Disc Jockey

The first disc jockey was sixteen-year-old student Ray Newby. In 1909, under the supervision of Charles “Doc” Herrold at Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose, California, he played the first records  on a small transmitter. This predated the term "disc jockey," which wasn't used until decades later.

Christopher Stone (1992-1865), brother in law of the author Compton Mackenzie, became Britain’s first disc jockey, when he presented Record Round-up on the BBC in 1927.

At first Stone's only payment was being allowed to mention The Gramophone on air, which he edited. He was later paid three guineas.

Stone objected to the term “disc jockey”, but was devoted so records, he made his will on one.

Martin Block (1903-67)  first worked in radio in Tijuana, Mexico  in 1931. He  was hired three years later by WNEW in New York City  and was standing by to announce the latest news about the Hauptmann trial, when he played music to divert listeners, explaining it came from "the Make Believe Ballroom."

Martin Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, he spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener.

With his mellifluous voice, Block was a master salesman for sponsors and record companies who vied for him to introduce their products and records.

In 1935, American radio commentator Walter Winchell invented the term "disc jockey" (the combination of disc, referring to the disc records, and jockey, which is an operator of a machine) as a means of describing Block's radio work

Eleanor Roosevelt worked as a disc jockey in 1957 to raise money for the March of Dimes. She took requests from kids with polio, playing everything from Elvis Presley to Eddie Fisher and Harry Belafonte. 

U.S. disc jockey Alan Freed was the first mainstream radio presenter to play rock ’n’ roll on his shows in the early Fifties. On December 8, 1962, Freed appeared at his payola trial in New York City and testified to receiving money from labels to play their records on the air. He was found guilty, fined $300, and given six months probation, but his career was irreparably damaged.

National DJ Day is celebrated annually on January 20 to recognize and celebrate the work of  disc jockeys. This also marks the date that Alan Freed died in 1965.

Trading card photo of Alan Freed in 1957

Carl Cox's New Year's Eve feat in 1999 is a legendary story in the DJ world. He truly embodied the "party animal" spirit by ringing in the millennium twice, defying timezones and exhausting travel schedules. Cox first played at the Home nightclub in Sydney, Australia, where he brought in the new year for Sydney and the Eastern Hemisphere at midnight local time. Immediately after his set in Sydney, Cox hopped on a private jet and flew westward over the International Date Line, effectively "going back in time" to December 31st again. He landed in Honolulu, Hawaii, just in time to play another set at the Aloha Tower Marketplace, welcoming the millennium for Hawaii and the Western Hemisphere alongside a jubilant crowd.

Aged just 4 years and 130 days, Archie Norbury also known as DJ Archie became the world's youngest club DJ at the age of 4 years and 130 days. DJ Archie did an unassisted hour-long set at Hong Kong nightclub 'Bungalow' on March 30, 2019, entertaining the enthusiastic crowd with a series of classic house dance music tracks. 

Dallas DJ Ron Chapman told listeners to his show that if they sent him $20 he would send them nothing by return. A week later he had received over $240,000.

The act of a radio DJ talking over a song's instrumental intro and stopping just before the lyrics begin is called "hitting the post."

Sources: Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999. Calendar.songfacts.com/