It's never been easy for a recording artist to break through the always crowded marketplace and reach those with the power to decide whether or not to play their records. Given the difficulty of making it onto a radio station's playlist, perhaps it's no surprise that artists would occasionally decide to make their case with a naked appeal to the collective vanity of disc jockeys.
I'm not accusing DJ's of being any more self-centered than anyone else, but on a certain go-for-broke level one can see how artists might be seduced into believing that singing about a DJ might be helpful in their attempts to worm their way into the hearts of the gatekeepers.
Judy Lynn - Hello Mr. DJ (United Artists, 2:11) - Might as well start things off with a bang, literally. Judy's steamed at her husband for cheating on her one too many times, so what does she do? Why she phones the local DJ and requests a cheating song. While she's still on the line with the DJ, the philanderer comes home and Judy wastes no time in unloading her gun into him. Complete with sound effects of a ringing phone and a blasting gun!
Ernest Ashworth - The DJ Cried (Hickory, 2:42) - Great 1965 honky-tonker about a guy who cuts a song (about how his gal dumped him) and drops his freshly-pressed record off with the local DJ. The song is so full of misery, depression and woe that the DJ is overcome by tears. Since 1989, Ashworth has owned WSLV, an AM radio station in Ardmore, Tennessee. I wonder if people ever drop off records about crying DJ's.
Carl Smith - BJ the DJ (Columbia, 3:02) - Stonewall Jackson had a #1 hit with this tune in 1963, perhaps the only time the "sing about a DJ" gambit really paid off. BJ wrecks his car while speeding to the radio station at 90 MPH and now "spins the hits no more." Carl Smith's version was released as an album track in 1965.
Gene Davis - An Open Letter To Country Music DJ's (Columbia, 3:01) - Davis works the corn pone humor angle and drops the names of about two dozen Nashville big shots.
Jack Campbell - Mr. DJ (Sims, 2:27) Label shot
Jack Campbell - DJ Play A Sad Song (Jubilee, 2:33) Label shot Same singer, same co-author as on the previous 45. I like their persistence.
Jerry Byrd - Theme For A DJ (Monument, 2:13) Photo - Nice 1964 instrumental workout from the man who served as Ernest Tubb's steel guitarist in the late 1940's.
Don't forget Charlie Dore's 1980 hit "Pilot of the Airwaves" ...or is that too painful a memory?
Posted by: utm | March 12, 2008 at 09:06 AM
Doh! Sorry, wrong genre. Save that for "Music By, For, And About DJ's - Formulaic Pop Division"
Posted by: utm | March 12, 2008 at 09:13 AM
Merle Haggard has a song on his first LP, Strangers (1965), called "Please Mr. D.J." Check it out, yo.
"Hello Mr. D.J. wont you play a song for me,
The girl I love just said goodbye and I’m blue as I can be ..."
Posted by: LD | March 12, 2008 at 11:43 AM
A few more DJ songs of note:
"WOLD" - Harry Chapin
"Double Barrel" - Dave & Ansel Collins
"WKRP in Cincinnati - Theme" - Steve Carlisle
"The Last DJ" - Tom Petty
Posted by: Kevin Killion | March 12, 2008 at 02:10 PM
Let's not forget the great Harry Chapin and his tune "WOLD". Look it up kids, it's a keeper!
Posted by: Rory Murray | March 12, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Don't forget Don Bowman. He too did his own rendition of "Hello DJ" He's home drunk and trying to get Ralph Emory to play his new rekkid. Hilarity ensues. Country style hilarity that is. This song turned into a years long quest to find. I only had to wait for the Internet to grow up a little before finding it in 3 different versions.
Link to a web site featuring a lo-fi wav file version of the uncensored version of the song by Mr. Bowman:
http://www.jdcountrymusic.com/Songs/DonBowman%7EHelloDJ.wav
Posted by: yazoo | March 13, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Aretha had a great one called "Mr. DJ (Five For The DJ)" that really moved.
Posted by: Deke | March 14, 2008 at 02:14 PM
it really takes great talent to get recognized at once in this kind of industry.
Posted by: disc jockey maryland | November 25, 2008 at 04:16 PM