![]() ( Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Archives) Jerry Blavat (right) captures the attention of other radio DJs and personalities during Sid Mark’s Mark of Jazz television show, aired on WPHL and WHYY. While he never worked at a major commercial radio station-he got his start at WCAM, a small Camden, New Jersey, station in 1960-he built a loyal following hosting dances and live shows and remained one of the best-known figures on the local music scene in the early twenty-first century. ![]() Blavat occupied a unique place among Philadelphia disc jockeys. 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). WDAS also had popular white DJs who played Black music, including Joe “Butterball” Tamburro (1942–2012) and Harvey Holiday (Harvey William Levy). WHAT never achieved the ratings of WDAS, but it did have a very popular, high-energy DJ in Sonny “the Mighty Burner” Hopson (b. All three also produced and hosted live music shows at local venues. Woods was a noted civil rights activist, Henderson had daily radio shows in both Philadelphia and New York, and Bishop owned a record label and served at times as program director at WDAS and vice president for CBS Records. These DJs did more than just spin records. WDAS was the powerhouse of the two, with legendary DJs Georgie Woods, “the Guy with the Goods” (1927–2005) Doug “Jocko” Henderson, the “Ace from Outer Space” (1918–2000), and Jimmy Bishop. Philadelphia’s African American DJs were heard on the far right end of the dial, where the city’s two major Black stations, WDAS and WHAT, were located. ( Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries) Georgie “the Guy with the Goods” Woods takes a turn behind the microphone, most likely for WDAS, in 1970. WFIL switched to rock and roll in 1966 with “Boss Jocks” such as Jay Cook (c. WIBG adopted an all rock and roll format in the late 1950s with DJs Joe “the Rockin’ Bird” Niagara (real name Joseph Nigro, 1927–2004), Hy “Hyski” Lit (Hyman Lit, 1934–2007), and others. 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. Thus was born the “disc jockey” or “DJ.”ĭJs first achieved popularity on AM radio, which predominated in the 1950s and 1960s. In response, radio stations began offering a new type of entertainment by having their announcers play records on the air. When television came into widespread use, the audience for this type of programming largely abandoned radio for the new medium. In the earlier years of radio broadcasting, which began in Philadelphia in 1922, programming featured mainly live entertainment such as dramas, comedy acts, and studio orchestras and singers. ![]() Many Philadelphia DJs became celebrities, actively engaged and influential in the local music scene.ĭJs came into being as a result of changes in the radio industry after the advent of television in the 1950s. They reflected national and local musical trends, exposed audiences to new music, and in some cases produced records and managed artists. ( Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries)ĭisc jockeys-“DJs” who play music on the radio-have had a key role in shaping Philadelphia musical tastes since the 1950s.
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