This compilation by a city planner provides information on more than 30 early-morning broadcasters and deejays from the 1920s to the 1990s who contributed significantly to this uniquely American radio phenomenon. The arrangement for this portion of the volume is chronological: the early period, with stars like Bob and Ray (Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding) and Arthur Godfrey; the golden era, when both recorded music and the personality playing it were important (e.g., Jack Sterling of WCBS, New York; "Buffalo" Bob Smith, creator of the Howdy Doody Show); the "Top 40" era when stations played the leading hit records (Wolfman Jack; Wally Phillips, with a Chicago audience of more than one million), and the "Post-Top 40" era (Don Imus and Howard Stern). The profiles of most stars in these sections of the book include a photo.
A final section provides in alphabetical order very concise information (often only two or three lines) on approximately 1,000 additional morning broadcasters from early radio days to the present, usually indicating the station, city, hours, years, and the broadcaster's role (e.g., "Santella, Jim: Could be found in Buffalo during the late 1970s playing album rock from 6:00 to 10:00 AM on WGRQ." ). A brief bibliography cites newspaper and periodical articles as well as commercially and privately published monographs. The index, with a few see references, includes show titles, names of broadcasters, cities, call letters, program features ("Dear Abby," "Arnold Palmer Golf Tips" ), and recording artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Nat "King" Cole, Sinatra, and Streisand.
Radio's Morning Show Personalities will be useful in public and academic libraries for both reference and browsing. Radio buffs will surely welcome this compilation.
Review
Phillip A. Lieberman is the senior planner with the City Planning and Development Department, Sarasota, Florida. --Booklist/RBB.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
