The Scene

Oklahoma City, USA. August 15th, 1973

Ronnie Kaye got his feet wet as a DJ in 1959 working for WKY radio and television in Oklahoma City. He says he has been blessed with great breaks during his life, one of which was his TV show, The Scene, sponsored by Dr. Pepper from 1966-1974.

Ronnie asked for the opportunity to produce and host a local teen dance show on Channel 4. Some of the local bands that appeared on the show included the Innkeepers, Centuries, Midnight Rebels, and Chosen Few.

"The Scene" aired at 12:30 on Saturdays on WKY-TV (now KFOR) featuring local kids dancing and many national artists performing. Ronnie suddenly found himself transporting the stars, from the Skirvin downtown, to the studios on Britton Rd. The show went from a two camera show to a four camera show and received syndication in 10 cities in the South Western United States including California and Texas.

Stars like Ray Charles, Harry Chapin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mitch Ryder, Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond, The Temptations, and Smokey Robinson all came to town to be on his show. Since Dr. Pepper sponsored the show and at the time Dick Clark had massive shares in Dr. Pepper, they asked him to drop by the state fair where they had a youth dance tent set-up for the show so he could meet Ron and be on a special airing of The Scene.

His secret for his shows longevity was: finding cute kids with the nicest clothes money could buy and who also knew how to dance. The seventies were a great time for Ron.

The Scene was unique in that Ronnie Kaye was able to feature many national recording acts that were appearing in Oklahoma City. That list in 1973, of course, included Slade.

"The one observation I make about that group, in all candour and confidence, is that they are NOT dull!"
Ronnie Kaye

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"I've always believed that there are a myriad of defunct TV stations and local radio stations that will have loads of Slade stuff from the era, it's just never been easy to track down hundreds of stations with alphabetical names, etc.. but you can guarantee that everywhere they went they appeared on the local news or music shows none of which would have been syndicated to the main networks or broadcast nationally. 

I did try contacting some years ago and met with either stony silence or helpful people who were not alive back then or people who said that the station closed 30 years ago and no one knows where the tapes went."
Dave Graham: Slade In England

My thanks to Gary Jordan for his endless quest to uncover lost video footage. We Slade fans appreciate your tenacity and your efforts are not in vain. 

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