From 1961 to 1972, the WWL-TV studio was the place to be on a Saturday if you were a teenager. It was the era when the TV shows “American Bandstand,” followed by “Soul Train,” were popular, and New Orleans had one of its own.
Talk a walk with me on a trip down memory lane. In the WWL-TV French Quarter studio, where we broadcast the news live every day, let’s rewind 65 years to the early 1960s.
When John Pela became the host of “Saturday Hop,” it quickly became “The John Pela Show.” He was called the Dick Clark of New Orleans. Teens got to dance live to the hits on this relatively new thing called television…