Sump'n Else
Sump’n Else was a live teen dance show that aired in 1965-1968 on Channel 8 WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, formatted similarly to American Bandstand.
Hosts
The show featuring a youthful host, Ron Chapman, who went on to local fame as the long-time morning host of KVIL 103.7 FM and often co hosted by Ralph Baker, Jr. who was a local television and radio commercial announcer. Ralph was also known as The Sanger-Harris Man because he was a fashion model for the Sanger-Harris department store. He hosted the Sanger-Harris fashion segment on the Sump'n Else show. He was also a KLIF-AM announcer at the time. Ralph also discovered Little Group member Calleen Anderegg and auditioned her at WFAA on The Group and Chapman Show.
National Performers
The show featured nationally known guest performers, including The Monkees, Herman's Hermits, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Rose Garden, 13th Floor Elevators, Sonny and Cher, The Outsiders and Frank Zappa.
Dancers
Sump’n Else also featured a group of local “go-go” dancers, who were students from local high schools known as "The Little Group". The original four included Joan Prather (who went by Joanie then) of Highland Park High School, who later played a recurring role in the television program Eight is Enough, Delpha Teague of Thomas Jefferson HS, Calleen Anderegg of Richardson High School, who was also Miss Dallas 1966, and Kathy Forney. The second "Little Group" included Cheryl Lovett from Kimball HS, Martha Latimer, Becky Ballard, and Melody Coleman of Garland High School. Pat Osborne was also in the second Little Group". Morgan Fairchild, then known as Patsy McClenny, used to dance in the audience and auditioned three times to be a member of The Little Group and did not get the role. She was a guest star as a child on the Mr. Peppermint Show, another program that broadcast on WFAA. Recurring substitute members include Pat Osborne and Chere Mauldin.
Local Performers
The Sump'n Else show featured local DFW house bands to perform including The Novas, The Five Americans, The Menerals, Those Guys, Kenny and the Kasuals, The Briks, Mouse and the Traps, Kit and the Outlaws,Johnathan's Experiences, The Dancing Bear, The Visions and many others.
Popularity
Sump’n Else was an afternoon staple on Channel 8. It was a big attraction for area high school students who came from throughout North Texas to see and be seen on the show. The program broadcast live from NorthPark Center shopping mall in a storefront studio that featured a soundproof window so shoppers and fans could see the daily action. When major music acts appeared on the program, police officers were located both inside and outside the mall directing traffic and handling the large crowds. A youth-oriented clothing store called Pois'n Ivy opened next to the studio and advertised on the show, capitalizing on the local popularity of the program.
Psychedelia
On December 7, 1967 WFAA did a special episode on the Sump'n Else show called "LSD: Insight or Insanity?." The show featured psychedelic props and techniques along with a public service documentary on the dangers of the drug LSD. On January 22, 1968, the show broadcast a special episode called the "Psychedelic Light Show" because the set was redesigned to feature lighting props to change with the music being performed to. A rotating light globe and a mirror to reflect the back of the studio were used on this episode. As early as 1966, special "psychedelic" effects such as zooming back and forth on the band and go-go dancers had been used.
Aftermath
The final broadcast of Sump’n Else was on January 26, 1968. WFAA put the afternoon Dialing for Dollars program on in the afternoon and showed a movie after the game show. Ron Chapman joined the team of KVIL-FM and later was teamed up with Suzie Humphreys who also hosted a popular WFAA morning program called News 8 ETC. Ron was at KVIL-FM from 1968-2000. In 2000 he joined sister station KLUV-FM which is an oldies station. KLUV-FM 98.7 was once the sister FM station to KLIF-AM and was known as KNUS, the first commercial-free FM station in Dallas. Christopher Haze was a Drive-time DJ for KNUS and was seen on the Sump'n Else show as a co-host as well. Ron Chapman retired from full-time broadcasting in the summer of 2005 but still is featured in many television/radio special segments today. Calleen Anderegg also worked briefly in the production team of KVIL-FM with Ron Chapman. Ralph Baker, Jr. still remained in the Dallas-Fort Worth broadcast market and continued to be heard as a commercial announcer on KLIF-AM and television commercials on WFAA and many of the other DFW television and radio stations.
Reunion
The 20th Anniversary Reunion Episode, hosted by Ron Chapman, was broadcast live from the Galleria Dallas shopping mall in Dallas on Sept. 7, 1985, in a simulcast with Channel 8 WFAA-TV and KVIL-FM. Ralph Baker, Jr. both "Little Groups" and recurring substitute members, and Kenny and the Kasuals were on this episode.
References
http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=36998
http://www.dragonstreet.com/novas.html
http://home.online.no/~frodebye/bugs_henderson/cd_mouse_traps.htm
http://www.wfaa.com/about/about2.html
https://www.facebook.com/billinthe60s