Is really a question of how disk jockeys came to be. Radio kick the idea hard in the beginning. All the music was live to a point till the development of recordings: Records & tape (Carts, cassettes, 8-tracks idea) they used this idea in many ways & not just for music. Shows, stories & talk. Radio was the first media that gave folks a reason to sit at home with the family & listen. Passive interaction you might say. As time went on the idea of taking the big standing radio console & making it smaller and portable became the question. Being able to put a radio into a car or to make it something a person could listen to that was battery operated became the idea. During this time TV. Was being developed, as well and radio’s in the home became less of the attraction. Radio had to find it’s place & I feel the birth of the dj became a reality. It became huge in the 40’s & 50’s to cruise down main street listening to hits on the radio. The personality that tied this all together was the dj! Many big names from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s come to mind as well as some we have forgotten. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Top_40 with Casey Kasem &
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPVxjZxohDI&w=420&h=315]
what about Wolfman jack! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfman_Jack
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA2m7KYqG5s&w=420&h=315]
not to mention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Demento everyone of these dj’s has left an imprint of the face of radio.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrTWY9a7kYg&w=420&h=315]
The evolution of the dj blew up in the 50’s with sock hops. Kids would go to their school & dance on the weekends & you could argue the point that this was the birth of the mobile dj came from. Next in line came in the 70’s with disco’s & the beginning of the club dj. You know where this took us! Dance clubs with big lights & big sound. Wedding dj’s were the next thing to take the seen. Pay a dj half of what you pay a band I think was the idea. No matter how you look at it dj’s were here to stay. Dj’s started to scratch & were part of the break-dance culture. Next they would start to be part of rap & hip-hop groups then on to mainstream. The 90’s gave us rock groups using dj’s as well. The next big sound was just about to happen. Raves, techno & EDM were now being heard. Music was now broken into a million parts. With everyone declaring a new kind of sound it has become almost impossible to have categories. Dj’s have gone with the flow to create their new style. The format & sound along with concept is beyond anything we could of every dreamed of. In today’s market dj’s are now performers & all have their focus. They produce their own music, sample other published works & all share in the profits. No matter the jock, they all have one thing in common the love of music & dance. The party is their workspace & the reward is everyone having a great time. What do you thing?
