by Lee Abrams
After day one of our voting here are the top 5 DJ's of the 1960's:
1. Don Steele 2. Cousin Brucie 3. Dick Biondi 4. Larry Lujack 5. Dan Ingram
The email response to "Top Ten" 60's DJ list has been pretty amazing. It's nice to see such reverence toward a magical time in radio's history from a wide range of ages and positions. The list was of course completely subjective as I've been pummelled with "How could you possibly not include______." In most cases, I agreed. Ten is just too short.
More importantly is that the feedback symbolized how radio was an iconic soundtrack to a region. Literally everyone's suggestions were based on who they grew up with. It's sort of like the theory that the music you like between 16-20 defines your personal musical blueprint for life (the secret to Classic Rock).
Of course you can't, other than maybe on an "authentic" oldies station, bring back the past. You can however re-interpret that magic for the 21st Century environment. Not necessarily via a DJ, maybe that era is over, but there's 'something' that made radio click that I'm thinking is timeless and game changing in content terms even in the Apple/Google era. In the turntable era it was those DJ's ringleading a tour de force of sonic energy.
One interesting observation from the emails is the "thing" that hooked people who responded to the list. In some cases it was the Real Don Steel edginess, the Art Roberts one on one, the Jack Armstrong intensity or the Jack Gayle humor. The point I felt was the diversity in approaches that existed then vs. the one dimensional sound of radio in this century. Again, it's not about relivingwhat is ancient media history, but absorbing and seeking the "it" that translates to 2011. 'It' is probably not screaming DJ's talking up records, but something more cerebral, modern and in sync with the hot buttons of now. The one thing they'll never change is that winning in any era is about the magic that hits the ear and engages the soul. Timeless.
Cast your vote by taking a look at our candidates HERE and sending your selections to edryan@radioink.com
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