Little Lord Fauntleroy Bandy

Even the great Jerry Blavat called John Bandy an influence.  But before Bandy was in the Philadelphia area, he was a DJ in DC. In the book Divided Soul, by David Ritz, is a single reference to a certain leganday Washington D.C. area DJ:

"Among the black kids back in the neighborhood, the fifties in D.C. was an age of hot curlers, outrageous conks, and do rags.  The crowd was greasing up and straightening out their hair. It was a time when Little Lord Fauntleroy Bandy ruled the airwaves at WUST..."

In the fifties radio was about showman ship ans shtick. The Lord Fauntleroy shtick was genius. On 1120 WUST-AM, a 250 watt daytimer he needed it. He hammed it up and wore tailored suits with a waist coat and an ascot.  He brought hours of the hippest R&B to DC airwaves. As the Lord Fauntleroy Bandy, he spoke in a fake British accent on air. The accent was perfect, so perfect many people thought that he was white. But even off air Bandy didn't sound like he was from the Mid-Atlantic, he and his family were from Jamaica. Jet Magazine relished linking the dapper John Bandy to various singers and starlets. In 1954 it was Beauty Shop owner Meta Cardoza, before that TV singer June Gaskins. More here.

In 1960 Bob Klein hired Bandy at WDAS-FM in Philadelphia, where he became the assistant general manager. Multiple sources describe Bandy as adlib "rapping" over records at WDAS, which would be one of the earliest references to rapping in a hip-hop context. One of those sources was his fellow WDAS DJ and rapper,  Jocko Henderson. "The Lord of Rhyme bringin' the sound from out of the ground to your part of town!"

By 1963, Bandy was appointed a WDAS corporate vice president by station CEO Max M. Leon. Bandy later had a short-lived stint hosting TV talk show on Channel 5, WNEW-TV. It debuted in February of 1971 and lasted eight episodes. He didn't really need the job, he'd married Sun Oil heiress Roberta Pew in 1976. The book Voice Over by William Barlow claims he retired to a country estate in Bryn Mawr, outside Philadelphia. In retirement they funded a number of civic projects and organizations. Bandy died in the late 1990s.

I have often wondered if he or Sir Walter Raleigh (John Christian) on WAMO in Pittsburgh (and later WEEP) picked up the faux-British shtick first. Christian, who started out at WILY-AM, also liberally applied a British accent, and wore a English butler suit with tails and a monocle. Christian first hit the air in about 1955 so they were active more or less concurrently. But I suspect either may have gotten it from Lord Buckley in one way or another. Buckley was actually British, but his lordship too was self-enobled. Buckley claims he got his shtick from another DC area hipster... Cab Calloway.

WDAS Original Soul Sounds

If you are from Philly, or have lived in Philly, or near Philly, or even took a long-ish visit to Philly you probably know the call letters WDAS. The station sighed on in Ocean City, NJ in 1922 as 1200 WIAD-AM. The station was privately owned by Howard Miller. Yes, the Philly heritage station is secretly from New Jersey. They didn't move to Philadelphia until late in 1923. In 1929, calls changed to WELK, and in 1934 after Miller sold the station, the new owners Dannenbaum & Steppacher, adopted the WDAS call sign for their initials. Fast forward 80 years and the term "heritage call sign" is a bit of an understatement. More here and here.  Above you can see a list of their big name staff from the peak of the soul era from the 1960s. Below are some short notes on each of the names.

Jimmy Bishop
Not just on air talent but also the Program Director and later VP of programming. He came from KATZ-AM in St Louis and in Philly he started the “The Jimmy Bishop Go Show”and sometimes called himself the "Bishop of Soul." He did a short spin on WHAT before hitting WDAS.

Larry Daley (Robert Whitfield)
In 1969 and 1970 he had the 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM slot. He was also called "The Cincinnati Kid." He was also the Production Manager.

Lord Fauntelroy (John Bandy)
He left WUST in 1960 to join WDAS first a DJ, the "Lord of Rhyme" with a bogus a fake British accent and later the Assistant General Manager. In 1966 Kaiser Broadcasting recruited Bandy to host for a short-lived program which might have been the first TV talk show hosted by a black man.

Bill Adams
He has an unfortunately common name. I know he was on WDAS from about 1959 through 1964.  The rest is a mystery. Radiomen with the same name appears on dozens of stations before and after that time window.

Carl Helm
Carl worked at WDAS from the early 1960s to the mid 1990s, longer than anyone else on this list. In 1970 he was still doing overnights, even 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM Sundays. By the late 1970s he was the Operations Manager. More here.

Jocko Henderson 
Jocko was on WDAS from 1953 to 1959. his inclusion on the list almost looks accidental among the 60s DJs. but his style and presence was a part of the ear even if he was ahead of the curve. More here.

Donny Brooks
In 1967 Brooks was rated the #4 R&B DJ by Billboard beating out even Jocko himself. Also called "Agent 00-Soul,"and "Gold-finger" he also came from KATZ-A, and WBBR-AM in St. Louis following Jimmy Bishop but with a long stopover at WCHB-AM in Detroit. In 1968 he went back to St. Louis, to become music director and program director at KATZ and later DJ'd at KKSS.

Louise Williams
Also known as the Gospel Queen, Williams had a 25 year career in radio and became an ordained Baptist minister. She quit radio only after she was elected to the state legislature.

Mitch Thomas
Before WDAS he was on WILM, and was reputed to be the first black DJ in the state. He joined WDAS in 1955. Mitch was not a Philly boy, he took the train up from Wilmington to do his program. Which makes sense that he had a second job hosting a TV show on WPFH-TV also in Wilmington. In 1961 he went back to WDAS to replace the departing Hal Jackson.

Joseph H. Rainey
Not just the executive director, Joe also broadcast a political talk show at night called The Listening Post. He interviewed contenporaries like Malcolm X, MLK, and Jesse Jackson.

Jocko

Douglas "Jocko" Henderson was a legendary Philadelphia and New York disc jockey. Like a handful of mic pioneers he opened his show with a rap which was so well known in his time that children recited it to keep rhythm while jumping rope. That puts his work in a class with truly ancient clapping songs like "Miss Mary Mack." The rapping wasn't his whole deal... in a nutshell, his schtick was that his radio show was in space and he was an astronaut. ...but about that rap:

"From way up here in the stratosphere,we gotta holler mighty loud and clear

ee-tiddy-o, and a ho, And I'm back on the scene with the record machine,

Saying ooh-pap-doo and how do you do?"

Originally from Baltimore, it's unsurprising that his first gig was in his hometown in 1950 at 1010 WSID-AM. Some sources claim it was WBAL-AM. But those same sources can't decide if it was in1950 or 1952. Henderson was born in 1981, so he would have been 32 in 1950; a very late start for a radioman. I'll rely on the younger = more likely DJs, and smaller stations = more likely starts as a thesis. Regardless, it was there in Baltimore he heard the rapping schtick of fellow DJ Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert on WITH-AM. In 1952 Henderson moved to Philly, for a gig on WHAT-AM., which is actually where he picked up the name "Jocko"and started rapping himself. His program  ran for 2 hours on weekday afternoons.

He did so well on WHAT, that WDAS-AM poached him just a few months later. And Jocko ended up flipping 45s there until 1974. Not that he stood still. He began commuting to New York city to do a morning show on WLIB-AM starting in 1957. He moved to 1280 WOV-AM in 1959 and stayed there with a late night slot broadcasting from the Palm Cafe in Harlem.  He stayed on when it changed calls to WADO-AM and then to WWRL-AM. Hot Rod" Hulbert" found his way to WOV while he was still there making for some serendipity. Despite the fact that Jocko stole most of his act from Hotrod, he kept rolling with it. In fact in 1961 he sent a prank telegram to the Yuri Gargarin, the first cosmonaut "Congratulations.  I'm glad you made it. Now it's not so lonely up here."

In 1958 he got his own TV show in New York City on WNTA-TV. He retired in the 1980s and after that only made occasional appearances on WCBS. His son, Doug Henderson, Jr. followed in his footsteps and had a show on WDAS in the 1970s. Doug "Jocko" Henderson Sr. died in 2000 after a long struggle with cancer and diabetes. He was 82. In 2004 he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall Of Fame.

Super Bon Bon

(Please excuse the Soul Coughing reference)
In November of 1949  George "Bon Bon" Tunnell was awarded 3rd prize by the Freedom Foundation in a contest gauging "speaking up for freedom."  His radio show was only 3 months old. He'd just started on the previous August 15th. It seems like an odd pick for an openly paternalistic group that selected a religious drama "The Greatest Story ever Told" and a DuPont marketing vehicle "Cavalcade of America" for the 1st and 2nd prizes. I don't know the exact circumstances, but my suspicion is that it has something to do with Jan Savitt. But it might have well been just that they found Tunnell to be non-threatening. I'll quote Billboard:

"...the musical selections picked for each day's programming carried no racial tag, with a Perry Como platter getting as much attention as a Billy Eckstine side. There was no segregation of negro names for the theatrical interviews, with a Juanita Hall getting as much attention as a Patti Page. More-over Tunnell gave as much attention to civic personalities as to the theatrical names, with interview guests including such local figures white and negro."

It's always dangerous talking about race in radio. Demographics are sometimes racial without being racist.  You can dress it up in statistics; couch it in high-brow intellectual terminology and write whatever thesis papers you want for anthropology class... But after WWII there was a "white flight" to the suburbs and Philadelphia changed demographically. Demographics matter. Philadelphia hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1952. [Source here.]  No matter how liberal the north was in comparison to the South, it was still largely demographics that led to the rise of black radio. By 1950 Philadelphia had an African-American population of around 300,000 out of a total population of 2 million. That's 15%, a very real target market and the 1950s is when its ascendance began. My point is only that the change was a product of both a cultural and a demographic shift.

The Bon Bon Show  was hosted by George "Bon Bon" Tunnell on WDAS-AM in Philadelphia. Tunnell  was born on June 29th some sources put the year as early as 1903 others as late as 1912. Excluding his short career in radio, he was known as a singer. He was a Pennsylvania native and returned to Philly after his career as a vocalist has tapered off. He was one of the first black singers to perform with a white band, specifically the Jan Savitt Orchestra (aka the Top Hatters).  His career started in the 1920s with a group called "Bon Bon & His Buddies. At the time he sang and played piano. He was with a trio called the Thee Keys from 1932-1933. They were successful enough to make some live radio appearances. He hooked up with Jan Savitt in 1937. In that era it was so difficult to have a racially mixed group that Tunnell had to pose as Savitt's valet to stay at the same hotel as the band.  They recorded and toured together until 1942. He went solo after that but his solo recording career was pretty much a bust. He did record a few sides for Davis and Beacon records if you care to seek them out.

Tunnels' career as a solo vocalist overlapped his career as a broadcaster. At the same time he was doing one-nighters in Philly and Atlantic City, one article claimed his program was broadcast live from the bandstand at the Showboat in Philadelphia. This seems somewhat unlikely as his one-hour program aired at11:00 AM. In April of 1950 he added a half hour slot at 5:30 PM. The schedule couldn't have changed much, Billboard Magazine reported that he left the station in November of 1950.

He died May 20, 1975 truly under-appreciated.

Transcription Mystery Disc #49

Phonozoic refers to this as a "Wilcox-Gay Recordio Type 4A, red lacquer."  As old as this disc is, the surface is still bright red, Red lacquer acetates are very neat, you can see the fragile lacquer build up very easily on the phonograph needle. It reveals just how delicate these can be. It also serves as a reminder that really.. one needs to make a good transfer within just a couple attempts. Further attempts approach some point of diminishing returns with undue wear. I bought a small stack, so I am presenting them to you in hopes that I can do so without destroying them..

Most Recordio discs date to the late 1940s. This was a bag of 5 that uniquely came in their original packaging. As nice a find as that was, not one of these was labeled in any way except that each sleeve bore a check mark in pencil. It spins at 78 rpm and has an outer edge start. Strangely there is a quiet echo throughout that might be from the adjacent groove, or possibly a recording artifact. Thin groove walls are not the only source of this artifact.  It's even conceivable that the broadcaster had a bad night with the god button. The appearance of the echo on most of the recordings make me think its the recording device or the broadcast. regardless it's quite listenable.

This is a certainly recording of a radio program, there are parts of a couple different programs on the two sides of this disc. I trimmed it down to one short 2 minute contiguous segment that ends in an endorsement for Double-mint Gum. The other side has another chunk of program and a ABC network ID and a snippet of an ad for Fisher Furniture. I played my way through a few more discs and did narrow it down. The program is probably the Hayloft Hoedown and the station is therefore WFIL-AM.

The program ran Saturday nights from 10pm to 11pm. It first began in 1944, and was picked up by ABC for syndication in 1945.  This disc must therefore have been recorded after that date as it includes the network ID.  The show continued until 1948.  Jesse Rogers was a regular on the program but many others appeared including Dapper Dan, Eddie Arnold, Sons of the Pioneers, The Murray Sisters, Hackshaw Hawkins, The Bland Boys, Billy Strickland, The Sleepy Hollow Gang, Texas Jim Robertson and many others. 

In 1946 Jesse started his own program on WDAS-AM. His program, Ranch Roundup ran weekdays at noon. The ones I can date seem to be from 1947 and possibly early 1948.There are some real winners in the batch, I'll keep posting them if you keep listening.

Mystery Acetate Label: Air-Tone

On the label it says Air-Tone Sound & Recording Co. The 78 rpm box is checked and typed on the label are the three words "Junior League Follies." The disc itself is missing. I found the label at the bottom of a bin of junk vinyl. So I have no matching disc to give it any context. 

I found a listing for a similar label on a 78 rpm, aluminum-based 12 inch acetate. This type of disc was mostly phased out in the 1950s. I suspect it was a radio program because of the name, and the numbering. A "1" is probably one in a series, as opposed to the standard Side A/ Side B terminology. The 1527 Chestnut St, Philadelphia address on the label is now a burger joint. Old documents indicate it has been home to both private residences and business: Trademan's Trust Co., Bonschur & Holmes, Chas H. Elliott Coal, Newton Coal, and A. Pomeranz & Co. Anybody know anything else?

UPDATE!!!

I posted the above way back in 2007. Just this last January Richie Piggott posted a disc to match. [LINK] His is dated 1949, and is attached to a 16" disc. As far as I recall there were no 16" discs in the bin where I found my label. Richie seems to have confirmed my suspicion that it was a radio program as his disc can be connected to Philadelphia DJ Wilfred Michael (‘Will’) Regan. He also posted the audio!  I'll quote Mr. Piggot's post:

"After WW2, he joined the station WDAS in Philadelphia as a radio announcer. It was at WDAS that Regan hosted the Irish Dances at the Crystal Ballroom, in Upper Darby, which were often broadcast live with Regan as the emcee. He was with WDAS announcing Will Regan’s Irish Hours program until 1967, when he joined WVCH in Philadelphia. He retired in the early 1990s. "

Will died in 1995 and his long running Irish Hours radio program was taken over by Michael Concannon. That station is WJFP-AM today and airs mostly ultra-conservative talk radio. He was still there in 2009. [SOURCE] He's still posting the program on his website today. [LINK]

With the expansion of the internet in the last decade I did find more information on Air-tone. In an issue of House and Garden I found ad for Carol Grey costume jewelry in 1946 puts a bracket on the start date.  The earliest print reference to Air-Tone is in 1948 in Radio Electronics Magazine. It's a list of retailers selling "Fen-Tone Audiophile components."  

In multiple 1950 - 1952 issues of Audio Engineering Air-Tone ran advertisements selling Magnecord Recorder & Amplifier, Electrovoice Speakers and Newcomb Amplifiers. A 1952 issue of Audio Magazine lists Air-Tone making their own branded Applause Meter. In 1955 in CQ magazine they ran ads for Motekl tape decks.  One of the latest dated entries was an ad for Air-tone dated to 1954 in Bucks County Traveler Magazine. A single issue of Audio Magazine, (Nov 1950)  names just one person at Air-Tone: Gene Hessel. 

 

Gene Hessel also appears in a 1952 issue of Broadcasting described as the President of Air-Tone. In 1954 Gene wrote an article on PA systems for the Radio-Television Service Dealer magazine. [SOURCE] But this is all I can find about Gene, so a bit of Mystery remains.