Posted
on January 20, 2015
A
very famous disc jockey died on this date in 1965.
A
disc jockey is someone who introduces and plays recorded music on the
radio or at a party, club, or dance hall.
Alan
Freed, who was known as Moondog, promoted a mix of popular music on
the radio in the United States and Europe. We're talking blues,
country music, and rhythm and blues. He called it...rock and roll!
Yep, he introduced the phrase rock'n'roll to the world, and that's why he is called the Father of Rock'n'Roll. He also helped to integrate the music world by presenting on his radio shows music made by black artists rather than cover versions by white bands. His live concerts were attended by racially mixed audiences...something remarkable in the U.S.
Freed's
legacy was somewhat marred by the end of his career, because he had
accepted “payola” – payments from record companies to play
their songs on the radio. Payola wasn't illegal when Freed accepted
it—but many people thought it was wrong, and shortly after Freed
lost his radio and TV shows, payola was made illegal.
Still,
there are lots of honors heaped upon Alan Freed. After his death, he
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which is located in
his longtime home of Cleveland to honor him), and also into the
National Radio Hall of Fame; he was awarded a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame and a Trustees Award at the Grammys. The name Moondog
comes up once in a while in homage to Freed—for example, the mascot
of Cleveland's pro-basketball team is Moondog—and Freed is
mentioned in many songs. Rock and roll songs, of course!
 |
| Rock music today is, of course, huge and diverse. But I thought these two pictures show a bit of the span from rock in Freed's time, above, to nowadays, below. |
Nowadays
a DJ can be someone who, like Freed so long ago, introduces and plays
and talks about music on the radio...OR a DJ can be someone who mixes
recorded music for a party, club, or rave. A club DJ may work with
(in the words of Beck) “two turntables and a microphone” - and a
mobile DJ travels with a portable sound system. Some DJs are
considered performers because they add percussion using turntable
scratching or produce new music using turntablism and
sampling.
Check out how to become a party or performing DJ here, and how to become a radio DJ here.
Check out how to become a party or performing DJ here, and how to become a radio DJ here.
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