If you know the rest of the words, then what up doe? If not, keep reading.

Time: 1980 something

Place: Channel 62, WGPR

Host: Nat Morris

Setting: Hot summer Detroit day. Wet concrete smells waft up down the street. Faygo Red Pop stains on the front of your shirt. Fingers sticky with Better Made Hot Chip residue. Sitting on the porch watching folks drag race down either E. Outer Drive or 7 Mile. This ain’t no Eminem movie but there was a White Boy Rick that Kerry (so very old best friend that I’m sure we’re blood now) had a crush on. Biggest drug dealer on the East Side. We are still not sure what he exactly looked like up close.

Why?

Well, because I was focused on Tillary. The biggest drug dealer in MY neighborhood on Kirby. Young and fine. Liked an older woman who had a townhouse right across in my back yard. I could see his bird chest working the bbq grill sometimes and I would sigh like Michael Jackson just gave me his last glove. Tillary bought his lady a looooooooong Mercedes and she would drive around blasting Prince’s “Adore.” I used to think, if only I could pop her on the head and step into her life.

In between my dad’s trips to Aknartoon’s (the best and most delicious Muslim eatery in Highland Park with a bean soup and cornbread that, to quote my dad, “would make your tongue slap your brains out.”) and drives through Palmer Park off of Woodward Avenue, I occupied my summer’s with The Scene.

Forget American Bandstand and even forget that janky Soul Train. Yeah, I said it. Detroit held it’s own with our dance show, “The Scene.” At six o’clock, everybody cool was around the TV watching channel 62, singing the show’s theme song:

It’s six o’clock and it’s time to rock
We rock nonstop til seven o’clock
We don’t stop
We don’t stop
We jam, jam til dawn
The latest steps and the latest styles
Pretty faces and pretty smiles
We’re looking good and everybody’s clean
It’s six o’clock and time for the SCENE

I don’t care who you are, you knew somebody big sister or brother on the show. Nat Morris could make you a star if you were patient. And even if you didn’t know folks on the show directly, you better believe you would know them like you knew DeBarge or Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Just as famous and I ain’t lyin.

Once, when I was young, we got the entire cast of dancers to do Michael Jackson’s ENTIRE dance for “Thriller” right there in our parking lot. You couldn’t even get a seat on the grass if you didn’t show up early.

I ain’t faded if you ain’t in the know.
But for your reference, you should watch the show!