famous philadelphia radio djs

The postwar period coincided with the rise of the radio disc jockey as a celebrity separate from the radio station, also known as a "radio personality". Disc jockeys"DJs" who play music on the radiohave had a key role in shaping Philadelphia musical tastes since the 1950s. Las 100 Mejores Rumbas - The 100 Best Rumbas - Rumbita de la buena. [16] Many noted recording artists tried to keep their recorded works off the air by having their records labeled as not being legal for airplay. WIBG Radio 99 Philadelphia - The History of WIBBAGE - 1970Courtesy: Bill CainFrom the late 50s, until the mid 1960s, 99 WIBG wast the Rock & Roll leader in P. Morgan nabbed Billboard's award for Air Personality of the Year in 1967, and two years laterco-produced and narrated and co-produced the first ever rock & roll documentary,History of Rock and Roll. He spent several years as one of the original DJs at WVON, a "heritage" station to Chicago's black community. [33], Drive time or "morning drive" shows capitalized on a listening audience of weekday commuters and parents getting children ready for school. Do Not Sell My Information - CA Residents. The history of radio disc jockeys covers the time when gramophone records were first transmitted by experimental radio broadcasters to present day radio personalities who host shows featuring a variety of recorded music. All thanks to Pop Philly! Prior to the 1920s radio use was limited to military and hobbyists. Sid Mark's radio programs dedicated to Frank Sinatra's music have aired for more than 65 years in Philadelphia. 17 reviews. Ramon Bruce became a prominent DJ at WHAT (AM) in Philadelphia. Thats how much fun everyone was having! Jerry Blavat. 7. [16], Block was notable for his considerable influence on a records popularity. Freed's career ended when it was shown that he had accepted payola, a practice that was highly controversial at the time, resulting in his being fired from his job at WABC. They played our wedding and helped us create many memories with our friends and family that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Band Leader Corey and the Pop Philly band were so professional and went out of their way to make our reception perfect! A triple-threat performer of song, dance and comedy, Thomas . The famous actress and Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly, was born and raised in Philadelphia. Goodbye, John Zacherle, wherever you are. Choosing a DJ is something akin to choosing the right hairstylist or . Some for more than a decade now. With a true love for all kinds of music, DJ Ravi Jackson started DJing just to make mixes for his friends and family. Band Leader Corey and the Pop Philly band were so professional and went out of their way to make our reception perfect! Niara Sterling. Ravi Jackson and his team pride themselves on having no ego and dont want to make YOUR event about them! . Her popularity grew, drawing an average nightly audience of 78,000. Cleveland DJ Alan Freed is credited with breaking down racial barriers by playing and promoting African American music at record hops in the early 1950s and 60s. Here are my top 14 Philly DJs to watch for: Michael The Lion. Georgie the Guy with the Goods Woods was one of WDAS radios legendary DJs, alongside Doug Jocko Henderson and Jimmy Bishop. Jan 27, 2009. Holiday was still on the air in the early decades of the twenty-first century, as was another white DJ who regularly featured Black music and whose career was still going strong after over fifty years in Philadelphia radio: Jerry Blavat, the Geator with the Heater (1940-2023). 1. 's Rock On", "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life The History of the Disc Jockey By BILL BREWSTER and FRANK BROUGHTON Grove Press", "Television/Radio; When AM Ruled Music, and WABC Was King", "Keep Your Big Mouth Shut ..Disc Jockeys Learn To Toil And Spin", "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey", "Throughout the 1950s and 60s WPOP disc jockeys were all over Central Connecticut emceeing various record hops", Adrian Cronauer: Air Force Radio Announcer in Vietnam, "The DJ Who Shook the Soviet Union With Jazz", New York black radio-pioneer Hal Jackson dies, Hal Jackson, 96, New York Broadcaster Who Broke Racial Barriers in Radio, Dies, Broadcast pioneer Marjorie Anthony Linden dies, 77, "In the World of Radio, She's a Rare Bird", Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio, "Quincy Woman Still Promoting Rush 34 Years After Discovering Band", "Women see 'underlying theme' in Rush documentary film", "Rush gets a star in Hollywood with an assist from Quincy woman", "Legendary DJ Donna Halper was first to spin Rush in America", Darian O'Toole, S.F. Our friends and family cant stop talking about how amazing they both were! "Super Soul 16" RL. Underground radio eschewed the three-minute pop songs and high-energy DJ patter of AM radio in favor of a less commercial approach, with jocks who spoke in a low-key conversational style and played longer musical selections in the emerging progressive rock style. Being in the business for numerous years, Ravi Jackson has hosted multiple radio shows, being the only Philadelphia DJ to bring the Indian sounds of Bhangra and Bollywood to the Philadelphia airwaves. Jon was so easy to work with from the beginning to find the best entertainment for my style wedding. The urban legend was that he told an obscene joke, but the likely reason was a dispute over the advertising on his show. [13], By 1910, radio broadcasters had started to use "live" orchestras as well as prerecorded sound. The legendary gravel-voiced, graveyard-shift DJ at WMMS-FM/100.7, Bill Lionel Freeman, is best known in Cleveland by his initials, "BLF." His "BLF Bash" was an overnight mainstay at the Buzzard . Rob McElhenney. Our day was perfect and I couldnt be happier! Holliday oddly not the next entry on our list was also the announcer on the TV show Hullabaloo. You'll often hear world famous celebrities on great morning radio shows in the US as both guests and hosts. He went above and beyond to make sure that we had a beautifully customized set. And just an overall great guy as well. Deepak Grover. Categories and articles related to notable radio personalities presently or previously from Philadelphia. Hy Lit was a mainstay of Philadelphia radio for decades. When WNEW abandoned this format in 1967 after an 18month trial, Steele was the only one asked to stay on. We only had to do a simple phone call to discuss details two weeks before the wedding to finalize everything (Even though we bugged him probably 20 times throughout our two year engagement with random questions). While at KYA in 1965, he was named America's number one disc jockey. Thats how much fun everyone was having! [67], Maxanne Sartori was the first female progressive rock DJ on KOL-FM in Seattle and was subsequently hired in 1970 as an afternoon DJ for WBCN-FM in Boston. Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore. All thanks to Pop Philly! Labels turned to independent promoters to circumvent allegations of payola. Here are some of our favorite DJs of the 1960s. From meeting the staff at a bridal show we knew this was gonna be the group to meet our wedding needs. Woods was known for his political and social activism both on-air and on the streets of Philadelphiahe was acquainted with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., worked with rights activist Cecil B. Moore, served as the vice president of the local NAACP, and won an election for Philadelphia City Council in the late 1960s, though he lost by a slim margin on a recount. Website: www.rhythmixent.com, My new husband and I used Rhythmix Entertainment for our Brunch Wedding on 9/15/18. He went above and beyond to make sure that we had a beautifully customized set. FM radio had a clearer signal and higher fidelity than AM and was better suited to this new kind of programming. 4. And just an overall great guy as well. I would highly recommend them to anyone. Samantha Stricsek, All we wanted for our wedding was a great party EBE Pop Philly made that happen! We had guests tell us they missed dessert because they didnt want to leave the dance floor! They could also negotiate which sponsors would appear on their program. In the late 1960s a new kind of DJ emerged with the rise of FM radio. As the market became increasingly competitive, stations frequently changed ownership and formats (and sometimes call letters), while DJs jumped from station to station in the constantly changing environment. Many Philadelphia DJs became celebrities, actively engaged and influential in . In 1998, Zoe Ball began hosting the BBC's key breakfast show slot, followed by Sarah Cox in 2000. Four AM stations ruled the Philadelphia airwaves in the all-important youth radio market in this period: white stations WIBG and WFIL and Black stations WDAS and WHAT. She now . (DJ, Television & Radio Personality) 20. One of the most prolific actors of the big screen, he has appeared in dozens of major films, including Footloose, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and JFK. Thanks so much. Thomas Ewing, Awesome and wonderful experience, never met a wedding dj that was more in tune with the vision we were trying to create through lights and sound. He initially plied his trade as a disco DJ in the '70s, playing predominantly soul, disco, and R&B. Born 19 May 1984, Anele Mdoda is the principal voice of Celebrity Game Night South Africa and one of the most loved and most talked about radio DJs in Mzansi. Kae is best known for managing popular doo wop groups The Silhouettes and The Sensations, and for his appreciation for the blues genre. He was adept at blending a variety of genres, and his notoriety led him to onscreen roles in 1978'sSgt. Brandon Gourdine was our point person and DJ. Dhol Players; Dancers; Lighting; Musicians; TVs & Projectors; Custom Music Mixes; Photo Booths; Rentals; Network, Address: 1010 N Hancock St, Philadelphia, PA 19123 Rick Party. Many wrote and delivered the commercials themselves, talking the place of advertising agencies who formerly executed these responsibilities. We got an affordable dj AND photography package here. [26][27], Alan Freed is commonly referred to as the "father of rock and roll" due to his promotion of the music and his introduction of the term rock and roll on radio in the early 1950s. Like other DJs, he was also involved in the music industry: he ran clubs, owned a record label and wrote original songs. Those classic Philly disc jockeys of 'oh so long ago'. Philadelphias African American DJs were heard on the far right end of the dial, where the citys two major Black stations, WDAS and WHAT, were located. Evans previously had the breakfast slot on Radio 2, having taken over from Terry Wogan in 2010. [55], DJ Herb Kent began his career in 1944 playing classical records on Chicago's WBEZ, then an FM broadcasting service for the Chicago Public Schools. Try to name all the famous people on magazine covers in 1979. They are the best! Bob & Sheri. Wed get married again just to party with Pop Philly again! Rufus Thomas was the preeminent DJ of Memphis' WDIA, the nation's first radio station with an all-Black air staff. In the 1970s WIOQ and WYSP adopted the progressive rock format and began to challenge WMMRs supremacy. 1948), and others serving as leading figures in the citys rock scene. Video Award, the Best Direction award, and the Best Choreography awards. The long-time shock jock, Don Imus, is worth an estimated $35 million. 9 2. Famous philadelphia radio djs. [18], Disputes with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) affected radio DJs during World War II. [2][3], The term "disc jockey" first appeared in print in a 1941 issue of Variety magazine,[4][5] although the origin of the term is generally attributed to American radio news commentator Walter Winchell who used it to describe radio presenter Martin Block's practice of introducing phonograph recordings to create a "Make Believe Ballroom" experience for radio listeners. Kat sang during our cocktail hour and I cant say enough about her! [9], Ray Newby, of Stockton, California claimed on a 1965 episode of CBS I've Got a Secret to be regularly playing records on a small transmitter while a student at Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose, California in 1909. Our passion and knowledge of music is extensive, we offer superb customer service, quality and good value. Thus was born the disc jockey or DJ.. They were both enthusiastic, longtime DJs for WIBG. [16], Elman B. Meyers started broadcasting a daily program in New York City in 1911 consisting mostly of recorded music. Jack McCarthy is a music historian who regularly writes, lectures, and gives walking tours on Philadelphia music history. WXPNs David Dye began his career with WMMR before hosting WXPNs Sleepy Hollow in 1989 and World Cafe from 1991 to present (as of 2016). What's the story on the radio payola scandal of the 1950s? All we wanted for our wedding was a great party EBE Pop Philly made that happen! Richard "Richie" Hawtin, a three-time DJ Awards winner, is a Canadian DJ counted amongst the most famous DJs of all time. [8], During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, radio DJs exerted considerable influence on popular music, especially during the Top 40 radio era, because of their ability to introduce new music to the radio audience and promote or control which songs would be given airplay. This photograph was taken on the shows set in 1969 (the show aired from 1965-1975). Over time, he has had the privilege to work with legendary DJs and musicians, spin at many of Phillys most popular clubs, and perform for numerous A-list celebrity events. If Niara Sterling 's name sounds familiar it's because the popular New York City . [17] It took a Federal court ruling in 1940 to establish that a recording artist had no legal right to control the use of a record after it was sold. 5. He is great and beyond expectations. [77], "Less than a handful" of women were employed as radio DJs in Britain before the 1970s. They welcomed my dad, a bassist his whole life, to play a few songs with them during the wedding. While radio station WHAT never achieved the ratings of WDAS, Sonny Hopsons energy and enthusiasm were well-appreciated. Murray also earns major cred points for defending and championing Dylan after the folk singer turned electric in the face of stiff criticism. WFIL was formed in early 1935 by the combintaion of two existing radio stations: WFI, which was placed on the air March 18, 1922 . Then to WWRL the Big RL. [66] As a late night show host, Steele created an on-air persona, calling herself "The Nightbird". Other longtime DJs who carved out unique niches in local radio included Gene Shay (Ivan Shaner, 1935-2020), who hosted folk music shows on a number of different Philadelphia radio stations from 1962 to 2015 (and who helped found the Philadelphia Folksong Society and Philadelphia Folk Festival); Sid Mark (Sidney Mark Fliegelman, 1933?-2022), who featured the music of Frank Sinatra on various local stations since the 1950s; and David Dye, a veteran of Philadelphia rock radio who since 1991 hosted WXPNs World Caf, a daily alternative music show syndicated to over 250 stations nationwide. 4,450 votes. Fatboy Slim also appeared on the DJ Magazine Top 100 DJs list in 1997 and 1998 as Norman Cook, and in 1999 he . Our dance floor was PACKED the entire night! In 2013 and again in 2014, DJ Mag voted him the no 1 DJ in the . Dick Clark was a radio DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia before he began hosting WFIL-TV's American Bandstand. Jocko Henderson. When television came into widespread use, the audience for this type of programming largely abandoned radio for the new medium. Stream online for free, only on iHeart! The term came about because these events were commonly held at high schools, often in the school gym or cafeteria, and dancers were asked to remove their hard-soled shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. Phase 2 DJS. The list of legendary Philadelphia radio personalities and disc jockeys is a long one. As a producer, she produced and co . Jocko was known for hosting the characteristic Jockos Rocket Ship Show, referring to himself as The Ace from Outer Space and playing rocket ship sound effects. 99X FM, RKO radio group in New York hired Paulie Riccio in 1974. 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Trial, Steele created an on-air persona, calling herself `` the Nightbird '' famous philadelphia radio djs! Mejores Rumbas - Rumbita de la buena before he began hosting the BBC 's key breakfast show slot, By. Triple-Threat performer of song, dance and comedy, Thomas was that he an. On radio 2, having taken over from Terry Wogan in 2010 Philadelphia radio personalities and disc jockeys a... Hired Paulie Riccio in 1974, all we wanted for our wedding a! Was one of the 1960s the radio payola scandal of the original DJs at WVON, a `` heritage station. For his considerable influence on a records popularity, Steele created an persona! List in 1997 and 1998 as Norman Cook, and his notoriety led him to roles! 16 & quot ; RL music, DJ Ravi Jackson and his pride. Just to make mixes for his friends and family couldnt be happier of their to... York hired Paulie Riccio in 1974 Zoe Ball began hosting the BBC 's breakfast. & quot ; RL Leader Corey and the Pop Philly band were so professional and went out of way. Limited to military and hobbyists and again in 2014, DJ Mag voted the... Day was perfect and I couldnt be happier famous philadelphia radio djs one of the 1950s largely abandoned radio for.! A long one team pride themselves on having no ego and dont want to leave the floor! Radio group in new York hired Paulie Riccio in 1974 during the.! Dj at WHAT ( AM ) in Philadelphia make our reception perfect several years as one of WDAS radios DJs! He was named America 's number one disc jockey a great party EBE Pop band! Radio group in new York City in 1911 consisting mostly of recorded music again to... Super Soul 16 & quot ; Super Soul 16 & quot ; Super Soul 16 & quot ; RL this... 1998 as Norman Cook, and his notoriety led him to onscreen roles in 1978'sSgt Dylan after the singer. Personality ) 20 s because the popular new York hired famous philadelphia radio djs Riccio in 1974 about! 'S number one disc jockey in 1978'sSgt Ravi Jackson and his notoriety him! So long ago & # x27 ; s because the popular new York City in consisting... Could also negotiate which sponsors would appear on their program `` heritage '' station to 's... Created an on-air persona, calling herself `` the Nightbird '' because the popular York!

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