Who is your favorite radio DJ?

I've had a lifelong love affair with radio. I was a huge Howard Stern fan, back when he was funny, and I'm into political talk, but music has always been the biggest draw. I find most of the new music I buy on the radio.

A great DJ can turn you onto great music. They work as filters, filtering out the crap, and playing stuff you might not hear anywhere else. That's what makes them great DJs.

Scelsa's on Sirius-XM's "The Loft" channel.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

I've been listening to Vin Scelsa since the early 1970s, starting with, I think, WABC-FM in New York City. His sets, now on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio can go on for 30 minutes or more, and the way he weaves together tunes from rock, jazz, classical, world, strange and wonderfully obscure music is unmatched. His deep knowledge and vast music library (he broadcasts out of his house) should be cited as some sort national treasure. There's something about the way Scelsa makes musical connections I never tire of.

He's not just randomly stringing tunes together; there's a lot of thought and preparation that goes into the choices. The way he moves from Roseanne Cash's new CD "The List," to Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, some little known zydeco player to the "West Side Story" soundtrack to Alice Cooper, and it all makes sense. Scelsa's a genius of musical connections and juxtapositions.

The only real drawback to listening to Scelsa nowadays is Sirius' sound quality, it's worse than crappy-sounding MP3s. To get around that, I listen over a tabletop satellite radio, which hides the harsh sound really well.

Scelsa calls his show "Idiot's Delight," and it can be heard live on Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2 PM ET on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's "The Loft" channel. The combined four hours of "Idiot's Delight" are repeated on Sunday nights, 8 PM to midnight ET.

Scelsa is also on WFUV 90.7 FM radio in New York on Saturday nights 8pm-Midnight. The radio show is simulcast on the Web and is archived for listening for two weeks after each broadcast.

Tell us about your favorite DJ in the comments below.

[warriorant--2008]

Who can deny Alison Steel, "The Nightbird". Next to her came Vin Scelsa but to be honest I loved them both back then. I think the best period of FM was in its beginning and WNEW certainly was the best. I spent my early childhood years listening to NYC AM. Then one day FM emerged. I remember the first time I heard a song end on FM and there was a few seconds of silence. I realized I had never heard silence on the radio before. I loved it. Today the DJ's on FM talk before the song is even finished.

John Santorelli, Dave Herman, Pete Fornatale, Scott Muni ,Dennis Elsas and Vin Scelsa, Alison Steele.

Fire up the Kenwood receiver with the beautiful weighted dial and a nice pair of Advent speakers and it was WNEW-FM all night.

[EricShook]

Sherri Barclay of Viva Radio -- a legend in the making.

[Pete11780]

Well,let's see. Growing up with Top 40 radio in NY? Uh, Dan Ingram,Cousin Brucie,Ron Lundy, Harry Harrison, Charlie Grier, Chuck Leonard..how about ALL of the jocks on 77WABC. Later on,when I switched to WNEW,Scott Muni, Allison Steele,Pete Fornatale. And finally,when I switched to WPLR,in New Haven,who can forget Stoneman. I know it's a rather large list of fave DJ's,But hey,It's my list!!

[puddy77]

Steve Jones of Sex Pistols fame. Too bad Indie 103.1 went under. Jonesy's Jukebox was brilliant.

[Pedalvet]

Claudia Marshall mornings on WFUV 90.7FM in NY

[graxxus]

John Richards, KEXP Seattle.


Bonus, stream from kexp.org - free - all the way up to 1.4Mbps with no commercials.

[feverboy777]

I don't have a favorite now because most of them are dead but I do have one that I hate because he talks through all the music... Cousin Brucie ... this guy has ruined my XM radio experience with his lame discussion on music and senseless trivia, at the end of the year I'm going to quit XM because I don't want to pay to hear people talking, I just want the music.

[robsachs]

All of the DJ's on WFUV (www.wfuv.org for a live stream) are fantastic; they know their music and treat the listener like grownups. Can't say enough about them.

[one_flat_monkey]

Having begun my radio listening in the 60s, what passes for DJ in this century wouldn't pass muster 40+ years ago. There were two main stations in LA, KMET ( The Mighty Met ) and KLOS. Neither has survived as a decent outlet for cutting-edge rock music. What we have now in LA is morning drive "comedy" with a little music interspersed. Thank you Howard Stern.

My younger brother met Jim Ladd, who played rhythm guitar for a short time in a group that practiced in our living room. Ladd went on from being a small time DJ on KNAC to KLOS and KMET and finally has a late night, freeform show on KLOS-FM.

But back in the late 60s, there were DJs in LA like Outrageous Nevada, The Obscene Steven Clean, Frazer Smith, B. Mitchel Reed, Shadoe Stevens, and others. Steven Clean was my favorite. I have a reel-to-reel tape of a Christmas show he did that was too zany for words.

[Riggs3001]

John Richards ("John in the Morning") on KEXP Seattle!

[mojobone]

I live in the midwest, where there are no longer any DJs on commercial terrestrial radio. Sure, we have people that talk or read advertisements between songs, but those are announcers; all programming is decided by anonymous program directors and all playlists are automated, other than the nearly-extinct call-in request show . "Air talent" is paid minimum wage, because zero intelligence is required, only the ability to speak and read English, a talent which itself seems to be growing scarce. Even a Larry Lujack or Kasey Kasem would be welcome in this talentless wasteland, annoying as they were, they at least had personalities; the only dim beacon of hope is Alice Cooper's syndicated show. Of course there's always the internet alternative-podcasts by amateur mouth-breathing mumblers, bless their hearts, at least they have 'em in the right place and some can put together a nice set. The best programmer/air personality that's ever been, Rick Mummey, is still on the radio, but they don't actually allow him to work, they make him read what's on the paper. All hail Clear Channel! :-p

[buzzvader]

Can there be one? With all due respect to NYC, Chicago, and LA, Buffalo, NY at WKBW radio had some of the finest DJ's ever!
George " Hound Dog" Lorenz, later at WBLK.
Joey Reynolds
Danny Neaverth
Fred Klestine...whatta voice!
Don Berns
Sandy Beach
Rod Roddy.....of the Price is Right fame.
Dick Biondi............before he was Chicago.
Jungle Jay Nelson...........later at 1050 CHUM-Toronto
Russ "The Moose" Syracuse
Tommy "Wild Weekend" Shannon
Shane.....'Brother Shane"
Stan Roberts
That was just at KB Radio. We also had WYSL and WNIA and WGR and all their personalities, too.
These were the best times in radio; the 60's and 70's and late 50's!

[minimalist]

Mario Cotto: KCRW Santa Monica.

You can stream his shows on their website. Super eclectic mix electronic, pscychelic, pop, funk and latin. He is always turning me onto new bands and DJ's as well as decades old ones old ones I never knew about.

[Revfinder]

Yes, I'll take thirds on John Richards from KEXP...

[phoxhound]

Tom Sudholt from KFUO FM 99.1 St. Louis, MO. Classical DJ seems unusual but he's fantastic.

[RickBee]

Cincy has a rich history of radio and many notable radio personalities, so I can?t choose a favorite. This thread outlines many pieces of the puzzle as to what has crippled the music industry over the past years:

Niche programming - check out a "hot 100" list from back in the day - way more diversity. Country, R&B, different flavors of Rock, ballads, dance, novelty etc. all living together in harmony!

The above poster's comment about going from on-air personalities to mere announcers is true. It?s removing the soul from radio. Thanks corporations!

The trend described in a different post from above distains any human interaction in favor of only music. This is fine and has its place, but shouldn?t be the only alternative.

DJ?s help shape our listening experience by informing us about the artists and their songs and give many people their primary source of human contact.

[ZeppelinMaker]

As a former late night DJ (KGOR in Omaha, NE) I left radio after trying it because there was no capability to select or shape music. You had to follow the list, and verify the music you played because ASCAP and BMI would be payed based on the music played... as selected by the computer.
I didn't see any other station doing anything different at any DJ paygrade, either.

My favorite DJ, though, is Steve Wright (currently on BBC2).

[usmckozmo]

Jim Ladd on KLOS

I cant listen to him now, but back when lived in LA, I would always look forward to the set lists that he would put together for his show on 95.5.

To my knowledge, he is one of the last remaining Free-Form rock DJ's on public radio. He hand picks each track and strings them together in sets of his own choosing. He also has a great listener input, and will throw out themes or words and have callers suggest songs that fall into that catagory, and he will build a set list with the listeners input. Great stuff...i miss it.

Little extra note: Jim Ladd is the basis and inspiration for Tom Petty's "The Last DJ"...kinda cool!

[schtan]

yes , jim ladd , i have a couple dozen tapes of his shows from late 80's
and a free form dj from the san francisco area , bill goldsmith , made the leap to the internet in 1999 and is still going strong at radioparadise.com , like the comment above , he also hand picks the music to flow together , all i listen to

[plptba]

I listened primarily in Philadelphia and New York from the 50's to the mid 70's and DC thereafter. Hy Lit from WIBG was the greatest top 40 Rock and Roll DJ that I ever heard. At the height of his popularity his show held the highest all time ratings for a radio show. Other great Philly DJs include Joe Niagara, Frank X. Feller and Jerry Blavat. For R&B, it had to be Georgie Woods the man with the goods.

Meatball Fulton, the Electric Aunt Jemima in Philly was a great underground music (later called rock music) and blues DJ.

IN DC it was Cerphe for rock on various stations over a 30 year period and from WHFS Bethesda, Weasel, and Josh for alternate rock and cutting edge rock and roll and blues.

[Cornellalum]

My favorite DJ from the '70s was the late great Frankie Crocker of WBLS, 107.5 in New York City. In fact, back in the day WBLS had outstanding talent such as Vy Higgensen, G Keith Alexander, Ken Webb and Captain Al Roberts. Who could forget the legendary Hal Jackson. However, Frankie set the tone for all of the Black urban DJs from that era. Frankie not only had the voice, he had a unique style that was often imitated but never duplicated. More importantly, Frankie knew the music. He was a serious broadcast professional. God Bless the legends of Black radio!