History of radio disc jockeys
For a number of decades beginning in the 1930s, the term "disc jockey", "DJ", "deejay", or "jock"[1] was exclusively used to describe on-air personalities who played selections of popular recorded music on radio broadcasting stations.
On Christmas Eve 1906, American Reginald A. Fessenden broadcast both live and recorded music from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.
In 1907, American inventor Lee de Forest broadcast a recording of the William Tell Overture from his laboratory in the Parker Building in New York City, claiming "Of course, there weren't many receivers in those days, but I was the first disc jockey".
In 1917 Captain Horace Donisthorpe, who was training radio operators for the British Army near Worcester, England, made unofficial broadcasts as engineer from a field.
At first his wife Gertrude spoke into the microphone to Captain Donisthorpe alone, but later she broadcast to army camps nearby playing gramophone records.
[13] The first official British DJ was Christopher Stone, who in 1927 convinced the BBC to let him broadcast a program consisting of American and American-influenced jazz records interspersed with his ad libbed introductions.
While his audience was awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block played records and created the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom, with the nation's top dance bands performing live.
By the end of World War II, disc jockeys had established a reputation, as "hitmakers", someone whose influence "could start an artist's career overnight".
[18][19] The Federal Communications Commission also clearly favored live music, providing accelerated license approval to stations promising not to use any recordings for their first three years on the air.
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.
[29] Bob Smith (aka Wolfman Jack) began his career as an announcer on XERF located in Mexico and became an influential DJ who advocated for African American music on his long running rock and roll radio show.
[30] A number of actors and media personalities began their careers as traditional radio disc jockeys who played and introduced records, such as Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane, talk show host Art Bell, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, and Howard Stern.
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.
[43][44] In 1957 alone, disc jockey and American Bandstand host Dick Clark made 157 appearances at dances and record hops.
[45] Detroit radio DJ Robin Seymour is credited with influencing the success of The Supremes and The Four Tops by promoting their appearances at his record hops.
DJs such as John Peel, Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett, Tony Prince, Emperor Rosko and Spangles Muldoon pioneered an innovative, American-influenced style of presentation, often programming their personal music choices rather than adhere to a strict playlist, thereby winning large audiences hungry for youth-oriented sounds and the latest musical trends.
[48][49] During World War II, disc jockey programs such as GI Jive were broadcast by the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service to troops.
GI Jive initially featured one of a series of guest DJs for each broadcast who would introduce and play popular recordings of the day; some were civilian celebrities, while others were servicemen.
[56][57] Cold War radio DJ Willis Conover's program on the Voice of America from 1955 through the mid-1990s featured jazz and other "prohibited" American music aimed at listeners in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries.
[58] African American radio DJs emerged in the mid 1930s and late 1940s, mostly in cities with large black populations such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit.
Jack L. Cooper was on the air 91⁄2 hours each week on Chicago's WCAP and is credited with being one of the first black radio announcers to broadcast gramophone records, including gospel music and jazz, using his own phonograph.
[60] In 1939, Hal Jackson was the first African American radio sportscaster at WOOK-AM in Washington, DC, and later hosted The House That Jack Built, a DJ program of jazz and blues.
[65] Nat D. Williams was the first African American disc jockey on WDIA in Memphis with his popular Tan Town Jamboree show.
Responding to an ad for female disc jockeys, Steele auditioned with 800 other women and was chosen with three others to launch an "all woman" format.
In 1976, Steele was the first woman chosen by Billboard magazine as "FM Personality of the Year", and she was instrumental in promoting performers such as the Moody Blues.
She promoted herself as the "Morning Beyotch" and "The Antidote to Howard Stern" on her show on San Francisco radio stations KSAN and KFRC-FM in the late 1990s.
In 1998, Zoe Ball began hosting the BBC's key breakfast show slot, followed by Sarah Cox in 2000.
DJ Dick Clark also testified before the committee, but survived, partially due to the fact that he had previously divested himself of ownership interest in all of his music-industry holdings.
The emergence of shock jock personalities and morning zoo formats saw the DJs role change from music host to cultural provocateur and comedian.
However a combination of financial pressures and new technology such as voice tracking and the Portable People Meter (PPM) began to have negative effects on the role of radio DJs beginning in the late 1990s, prompting one radio program manager to comment, "There was a time when the “top 40” format was ruled by legends such as Casey Kasem, or Wolfman Jack, and others who were known for both playing the hits and talking to you.
