Electric Circus,
aka EC, was a Canadian
live dance music
television program aired on
MuchMusic
and Citytv. It aired
from
September 16 1988 until
December 12
2003.
The name
originated from the nightclub that once
existed at Citytv's first studio at 99 Queen
Street East in Toronto
.
The show
was also simulcast on MuchUSA during the
show's run and also had a loyal following among American
viewers, especially dance
music fans who tuned in since it was the only place to see
artists and videos from the genre, which usually gets shunned or
avoided by MTV in the United States.
The
dance hall where people were invited to
dance which the show used was the MuchMusic studios on the main
floor of the CHUM-City
Building
in Toronto, but
audiences often spilled out onto Queen
Street West, and on warm days the windows to the studio were
opened, with some acts performing outside. It was also not
uncommon for dancers to be stationed on the CHUM-City rooftop or
even on rooftops of buildings across the street, effectively making
the surrounding neighbourhood part of the set. Most music played
was pre-recorded but live acts also were invited on some shows, and
in the 1990s guest
deejays were also
featured. The show was hosted by
Monika
Deol until
1996, along with Michael
Williams, followed by
George
Lagogianes, and also featured dancing floor director MC Craig
F. (
Craig Halket of
Combat Des Clips on MuchMusic.) After that,
a rotation of various hosts took over. The show was an hour and a
half, until
2001, when it shortened to just an
hour long. Two concerts were hosted annually.
One at Canada's
Wonderland
, during the summer and another in the winter, at
Winterlude in Ottawa
.
Like its American antecedents
American Bandstand and
Soul Train,
Electric Circus was known for its
flashy dancers and many of these dancers became fan favorites in
their own right. A couple of these dancers later graduated to host
the show. Most dancers lived in the
Greater Toronto Area.
Some regulars also
travelled from Niagara
Falls
, Montreal
and Buffalo, New
York
for the Friday evening show.
The show's original producer, Joel Goldberg, went on to produce
many music videos and even a few feature films (He is now Managing
Director, Creative/Production Services for CourtTV, a CHUM
property). His minimalist approach to the set - using nothing more
than a well run Vari-Light installation, and camera work from
videographers including George Lagogianes and talented dancers
& live performances Goldberg created a show that highlighted
the music and the dancers while throwing cutaways to the music
videos. After Goldberg moved on, the set became more elaborate, the
dancers' costuming became choreographed, the quality of the dancing
declined, and most of the performances were synched - with the
exception of the DJs who mixed the breaks as well as a short
feature each episode.
In 1988 some of the original featured dancers included The WiZ,
Tori G (also an editor for CITY TV), WARP-1, Brenda C, The Cowboy,
Kenrick and Tyra J. Many of the dancers were regulars at "The Club
At Richard's" in Mississauga, as well as working professionally in
the "Go-Go" circuit. The WiZ (incidentally the first one asked to
be on the show) who was also a DJ & Producer, created the only
theme the show ever had, "The EC Rap" as well as a short audio
"stinger" for the breaks - both can be found on one of his websites
along with some streaming mixes of music from that era
The WiZ.
Guests on the show included
Britney
Spears,
Pink,
Aqua,
Alice DeeJay,
Martha Wash,
Sarina Paris,
O-Town,
Ginuwine,
Booker
Huffman,
Chyna,
Bow
Wow,
Sash!,
Bubba
Sparxxx,
Eiffel 65 and many
more.
Dancing alumni from the show also includes former CFNY Programmer
and DJ Edd "The Wiz" Scorpio, radio DJ, Ashley Greco, of the
Z103.5 Morning Show and boy band,
b4-4.
MuchMusic aired an
Electric Circus special on Christmas
Day 2006.
Past hosts
See also
External links
Wikis
Quiz
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