Old Seattle Radio Saturday: when radio jocks still had to work for a living...

(Seattlepi.com/MOHAI collection)

KOMO disc jockey, 1937. 

Digital schmigital... those were the days of hand-made radio. Most every squeak heard over the air was the result of a noise from resonance or friction made by the jock in front of a microphone.

Radio talent had to be clean, shaven, and dignified, hair combed, and dressed respectfully... not to mention, shoes and underwear. (Though his career came considerably later than 1937, John Carlson (KOMO m-f, 3-6p) it is said, still wears a suit and tie on-air).

On Wednesdays, Seattlepi.com offers “Seattle Rewind,” a local history podcast highlighting stories from our city’s past. Feliks Banel hosts a segment on Seattle radio history. Download it here.

 

 

Comments

[Annie Davis]

I remember radio back then. DJ's spinning records were but faceless fill-ins between exciting dramas and variety shows. Nobody knew their names, and nobody cared.

[drool]

Still plenty of squeaks. KIRO can't seem to afford a chair that doesn't squeak. It is frequently heard on the air.

[wje46]

Sorta like the lightweight squeeking Burbank injects (awkwardly) into the Ross show. Ross needs a sidekick like, as was once famously stated, a fish needs a bicycle.

[Ted Smith]

This picture is fascinating on several levels. Notice that the turntable on the right has two tone arms. The tone arm on our right is the playback arm and the sturdier tone arm toward our front is a lathe that cut recordings into wax or aluminum discs. Everything was recorded this way until well after WWII.

Now, look at the window. You can see three people standing behind Mr. Disc Jockey, probably groupies, and the and his flash. The groupies have 4 separate reflections in the windows, indicating that they had double sets of double-pane windows. That's some serious soundproofing!

Finally (maybe), the studio across the glass is unoccupied, indicating that the picture is posed. Mr. D.J. probably had them made to give out to hot chicks at the club.