DJ Spotlight was a section in the Rhythm & Blues section of Billboard Magazine. Their Rhythm & Blues section itself goes back to at least July of 1952. It was a different era. Billboard still had both weekly Vaudeville and Burlesque sections.
It's original focus was on record reviews and charts as you'd expect. That same year, Bob Rolontz took over the "Rhythm & Blues Notes" column from Hal Webman. Mr. Kal Rudman was a contributing editor to the section starting in 1964. The column had been running since the middle of 1950, and addressed R&B more seriously as an industry. It was still full of record releases, and artist signings but it also covered R&B venue news, and both radio station and record label moves. Rolontz joined Billboard as a reporter in 1951, having grown up in radio. His father owned WCAU in Philadelphia. More here.
The Rhythm & Blues section fell under Music and Record news. But it didn't run in every issue. The spotlight ran irregularly. There was one spotlight it's first month, but three times in the following April. By March there was a spotlight every week. But back in the January 2nd issue there isn't a Rhythm & Blues section at all. Because of that inconsistency I've broken out the below chart by week to indicate not just who is featured, but also if there was a DJ Spotlight at all. No DJ appeared more than once but some stations appeared multiple times. Out of 52 weeks only 37 DJs were spotlighted, and of those only one was a woman: Ruby "Lady Cool Breeze" Lewis of 890 KBYE-AM [More here].
Perhaps the most interesting discovery is that the spotlighted DJs are not all African-American. Both Charlie Brown of WLOU and the inimitable Porky Chedwick of WAMO were profiled. In a modern context it would be politically correct to see a race-agnostic chart or feature like that. I am not sure that's how it was intended or perceived way back in 1965.
Then suddenly in November, after the DJ Spotlight on Larry Daley, the feature just stopped. If it had been in December you might have expected it to re-start the following year. But there were no Rhythm & Blues spotlights to come in January of 1966; and none ever again. It ended as abruptly as it began, without any explanation. The timing lines up with the departure of Rolontz for a VP job at Atlantic records but correlation is not causation.
It's original focus was on record reviews and charts as you'd expect. That same year, Bob Rolontz took over the "Rhythm & Blues Notes" column from Hal Webman. Mr. Kal Rudman was a contributing editor to the section starting in 1964. The column had been running since the middle of 1950, and addressed R&B more seriously as an industry. It was still full of record releases, and artist signings but it also covered R&B venue news, and both radio station and record label moves. Rolontz joined Billboard as a reporter in 1951, having grown up in radio. His father owned WCAU in Philadelphia. More here.
The Rhythm & Blues section fell under Music and Record news. But it didn't run in every issue. The spotlight ran irregularly. There was one spotlight it's first month, but three times in the following April. By March there was a spotlight every week. But back in the January 2nd issue there isn't a Rhythm & Blues section at all. Because of that inconsistency I've broken out the below chart by week to indicate not just who is featured, but also if there was a DJ Spotlight at all. No DJ appeared more than once but some stations appeared multiple times. Out of 52 weeks only 37 DJs were spotlighted, and of those only one was a woman: Ruby "Lady Cool Breeze" Lewis of 890 KBYE-AM [More here].
Perhaps the most interesting discovery is that the spotlighted DJs are not all African-American. Both Charlie Brown of WLOU and the inimitable Porky Chedwick of WAMO were profiled. In a modern context it would be politically correct to see a race-agnostic chart or feature like that. I am not sure that's how it was intended or perceived way back in 1965.
Then suddenly in November, after the DJ Spotlight on Larry Daley, the feature just stopped. If it had been in December you might have expected it to re-start the following year. But there were no Rhythm & Blues spotlights to come in January of 1966; and none ever again. It ended as abruptly as it began, without any explanation. The timing lines up with the departure of Rolontz for a VP job at Atlantic records but correlation is not causation.
| Date | Issue | Name | Call sign | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 1 | none | ||
| 01/09/1965 | Vol. 77, No.2 | none | ||
| 01/16/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 3 | none | ||
| 01/23/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 4 | none | ||
| 01/30/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 5 | Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson | WSID | Baltimore, MD |
| 02/06/1965 | Vol. 77, No.6 | George Hudson | WNJR | Newark, NJ |
| 02/13/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 7 | none | ||
| 02/20/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 8 | none | ||
| 02/27/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 9 | E. Rodney Jones | WVON | Chicago, IL |
| 03/06/1965 | Vol. 77, No.10 | George Woods | WDAS | Philadelphia, PA |
| 03/13/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 11 | Jimmy Byrd | WILD | Boston, MA |
| 03/20/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 12 | Charlie Brown | WLOU | Louisville, KY |
| 03/27/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 13 | Porky Chedwick | WAMO | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 04/03/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 14 | Bill Curtis | WUFO | Buffalo, NY |
| 04/10/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 15 | Milton "Butterball" Smith | WMBM | Miami, FL |
| 04/17/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 16 | Ruby "Lady Cool Breeze" Lewis | KBYE | Oklahoma, City |
| 04/24/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 17 | George Truehart | WDAO | Dayton, OH |
| 05/01/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 18 | Eugene Potts | WGIV | Charlotte, NC |
| 05/08/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 19 | Chuck Moore | KPRS | Kansas City, MO |
| 05/15/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 20 | Eddie Castleberry | WVKO | Columbus, OH |
| 05/22/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 21 | Al Jefferson | WWIN | Baltimore, MD |
| 05/29/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 22 | Edward "Pee Wee" Harris | WXKW | Troy, NY |
| 06/05/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 23 | Sir Walter (Raleigh) | WAMO | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 06/12/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 24 | Jerry Thomas | KNOK | Dallas, TX |
| 06/19/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 25 | William Johnson | WUST | Washington, DC |
| 06/26/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 26 | Bob Hudson | WCIN | Cinncinatti, OH |
| 07/03/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 27 | Chet McDowell | KYOK | Houston, TX |
| 07/10/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 28 | Chuck Cunningham | WLOU | Louiville, KY |
| 07/17/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 29 | none | ||
| 07/24/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 30 | Tom Reed | KPRS | Kansas City, MO |
| 07/31/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 31 | William "Boy" Brown | KJET | Beaumont, TX |
| 08/07/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 32 | "Big" Ben Tipton | KBYE | Oklahoma, City |
| 08/14/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 33 | Bill Williams | WCHB | Detroit, MI |
| 08/21/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 34 | Bill Moss | WVKO | Columbus, OH |
| 08/28/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 35 | Dr. Bop (Hoyt Locke) | WAWA | Milwaukee, WI |
| 09/04/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 36 | none | ||
| 09/11/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 37 | "Cousin" Herb Lance | WERD | Atlanta, GA |
| 09/18/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 38 | "Skipper" Lee Frasier | KCOH | Houston, TX |
| 09/25/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 39 | Larry Dean | WWIN | Baltimore, MD |
| 10/02/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 40 | Clifton "King Bee" Smith | KCOH | Houston, TX |
| 10/09/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 41 | Ben Miles | WANT | Richmond, VA |
| 10/16/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 42 | Rick Darnell | KPRS | Kansas City, MO |
| 10/23/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 43 | Ruben T. Washington | KNOK | Dallas, TX |
| 10/30/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 44 | Kelson "Chop-Chop" Fisher | WWIN | Baltimore, MD |
| 11/06/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 45 | Larry Daley | WCIN | Cinncinatti, OH |
| 11/13/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 46 | none | ||
| 11/20/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 47 | none | ||
| 11/27/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 48 | none | ||
| 12/04/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 49 | none | ||
| 12/11/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 50 | none | ||
| 12/18/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 51 | none | ||
| 12/25/1965 | Vol. 77, No. 52 | none |
