The History of the Club DJ

I recently read an article on the history of DJ's and found it be quite interesting.  Here's an excerpt:

"The Pre-DJ History Period (1877-1943)

Thomas Edison invents the phonograph in 1877 and the history of recorded sound begins. While one can argue that Reginald A. Fessenden became the first "Broadcast" DJ by broadcasting Christmas music in 1906 near Boston, Massachusetts, the first "Club DJ" didn't emerge until 1943. In fact, the first Club DJ's weren't humans. A popular dance in the early-1900's called "juking" resulted in the popularity of coin-operated jukeboxes (invented in 1889). A "juke-joint" became known as a place for dancing/drinking to jukebox music during the 1920's.

The World's First DJ Dance Party (1943-1969)

Jimmy Savile launched the world's first DJ dance party in 1943 by playing jazz in the upstairs function room of the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherd's in Otley, England. Savile saw 210 people attend his first night. As Savile was breaking ground in the UK, we begin to see clubs opening in France and other parts of Europe immediately after World War II. Many of these discotheques (French word for record library) either couldn't afford live bands or wanted authentic American music. Thus, they relied on records to entertain their clientele. According to Dick Clark, "the first disco was probably a little dive that couldn't afford a band." However, some DJ historians believe that the first disco was the "Whiskey-A-Go-Go" in Paris (1947)."

This information and more can be found at www.discjockey101.com.

Keep on dancing!

Jim Unger
Professional Raleigh DJ and Owner

Ninety Nine Entertainment

Raleigh's newest DJ Company