PAVING THE WAY...DJ& BLACK RADIO HISTORY PT2.

• DJing Began on Radio
• In the early days of radio (1920s-1930s), announcers played live music, news, and entertainment - but once they began playing recorded music and chatting between tracks, they became what we know as disc jockeys. 
• Radio DJs controlled the playlist, influenced what people heard, and built audiences - before clubs or parties were DJ cultures.

The Radio Origins (1900s-1930s) 

The role of the DJ began as a radio-based activity, simply focused on playing individual records for listeners rather than mixing them. 

• The First Broadcast: In 1906, Reginald Fessenden made the first experimental broadcast of recorded music.
• The First "DJ": In 1909, 16-year-old Ray Newby began regularly playing records over the airwaves from a small spark transmitter in California.
• Coining the Term: The phrase "disc jockey" was coined in 1935 by American radio commentator Walter Winchell to describe Martin Block, whose show "Make Believe Ballroom" famously used records to create the illusion of a live ballroom performance. 

The Birth of Live DJing (1940s-1950s)