Home · On This Day · Dec. 8, 1978
Hot night of disco
Broadcast Date: Dec. 8, 1978
It's all about getting your groove on.On Dec. 8, 1978, five finalist couples from across Canada gather to shake their booties at the Maple Leaf Ballroom in Toronto.
These dancing queens and kings have polished their disco shoes, glittered up their outfits and limbered up their hips for this much-anticipated event.
In front of about 1,000 disco buffs, the five couples showcase their moves.
There's the hustle, the roach (also known as the pigeon step) not to mention the bounce step.
In the end, Robert Martin and Louanne Scinocco of Toronto nab the disco grand prize. (They are couple number two in red and white).
The duo dances away with $14,200 in prizes for their improvisational approach.
Hot night of disco
• The five couples competed in three categories: first to a compulsory tune; second to a song picked by the dancers and third to a surprise piece. (The song was Music Is All You Need, by the THP Orchestra)• Disco fever swept North America in the mid-1970s. One of the first disco hits was Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor. This catchy ditty topped the charts in 1974.
• In April 1977, the legendary disco club Studio 54 opened its doors in New York.
• Disco reached new heights of popularity in the late 1970s but lost its momentum by 1980. The most famous disco spot in the world, Studio 54, closed down around this time as well.
Also on December 8:
• 1852: a Royal Charter signed by Queen Victoria establishes Laval University in Quebec City. It is the first French-language University in North America.
• 1880: Alberta's first newspaper, "The Edmonton Bulletin," debuts as a weekly publication.
• 1915: "In Flanders Fields," a poem by Canadian doctor-poet John McCrae, is published in Britain's "Punch" magazine. See cbc.ca archives topic First World War
Hot night of disco
Medium: Television
Program: CBC News
Broadcast Date: Dec. 8, 1978
Guest(s):
Duration: 1:56
Last updated:
May 29, 2009
Radio
8:30
With the war underway and Canadians looking for cheaper entertainment, CBC Radio teaches listeners how to tap dance at home.
Topic
In 1977, a new form of underground music emerged from Canadian basements and garages. Journalists called it punk rock. It was kids with boot polish in their hair, playing out-of-tune guitars and questioning...
Hot night of disco.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: May 29, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 12, 2012.]