Alan+Freed+and+DJs

Alan Freed and other rock n’ roll DJs

• Alan Freed was born in Ohio 1922. • Alan attended Ohio State University for several years but did not graduate with a degree. • After two-years in the U.S. Army, Freed began his radio career at a small station in New Castle, Pennsylvania. • He became a radio announcer, and made the term “rock n’ roll. • He used it to describe rhythm-and-blues music that during the 1950s was beginning to appeal to a broader audience of white listeners. • He played a key roll in expanding rock n’ roll and was called the grandfather of rock n roll. • In 1954 he joined WINS in New York City and, calling himself the “King of the Moon Doggies,” became one of the most popular radio personalities in the country. • Critics of rock-and-roll generally held Freed responsible for playing a central role in “corrupting the morals of American youth” • He was soon charged with taking $30,650 in kickbacks from six record companies to play new releases on his radio programs. • At first he denied the charges but then plea bargained his way out of it. • Freed received a six-month suspended sentence and a $300 fine. • Peter Tripp (the "Curly-Headed Kid in the Third Row"). • He pioneered Top 40 radio on “Your Hits of the Week”. • Dick Clark was the king of the television dance show DJs, Dick Clark, and his nationally broadcast "American Bandstand" every afternoon and later (in the New York City area only), Clay Cole.