They Played The Hits-Part2
As the decade of the 1960’s would roll on, these were some of the disc jockeys that were playing our music. The disc jockeys that will be featured in this article will come from KEWB, KYA and KDIA.
In 1961 he was a disc jockey on KEWB, but he would go on to bigger fame and fortune. He would be an important force in the Top 40 format nationwide. He was Casey Kasem and he would eventually host “The American Top 40” and “Casey’s Top 40”, but in 1961 he would be on KEWB.
In 1961 KYA would get another disc jockey from Philadelphia and his real name was Thomas Coman. We would know him as “Big Daddy” Tom Donahue and he would become a very popular disc jockey in the Bay Area.
Russ “The Moose” Syracuse would come to KYA in 1962. At one time, Russ had worked for radio station WKBW in Buffalo, New York .He would become a popular voice on KYA in the decade of the 1960’s
He once ran for Mayor of Houston, Texas, but he lost in a very close election. Graciously conceding the election he received his nickname “Honest John”. He was “Honest John ” Trotter and he would be a disc jockey on KEWB in 1963. Bobby Dale was a disc jockey on KEWB in 1963, but later on in the 1960’s he would be on radio station KFRC in the Bay Area.
Ron Lyons was on KEWB in the year 1963, but he would have a long career on radio in the Bay Area. He would be on Bay Area radio for many decades. Now we come to another Bay Area legend and we would know him as “Jumpin” George Oxford. He would be on radio station KSAN in San Francisco in the 1950’s and by 1963 he would be a disc jockey on KDIA in Oakland. He would be a legendary R & B disc jockey
One of my favorite disc jockeys in the decade of the 1960’s was “Emperor” Gene Nelson of KYA. I was a Royal Commando.
Belva Davis was a disc jockey on KDIA in 1963. She would eventually become a TV news reporter, becoming the first Black Female news anchor in the Bay Area.
In the year 1964 KEWB would be the radio home for 2 radio personalities that would soon go on to greater fame and fortune in Los Angeles. They were “The Real” Don Steele and Robert W. Morgan .
Johnny Holliday would come to the Bay Area and KYA in 1965. He was named one of the top disc jockeys in America while he was on KYA. While he was on KYA, he would also serve as the public address announcer for the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Warriors. He would eventually be a sportscaster in the Washington D.C area for many years
“Tall Tom” Campbell, of radio station KYA, would be one of the most popular disc jockeys in the Bay Area in the latter part of the 1960’s
This concludes our tribute to the disc jockeys in the Bay Area that played our music in the 1950’s and 1960’s. 🙂 🙂 🙂
