The Top Dj’s Source For Music

The Radio Facts Top 10 Best DJs of All Time winners are below. I am disappointed but not surprised to see that there is no new talent from the past decade or two on here. Sadly, it is no wonder talent from the last two decades didn’t place in the Top 10. There is little room for the new legends to grow in the urban radio market today. In addition, several of the winners are from the New York market and nobody in the California market even placed. Without question, New York is indeed the Number One radio market that produces (or has produced) the top urban talent… I wrote this piece while dealing with a toothache, so please excuse any typos…my advice, just have the Dentist pull the tooth and put a post in later. A root canal is absolutely ridiculous, I’ve had one, it’s not worth the pain, extra expense and the up chargers that Dentists rip people off with these days. Now on to our winners…

#1 is FRANKIE CROCKER

I am happy that the Number 1 Top DJ of all time if from my hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. When Frankie was on WUFO in the 60′s (early 70s) I was too young to remember him but I remember hearing his name years after he left. Buffalo N.Y. may not be the place that people want to move to today but back in the 50s, 60s and early 70s… Buffalo WAS the place everyone from the south moved to. There was a ton of great paying jobs at the Steel Plants and the entertainment scene was bustling for a small town like that. WUFO, Frankie’s Buffalo station, was all the rage as the AM station with some of the greatest black jocks in the world coming through those doors. Frankie’s success catapulted when he went to work in NY after leaving Buffalo, most notably WBLS. I had the great pleasure of meeting Frankie on 2 occasions during my industry tenure. Frankie left NY in the late 90s and spent a lot of his retirement time between LA and Miami to take it easy but he could always be found on the golf course in either place. A huge part of Frankie’s success was not only his undeniable talent but his ability to step outside the “urban radio box” and mix, mingle and market himself with people from all walks of life. Here’s a clip of Frankie and more info on The Radio Facts Number 1 Greatest Urban DJ of All Time

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Frankie “Hollywood” Crocker (December 18, 1937, Buffalo, New York, USA – October 21, 2000, North Miami Beach, Florida) was a famous New York radio DJ. (Coined “Hollywood” for his keen sense of showmanship and self-marketing tactics.) According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the AM Soul powerhouse WUFO (also the home to future greats Eddie O’Jay, Herb Hamlett, Gary Byrd and Chucky T) before moving to Manhattan, where he first worked for Soul station WWRL and later top-40 WMCA in 1969. He then worked for WBLS-FM as program director, taking that station to the top of the ratings during the late 1970s. He sometimes called himself the “Chief Rocker”, and he was as well known for his boastful on-air patter as for his off-air flamboyance.

When Studio 54 was at the height of its popularity, Crocker rode in through the front entrance on a white stallion. In the studio, before he left for the day, Crocker would light a candle and invite female listeners to enjoy a candlelight bath with him. He signed off the air each night to the tune “Moody’s Mood For Love” by vocalese crooner King Pleasure. Crocker, a native of Buffalo, coined the phrase “urban contemporary” in the 1970s, a label for the eclectic mix of songs that he played.

He was the master of ceremonies of shows at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and was one of the first V.J.’s on VH-1, the cable music video channel, in addition to hosting the TV series Solid Gold and NBC’s Friday Night Videos. As an actor, Crocker appeared in five films, including Cleopatra Jones, Five on the Black Hand Side, and Darktown Strutters.

He is credited with introducing as many as 30 new artist to the mainstream including Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” to American audiences. While both Gary Byrd and Herb Hamlett were influenced by Crocker,it is only Hamlett that always attributes his success to his mentor in Buffalo, Frankie Crocker.

Frankie Crocker was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2005.

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