What is this, 1999?

Monotrona on Chic-A-Go-Go (via g000p)

Before there was Yo Gabba Gabba, there was Chic-A-Go-Go. It’s a cable access program in Chicago that bills itself as the dance program for all ages. What it ends up being is a crazy mix of people dancing to a wide array of music, performed by the artists in the studio, lip-synching and faux-playing in a low-budget, no-fi manner. Meanwhile, there is no audience facing the band; everyone hangs out in the back and dances. Anyone can go down to the studio and be on the show, and when I lived in Chicago, I did so with friends a couple of times.

It’s hosted by Miss Mia Park, a local musician (last I checked, she was in an all-girl, all-Asian-American band named Kim), and Ratso, a straight-edge rat puppet. While some people consider it a show for kids, let’s face it, it isn’t really. It’s kid-friendly for sure, and you’ll often see family groups, but most of the dancers who show up are in their 20s and 30s. Watch the show enough and you’ll start recognizing some regulars, all of whom turn out to be folks in the local music/radio industry.

Here is one of the odder segments I’ve seen on the show. Bonus moments:

• The boy holding the sign with the lyrics, bopping along in the beginning, but stopping long enough to give a sideways glance to what’s going on, as if to say, “WTF? Okay, whatever.”
• The pack of kids getting really into being part of Monotrona’s dance posse. Especially the little girl in pink breaking it down in the end.
• Dude in blue in the back working it.
• The guy in the white shirt and whatever he’s experiencing in the moment.

I’m still hoping someone posts the Fantasy Dance clip from one of the shows I was on. The Fantasy Dance is where they just pipe a song into the studio, and then have everyone taking turns in pairs and groups dancing in front of a green screen with some movie or tv footage edited in. On my second go around, I ended up on stage with this guy in an eyeless leather gimp mask who just stood there motionless. So I rocked his shit while he couldn’t see me, and when our turn was over, I grabbed him by the lapels and dragged him off-camera with me. I didn’t have cable at the time, so I never got it on tape. I hope the internet comes through for me on this one, someday.