Radio DJs and the birth of the "disc jockey"
How radio presenters turned records into shows, where the term disc jockey came from, and how radio helped launch rock and roll, hip hop and house.
Records on the air
In radio's early years, many stations preferred live performers, and some record labels printed warnings against broadcasting their discs. Over time, recorded music became the cheaper and more flexible option, and presenters who could make a show out of records became stars.
In the UK, Christopher Stone began presenting record programs on the BBC in 1927 and is often described as Britain's first disc jockey. In the US, Martin Block's "Make Believe Ballroom," which started in 1935 in New York, created the illusion of a live ballroom using records. The term "disc jockey" is commonly credited to the gossip columnist Walter Winchell in the mid 1930s.
Personality radio and rock and roll
By the 1950s, radio DJs were tastemakers. Alan Freed, working first in Cleveland and then in New York, played rhythm and blues records to a young audience of all backgrounds and helped popularize the phrase "rock and roll." DJs chose what to play, and a single spin could launch a hit.
That power led to the payola scandal of the late 1950s, when it emerged that some DJs were being paid by record companies to play their records. Rules followed, and stations increasingly moved playlist decisions to program directors.
The Top 40 format
Also in the 1950s, station owners developed Top 40 radio: a tight rotation of the most popular songs, repeated throughout the day. It made radio more predictable and less dependent on one DJ's taste, but it also turned presenting into a fast-talking art form of jingles, quick intros and talking up to the vocal.
Pirate and community radio
When official stations would not play new styles, outsiders did. In the 1960s, offshore pirate stations broadcast pop music to the UK from ships, and later generations of pirate stations in London played reggae, rare groove, jungle, garage and grime long before mainstream radio did. Community and college stations played a similar role in the US.
Mixshows that changed music
Radio mixshows brought club sounds to people who could not get into clubs:
- New York hip hop radio. From around 1979, shows such as Mr. Magic's on WHBI, and later on WBLS, began broadcasting hip hop to a wider audience. See Kool Herc and the birth of hip hop.
- Chicago's Hot Mix 5. A team of mix DJs on WBMX in the 1980s spread early house music across the city. See Chicago house.
- Detroit's Electrifying Mojo. His eclectic late-night show mixed funk, rock and European electronic music, and influenced the creators of techno. See Detroit techno.
Radio skills that still matter
Club and radio DJing developed different skills, but they overlap more than ever:
| Radio skill | Club equivalent |
|---|---|
| Talking up to the vocal | Timing a mic shout before a drop |
| Clean segues | Smooth transitions |
| Building a playlist for a time slot | Building a set for a slot |
| Knowing the audience | Reading a crowd |
Today, livestreams, online radio and podcasts have replaced much of the role pirate radio played. The core skill is the same as in 1935: choosing records and presenting them so listeners stay tuned.
Many early radio broadcasts used a single turntable, so presenters talked over the gap while changing records. The habit of talking between songs became part of the DJ's personality.
