Best radio DJs

[john poole]

I remember both Andy Kershaw and Mark Lamarr naming Alexis Korner as an inspiration for their radio careers.

Most of my favourites have been mentioned apart from Tony Hall (recently discussed in Looking for an Echo) who was only a part time DJ.

A mention for the first American DJ I heard - Jack Spector who had a one hour taped show from New York broadcast on Radio Caroline around 1965 - the best thing on the pirate stations until I discovered Mike Raven.

Slightly more recently I used to really love Roger Scott's Sunday night show (which followed Andy Kershaw).

[kevin]

David Rodigan deserves to be mentioned. His Saturday night Capital Radio show was unmissable and he had the best jingles.

[judith]

I know everyone's discussing UK radio disc jockeys, but I can't think about listening to radio personalities without remembering Tom Donahue's voice and the span of his interests and influence. I first heard him on San Francisco's KYA - a top 40 (60) station which played much more than top forty - stuff like Slim Harpo comes to mind. I heard Tom Donahue's first KMPX broadcast in 1967. He moved to KSAN a year or so later. He (among others) had a large influence on 'free form/underground' radio. Oh, and then there is Dusty Street. I wonder if she is still broadcasting?

Another world entirely, but speaking of memorable radio voices from my childhood - Wolfman Jack. There were others - with names that rhymed - I was looking for a name I half-remembered from radio KSOL in San Francisco and came across this that looks to be a good book
http://tinyurl.com/nktb5

[john poole]

I've tried that link Judith and it brings up a table detailing the median age of automobiles and trucks which isn't especially interesting. Should it have been The Hits Just Keep On Coming / The History of Top 40 Radio by Ben Fong-Torres? Copies were around a while back in remaindered book shops.

Here's a little of the Wolfman, (talking over Toussaint McCall) -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-PCEe8bNiY[/youtube]

[judith]

Thank you John. I know better about double checking those links. The Ben Fong-Torres book was one I was looking at yesterday, but the title I meant to post a link to is by Martha Washington George "Black Radio...Winner Takes All" on Amazon.
http://tinyurl.com/lwn8hy

I couldn't find many reviews and today I see the book is self-published which might make it personally engaging. I did find this on her bio:

[i]Marsha’s Uncle, Adrian Kenneth Knight, known across the southern portion of the country [Alabama?] as “Ken Knightâ€

[john poole]

Many thanks. The Martha Washington George book is available here at amazon.uk & play.com and looks most interesting.

[Hugh Weldon]

Judith:

Another world entirely, but speaking of memorable radio voices from my childhood - Wolfman Jack.

We met him over here through American Graffiti. I loved that scene in the film where he pretends to be the studio manager.

Later I had the Volume 2 soundtrack album which was instrumental in introducing me to so much great old rock and roll and late fifties/early sixties pop. It disappeared on me years ago though and doesn't seem to be available anymore. It kicked off with the Chantels 'Maybe' I seem to recall.

[judith]

Charming Flo mentioned Wolfman Jack along with Alan Freed and Mad Daddy (Cleveland). I knew of Alan Freed (New York) and Mad Daddy (Cleveland), but I suspect I heard of them, or snippets of their shows re-broadcast on other shows rather than listened to them firsthand. It's difficult, remembering the past accurately when people you admired when you were young later become the focus of the media. However, I do remember we listened to Wolfman Jack firsthand up and down the length of California. He grew immensely popular quite rapidly. Apparently, this was due to a radio station he worked in for a couple of years (62-24) out of Mexico. This (XERF - AM) was the same station a friend of mine who grew up on an Indian reservation in a mountainous region of inland Southern California (thus there was no reception for US radio stations) listened to and this is where he first heard the Beatles - out of Mexico! which to this day he thinks is hilariously funny. The family would point their antenna out the back bedroom window towards Mexico, turn on the radio and listen.

Scroll down to the paragraph titled "Wolfman Jack" for an interesting story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XERF-AM

American Grafitti is a great movie and isn't far off at all, really, from some of the California towns of those days. I'm a bit younger than Lucas to have engaged in the car scene but old enough to have noticed it.

[Adam Blake]

Are there any fans of the "Cruisin'" series here on SOTW? I've got nearly all of them. I bet Charlie's got them all. They've given me enormous pleasure over the years - although some of the later editions suffered copyright infringement litigation and were forced to use horribly inappropriate re-recordings (a massive boo to Berry Gordy for not allowing the original Motown recordings to be used).

For those not aware of them: each volume would feature a different mock-up radio programme from a different DJ from a different part of the States from a different year - complete with original jingles and adverts. The covers were a continuing series of Pop Art paintings illustrating the growing up and coming of age of a typical (Californian?) couple from 1955-1969. Beautifully put together with great love and attention to detail, the original issues on Increase records came out in 1970. They were never released in the UK and are quite hard to find now. Here's an article about them with click throughs to the covers:

http://tinyurl.com/n868fa

[Des]

I've got Cruisin' 1967. Magic stuff.

[Dayna]

Judith:

Another world entirely, but speaking of memorable radio voices from my childhood - Wolfman Jack.

We met him over here through American Graffiti. I loved that scene in the film where he pretends to be the studio manager.

I loved Wolfman Jack. There was a TV show on Fridays that he did, that I used to watch with my brother.
Thomas John, from Cleveland has been popular for a long time. he's been doing the Doo Wop shows on Sunday called Sunday Night Cruise.

[john poole]

I've got about half a dozen of the Cruisin' LPs - the one I particularly remember liking is 1962 with Russ "Weird Beard" Knight from KLIF, Dallas.

[Dayna]

I was in my car & heard quite a few songs by Big Bands & it reminded me of another DJ I listened to for quite a few years, named Johnny Kay. I haven't for a while for some reason, but this one used to play all the old songs from the 30s, 40s, & 50s, & then he'd also include so many stories from the past of my area. I could be more specific on here about where I live, & I'm not really worried about anyone on here, but just other people who might be reading this.
But it's an area that's been known for crime, from the Mob, in the 40s to even recently, plus it was popular for a lot of Big Bands & Dean Martin to come too. The bands that used to come here all sounded so wonderful and once he told a story of how he & friends used to go sled riding down some of the roads that ran down hill, in the winter. If only it could be like that again, around here, without the crime of course. There was one song he played a few times that I've been wishing I could hear again, but don't know if it's anywhere. It was a 17 minute long, live version of Sing, Sing, Sing, which I thought he said was by Les Brown in the 1930s.