People constantly ask me how Davis Deejays got started.So I thought I would put the early years in writing.
An early Davis Deejays party from 1975
Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a deejay. Growing up I used to pretend I was Dick Clark hosting “American Bandstand.”While other kids were playing “Cowboys and Indians,” I was playing “television show.”
Bill Davis, the future founder of Davis Deejays playing with records in 1949 at age three
As I got older, I read books about announcing and radio and taught myself how to deejay. When I was fourteen, I asked a local radio station in my hometown, Allentown Pennsylvania, if they would like a teenage radio show to round out their program schedule. Radio WHOL told me if I could get sponsors, they would put me on the air. So I hit the pavement.(I truly hit the pavement walking because I was too young to drive) and lined up sponsors. The show had hit music, sports scores, movie reviews and interviews with rock stars that came into the area. I had fun meeting and interviewing people such as Fats Domino, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and many others.
In my junior year of high school, I persuaded the radio station at Muhlenberg College to let me do an afternoon top 40 show on their closed circuit station that was broadcast throughout the dorms. I did this for free every day from 3:30 pm to 5 pm to hone my disc jockey skills.
At the same time, I started offering my services to local high schools for record hops. This was 1963, and disc jockey dances were becoming the rage. I charged about $ 35 a show and thought that was great money for a high school kid.( No, I won’t do a party for $ 35 for old times sake.)
In my senior year, I started to hang out at the local Top 40 station WAEB. The top area radio deejay, Gene Kaye, became my friend. He eventually put me to work spinning the records at his hops. I’d operate the equipment, while he would dance around on stage and do the vocal introductions of the songs. Gene also promoted many shows. I was also the guy who would drive the acts from show to show to do their iip syncs. With Gene, I got to meet and work with many of the sixties acts: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, the Toys, Bryan Hyland, the Orlons, Freddie Cannon, the Crests, the Searchers, Herman’s Hermits, the Beau Brummels and dozens more.
At the same time I was still doing my college radio show for free. Eventually I made an audition tape that WAEB thought was good enough. So in 1964, while still in high school, I became one of the WAEB “Good Guys.” How cool was that! In school and on the air. I was working two shifts on Saturday and two shifts on Sunday.
After I graduated in the Spring of 1964, I wanted to get into radio full time. WAEB had no full time openings. So I sent audition tapes all over the country and wound up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania at a tiny little station WHZN. I was making the glorious salary of $ 45 per week. (Even back then that was lousy money as a full time salary, so you can see why $ 35 for a dance seemed like good money.)
In December of 1964, WHZN went bankrupt. I was out of a job. So again I sent audition tapes all over the country.In early 1965, I began a radio journey that took me all over the country.
Remember the “WKRP in Cincinatti “ theme song: up and down the dial? Yup, that was me WHSL in Wilmington,North Carolina, then WRMT in Rocky Mount North Carolina, then WEYE in Sanford North Carolina. I even spent some time in Covington Kentucky which was across the river from Cincinatti.
I had general managers who were dumber than Art Carlson, sales people sleezier than Herb Tarlack, and news guys more self involved than Les Nessman. Unfortunately, I never met a secretary as sexy as Lonnie Anderson’s character.
Lonnie Anderson from "WKRP In Cincinatti"
Although I usually worked the current popular music format: over the years, I also did a big band show, a jazz show, a soft music show, a soul show and a country music show. I played and learned to appreciate every genre of music. Something that would definitely help me in years to come with Davis Deejays.
A slew of stations followed. including WYNS in Lehighton Pennsylvania, WKBR in Manchester, New Hampshire and WERX in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 1967, I spent a year programming a station (picking all the music and hiring and training all the deejays) at KYSN in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here I learned what to look for when finding deejay talent and how to keep them motivated, loyal and happy.
Then I spent a couple years in St. Louis. I worked as a top 40 deejay at KIRL in St. Louis. My show reached 600,000 listeners a week. I was number one with teens and 18-24 year olds, and # 2 with 18-34 year olds. I also programmed a Country station in the St. Louis market: WGNU.
I spent 1971 in Trenton, New Jersey at WBUD as afternoon deejay and program director – again selecting music and hiring disc jockeys.
In 1972, I did the morning show and was music director for WFEA in Manchester, New Hampshire.
In 1974, WBUD offered me the opportunity to come back for much more money so I went back to Trenton.
One of my disc jockeys was Joe Piscopo, who eventually went on to “Saturday Night Live,” movies and fitness commercials. Joe and I stayed with WBUD until they switched to all news. I just coudn’t see myself as the next Walter Cronkite.
Bill Davis (upper left) & his employee Joe Piscopo (middle left) at WBUD in 1974
Once again, I sent out the tapes and wound up in Frederick, Maryland. That station was quickly sold, the whole staff was quickly fired.
Again I packed up the U-Haul and landed at WNAV in Annapolis. I did the morning show, was the production director (supervising the commercials) and assisted the program director in changing WNAV from a sleepy middle of the road station to a hot contemporary station that became the # 1 station in Anne Arundel County. I was there from 1975 through 1982.
In 1975, Disco was becoming quite popular. WNAV was getting calls from listeners asking if any of the deejays would do dances. At that time, the only one of us interested in doing this was me. I loved getting out and meeting people and I enjoyed the immediate feedback of a live crowd verses being confined to a radio studio.
At this time in my life, I didn’t have two nickels to rub together. So couldn’t afford my own deejay equipment in the beginning. Every time I did a party, I rented some equipment, and borrowed the music from the radio station.
early Davis Party from 1975
By doing a good job and friends telling friends about me, I kept getting more and more calls to do parties. So eventually in 1976, I bit the bullet and bought my first sound system. A year later, I started advertising in the local paper to see if there was even a bigger market for mobile deejay services.
Very early Davis ad in the Annapolis Capital
Eventually I had more parties than I could personally handle. So I recruited some of my WNAV co-workers to do shows.
the very first Davis Deejays brochure from 1977
In 1978, I decided to advertise beyond Annapolis. I started putting ads in the Washington Post weekend section. By hiring good people and pricing the service fairly, our reputation grew.
In 1981, I started doing wedding shows marketing to brides. I also started advertising in the Baltimore Sun to reach the Baltimore market.
By 1980, I had about 30 deejays who worked for me. I was still working at the radio station, but this was starting to look like a real business.
On Sundays in 1980, I also did an oldies radio show in Washington at top rated oldies station WDON.
In 1982, I personally was doing about five parties a week (bars on weekdays, school dances on Fridays, weddings and Bar Mitzvahs on Saturdays.) I was still working a forty hour week at WNAV. I realized that to really grow the business, I had to do Davis Deejays full time and not “burn the candle at both ends.” Even though I loved radio, I retired from radio that year.
Annapolis Capital article in 1983 about Davis Deejay's 10,000th Party!
In 1983, we started advertising on the radio. First in Washington,then in Baltimore.
Davis Deejays staff picture in the early 80s
In 1984, we introduced Mobile Music Video to the area. We were the first in Washington and one of the first in the nation to do it. Davis Deejays is only one of a handful of area companies that still do it.
the first ad for Davis Deejays Music Video
In 1987, we had grown to about 55 deejays. I thought it was time to advertise on television. I wrote, produced and directed our firs tv commercial. It was shot at the studios of Channel 20 in Washington. That year it aired on Channelsl 9, 7, 5 and 20 in Washington and Channels 11 and 13 in Baltimore. To see some early Davis Deejays tv commercials from this era, click here:
http://www.davisdeejays.com/viewcom.html
We’ll cover the years 1988 to 1997 in a different post.
Davis Deejays Founder: Bill Davis and his wife Jeanne
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