Chic-a-Go-Go

Chic-a-Go-Go
Chic-a-Go-Go logo
Created by	Jake Austen Jacqueline Stewart
Starring	Jake Austen Mia Park
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	over 1,000
Production
Producer(s)	Jake Austen Jacqueline Stewart
Running time	30 Minutes
Release
Original network	Chicago Access Network Television
Original release	May, 1996

Chic-a-Go-Go is a public-access television cable television children's dance show that airs on Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV). The show bills itself as "Chicago's Dance Show for Kids of All Ages".

Show description

Mia Park and Ratso hosting Chic-A-Go-Go

The show invites members of the public to participate in tapings at CAN-TV studios. A typical episode features dancing to prerecorded music, as well as musical guests lip syncing to their own songs. Each show is hosted by Jake Austen, who portrays Ratso, a teenage puppet rat, and Mia Park as human sidekick Miss Mia.^[1]

Among the show's regular features are the "El Train Line" (based on Soul Train's "Soul Train Line"), the "Fantasy Dance" (which features dancers in front of a green screen), and videotaped interviews with guests.

History and influences

Austen got the idea for the show when he published a story in his magazine Roctober about Kiddie-a-Go-Go, an all-kids dance show produced in Chicago between 1963 and 1970. Austen and Stewart met the show's creators, Jack and Elaine Mulqueen, and were inspired to complete a certification course that would allow them to use the facilities of Chicago Access Corporation. They shot the first episodes of the show in March 1996.^[2]

In addition to Kiddie-a-Go-Go, the show is influenced by well-known dance shows such as Soul Train, American Bandstand, and Solid Gold.

In the 2004 movie The Big Bounce, Morgan Freeman's character is seen watching the show.^[3]

Artists who have appeared on Chic-a-Go-Go

Aaron "Spacecat" Ackerson Acid Mothers Temple Hasil Adkins American Dream Agent Orange Alejandro Escovedo An Horse Annie Peacenik Anti-Flag ANTiSEEN Fred Armisen Baby Teeth The Baltimores Beck Pedro Bell Jello Biafra Bird Names Blue Cheer Bobby Conn Brilliant Pebbles Built to Spill Paul Burlison Busy Kids Butthole Surfers Califone The Cannanes Captured! by Robots Neko Case Catfish Haven Cheap Trick Chips for the Poor The Coctails Bobby Conn Country Teasers Cozy Crass The Cramps Flesh Panthers The Creation Cynthia Plaster Caster Dan Deacon Danielson Famile Dead Kennedys Deerhunter The Dictators The Dismemberment Plan DJ Assault Electric Six (The Wildbunch)

Environmental Encroachment ESHAM Essex Chanel Everlast Farm Team Perry Farrell Fishboy The Flying Luttenbachers Frank Black French Kicks Edith Frost Fugazi Ezra Furman GAR GAR Germs Godspeed You! Black Emperor Golden Birthday Guitar Wolf GZA Joe Sepi Leslie Hall Monotonix Neil Hamburger The Hamburglars Hanson Hawnay Troof Thee Headcoats HiFi Superstar The Hives Kelly Hogan Honey Blo Hunx and His Punx Hunger Strike Riot Hyper Viper Iceage Cordell Jackson Daniel Johnston Jollys Jumpsuit Ernie K-Doe King Krule JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound The Jesus Lizard Kim King Diamond Local H The Lemons, (Chicago) Bob Log III Loraxx The M's Magic Slim Make Overs

M.O.T.O. Masked Intruder Matmos Meat Puppets Metalmags Misfits Momus Monotrona The Mooney Suzuki Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore Rudy Ray Moore Motörhead Mucca Pazza Names Divine The New Pornographers The New Rob Robbies Calvin Newborn Mr. Quintron No Monster Club Nobunny Number Nine The Nurse Novels One Happy Island OK Go Orange Iguanas Panacea Pussycat Parquet Courts Pataphysics Pere Ubu Plain White T's The Pretty Things Archer Prewitt ? and the Mysterians Marky Ramone Rap Master Maurice Recent Photo The Romeros Room 101 Rebirth Brass Band The Revelettes The Residents Ruby Keeler Rev. Terry Rice Samwell The Sea and Cake The Scissor Girls Screaming Females Sharkula[4] Shannon and the Clams Shellac

The Shirelles Shonen Knife Sid Yiddish Sleater-Kinney Sleepwalk Slint The Slits The Smith Westerns Patti Smith Snoop Dogg Sonic Youth Soul Coughing Spoon Stereolab Stereo Total The Stolen Minks Iggy & the Stooges Los Straitjackets Loto Ball Show Swamp Dogg Le Tigre Sally Timms Tortoise Trans Am Tutu and the pirates Tub Ring TV on the Radio Ty Segall Twin Peaks Vanilla Ice Very Truly Yours Wesley Willis X XBXRX Yo La Tengo Youth Lagoon Andrew W.K. William Sides Atari Party Andre Williams Zolar X The Sweeps The Honky Punks The Reverend Terry Rice

References

1. About Chic-a-Go-Go! Archived May 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
2. "CHIC-A-GO-GO: Building Their Own Bandstand", Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, June 12, 1998
3. http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/2004/0104/040130.html
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkKnrKC0n6Y

External links

• Chic-a-Go-Go at the Internet Movie Database
• Chic-a-Go-Go site
• Chic-a-Go-Go YouTube channel