Remembering The Detroit “Scene”

Michaelangelo Matos | October 29, 2008 6:30 am
A few days ago, my colleague Andy Kellman directed me to a handful of YouTube clips from The Scene, Detroit’s answer to Soul Train. The above video features the Funkateers, a pop-locking troupe from the show, choreographed to Tom Tom Club’s “Wordy Rappinghood.” It’s pretty great stuff, not least because the faded video making everything green, blue, and orange actually enhances the experience by situating it as otherworldly, from another time. Below the cut, a few other gems from this after-school series.

Teenagers dancing to A Number of Names’ “Sharevari,” one of the heavy influences on the early techno scene and a huge record in Detroit.

Kano’s “I’m Ready.”

Captain Rapp’s “Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It).”

And finally, this wondrous thing, from the mid-’90s, from The New Dance Show, The Scene‘s successor. Please keep in mind that this footage contains music from German techno artists Jammin’ Unit as well as Chicago house legends Armando and Adonis, all mixed up with Duice’s “Dazzey Dukes”–a combination that seems strange to many for reasons far more social than musical, but which the energetic young dancers take in absolute stride: