From 1959 through 1963, Dick Stewart produced and hosted KPIX DANCE PARTY on Channel 5 in San Francisco.  Only six weeks after taking over a program bequeathed with a history of low audience ratings Stewart made DANCE PARTY the Bay Area's most-watched daytime program.  It remained so to the end when it was canceled to make way for an expanded CBS news.

DANCE PARTY's success was due in part to its "Regulars": a corps of carefully selected kids who won fans of their own and whose romances were followed as faithfully by adult viewers as by their peers. DANCE PARTY's exploitation of teen romance was tasteful but deliberate!  Emphasized by subjective cameras that moved in and with the dancers, "silhouette dances", personal song dedications, etc., romance was a DANCE PARTY staple.

DANCE PARTY went beyond being a showcase of the recording industry's "Hot Top 40"!  DANCE PARTY exalted youth achievers with "profiles" and awards; it produced filmed "salutes" to most of the high schools in the nine counties within its sphere of broadcast influence; it conducted talent searches, held "Coke-tail" parties for school news editors, officers and athletes, to help Stewart create features which best demonstrated the most engaging aspects of teenage society; it waged dance contests and performance contest (such as "lip-synching" to records) and more.

DANCE PARTY and Dick Stewart were the subjects of feature articles in LOOK, BILLBOARD and CASHBOX magazines, received two national awards and dozens of honors from local community service organizations.  However, the show's success was best indicated by its ratings and the price of its sold-out time.

This is a work in progress; how much progress will be exhibited will depend upon former Regulars and fans of Dance Party, stepping forward with treasured photographs, mementos, and remembrances. I can be contacted at the following email address: KPIXDanceParty@gmail.com

Thank you, Manny Interiano

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by M. Interiano
  Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.
  Revised: March 4,200406/07/10 17:00:43 -0700.