Bop" to Areatha Franklins'; "The House That Jack Built" We were all invited back to dance on few more shows. I wish someone had the foresight to preserve those tapes. Would love to see my younger self back in those days, now that I am pushing 70.
Hi
I was a go go girl on Wing Ding. I wore those white Go Go Boots and short skirts. I remember I lifted my arms above my head and almost got thrown off the stage as the producers said that movement was too risque.
Wing Ding was my favorite after school activity.
I also was a Go Go girl for some movie channel on WDCA during commercials. Some big wig came to my house to pick me up and take me to the station in a Limo. Can't believe my parent's were cool with this. ( even though it was so innocent)
I remember Kirby needing someone to fill space on the show since a guest was running late and asked me to do a lip sync to Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are made for walking." OMG
After I got married my husband and I were watching TV in the 80's and a repeat came on with me dancing. I smooshed his head into the couch cause I was so embarrassed.
What I would give to see that tape now....
I loved that show and the experience and fun I had with the wonderful people I met...
Maybe someone has some tapes.
That is so cool to hear about some of you having been on the show. I just remember I was a preteen, and this was my first exposure to a bit more risqué dancing and music. I remember the girls standing on those boxes with miniskirts and boots. I looked forward to it everyday after school, and remember one style of dancing where you would bring one arm across your chest at a time, and used that move in my first dancing experiences. I ended up going to tons of dances in high school because of this show as well as American Bandstand. It was a great time to be young and innocent!
I toooooo remember my wonderful time on the Jack Alex Show D.C.!!! with my friends from Richard Montgomery H.S. My friend GayM.repeatedly asked MEEEE to go on the show.... I kept telling her"No!!!! Ive never danced before!!! n after several times she finally said Barbara no one will go unless you do!!! SO RELUCTANTLY I SAID...OK n SOOOO HAPPY I did!!! JACK ALEX WAS GREAT IN KEEPING US REAL N JUST SO HAPPENED I WON MOST OF THE DANCE CONTEST... I GAVE MY ALBUMS TO MY DANCE PARTNER N FRIENDS.... WISH I DIDNT NOW...IT MADE THEM HAPPY N MY DANCE FRIEND WAS GOOD FRIEND.... MET STEVIE WONDER...Dave Clark 5... ETC... I WOULD HAVE THOSE WHO RECOGNIZE ME FROM THE SHOW ASK FOR MY AUTOGRAPH...TOOO FUNNY!!! WHEN I WAS BUSTING TABLES A YOUNG BOY CAME UP N ASKED... ARE YOU BARBARA? N ASKED FOR MY AUTOGRAPH.... TOOO SWEET!!! RECENTLY... NOW JUST ONE MORE... MY FRIEND INVITED US TO VISIT HER FRIEND IN N. CAROLINA...SO WE WERE SHOPPING N A WOMAN CAME UP AND ASKED IF I WAS BARBARA FROM THAT DANCE SHOW? I SAID YES!??? SHE SAID SHE RECOGNIZED MY VOICE.... TOO FUNNY!!! N YES HOW COOL!!! IT WOULD BE TO SEE THE TAPES...IT WAS JUST SOOO MUCH FUN!!!! THX... JACK ALEX
November 15, 2006
Jack Alix Dies
Area radio legend Jack Alix, 64, (WEAM, WPGC, WEEL, WINX, WXTR) passed away Wednesday morning due to complications from pneumonia. After his days in the 1960s and 1970s at many area "top 40" outlets, Alix (pictured at right in the 1960s and more recently at left) continued his radio career in Richmond (WLEE, WRVQ, WMXB, WBBT, WXGI) and Fredericksburg. Also, Alix produced the 1970s syndicated radio show "Rock And Roll Roots" and did a teen dance show on Channel 20/WDCA. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Richmond Association Of Broadcasters last spring. "I knew Jack from the time I got into radio at age 15," Joel Denver, the DC radio vet who runs California-based radio biz website All Access, tells DCRTV. "Great jock in his day, for sure."
I too went on WingDing several times along with some of my classmates from Loudoun County High School circa 1966. One day the Buckinghams lip-synced their recent hit, albeit playing without any instruments (air guitar before there was air guitar I guess.) One day we were there, our local high school band The Next of Kin played and the star that day was Little Richard. He played on the Next of Kin's keyboards and later Roger Ray, the keyboardist, told me that under the hot studio lights, Little Richard's makeup started dripping off onto his keyboard.
I loved watching WingDing and seeing local bands as well as national acts that were passing through. It was a great time for music.
Craig Cornwell
So many drummers posting here. Me too. The Congressionals played live in 1967, (I was 16), and I remember thinking before the ON AIR light came on, don't drop a stick. We played Good Lovin' , by The Young Rascals. The manager of The Hangmen saw us and had us open for The British Walkers, and The Hangmen, at The Alexandria Roller Rink in '67. I felt like a ROCK STAR until I heard The Hangmen , then knew, I wasn't quite there......or was I? Jerry DiCarlo Bladensburg High School Class of '68 , gmdcueball@hotmail.com I still play the drums.....LOL!
I, too, was a go-go dancer on occasion on Wing Ding. Been looking for those nonexistent tapes for years. So sad they are gone. What a hoot it would be for all of us to see our young selves on that dance show. And the musicians! What a loss.
I see from an earlier post that the minimum age for Wing Ding was 14. I suppose one could say I was on Teenarama but until today I've never heard of that program. Well, lord knows that I have a load of false memories rolling around inside my drug addled head, but I WAS on Wing Ding in 1967 at the age of ten or eleven. We joked afterwards that I was the one to break the dress code because I didn't own a suit coat and my girlfriend's sisters could not convince me to wear one of theirs though they fit, because I flat out refused to wear them since they all buttoned on the wrong side. "Tweetee's" mom somehow (she was admittedly, even with four girls and a boy, still very easy on the eyes ...) convinced the producers to let me in wearing a nice sweater and a buttoned-down shirt. Was the program broadcasted live? I only remember that the parents were all in the lobby watching us on a live feed. The featured artist was The Fantastic Johnny C singing his top ten hit "Boogaloo Down Broadway". After the number played and we all crowded the stage the MC stuck the mic in my face and asked me if I wanted to ask Johnny C a question to which I replied, "I can't think of any." I can still embarrass myself thinking about my one moment of fame, dreading the thought it was on live, some 55 plus years later ... Lots of great memories of growing up in suburban Washington. RMHS Class of '74!!!
Too bad that Wing Ding could not digitize the videos from the shows back in the 60s. It would be a lark to view them now. My best recollections are of Bobby Gentry appearing, singing "Ode to Billie Joe" and a friend, Caroline. I was on the show off and on sometime between 63 and 67 I guess...
Hi I’m Joe Scalzo and it was a Really exiting time for our band the Hallmarks! I was the drummer and my brother Russ Scalzo was the band lead singer and writer. We were teenagers and had a release on Smash records called Soul shaking Psychedelic Sally which was released in 1967!
I have a photo of us on stage but would love to see videos of us and the bands that were there during those times.
I’m sure all you guys had Great memories ! If your interested Russ has videos on YouTube. If you go to The Hallmarks Paper Sky on YouTube you can hear the album we recorded but never got released. Our manager Tommy Falcone died while performing on stage in 1970 and our connections to the music industry were gone. A few years ago The Numero group purchased all of the music Tommy Falcone produced and released an album called “Teen Expo The Cleopatra label” with several bands on it including the Hallmarks! We thought the music was lost until they contacted my brother Russ and explained that they purchased all of our music!
If your interested check it out. We now sing for Jesus and go see Jesus revolution! That’s what happened to us in 1974!
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