Today I’m turning the dials over to one of the original architects of rock and roll, the late great cooler than cool master of the microphone, Hercules of the hits, the original Daddy O with stacks of wacks, and the answer to the question who put the bomp in the bomp shu wamp. Alan Freed.Freed was the original radio hustler. He knew he had stumbled on lightning in a bottle. He just wasn’t quite sure how to monetize it. In a buttoned up post war world where the fuse for the coming teenage rebellion had been lit, how the explosion was going to play was still a bit of a mystery. Like Robert Oppenheimer, Alan Freed just knew things were going to be different.Alan Freed came up with the term rock ‘n’ roll as it applies to music in 1951, at least four years before anyone heard of Elvis. The phrase had been batted around for years in the blues culture as a synonym for, well, getting down and dirty and bumping to the music. Had the parents of squeaky clean Make Room for Daddy music fans known that, it would have been banned in Boston and everywhere else.Freed brought his act to radio, to live audiences, to television, to movies and to congressional hearings. He introduced legends including Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Richie Valens and many more. He was controversial and raised eyebrows because he thought this great music was for everyone. His shows featured black artists as well as white, and his audiences all rocked out together, regardless of race, color, or creed. That may seem tame, but in the changing world that birthed this controversial soundtrack, it was a very big deal.The show we will hear reflects the diversity of the product to which Alan Freed dedicated his short life. On the surface it may not sound like a revolution. It’s a little square and presentational. Freed isn’t lighting any fires here, no auditorium seats were harmed during this recording. The guy who changed radio forever sounds pretty laid back. He’s wrapped up in the nostalgia of some music that was less than ten years old. There was no such thing as classic rock, and if there was Alan Freed would never have played songs for 50 years straight.This was one of the first compilation albums, so exactly how to pull it off had not been worked out. Alan reverently introduces each song. Some of these songs had only been pressed on 45, so they were hard to find in a non digital world. Ginormous giants and the forever forgotten are crowded together in a cramped skipping and popping time machine. This was released in 1961, just four years before Alan Freed’s untimely death at the age of 43 in 1965. Its heavy on the doo-wop, and listening to it from another timespace, it was probably intended for sweet young makeout sessions. It features early performances from The Dells, The Flamingos, The Five Satins, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and many more. Let’s let the boss tell you the rest. Rock, roll, and remember. This is Old School #73, Alan Freed’s Memory Lane.I hope you enjoyed that. If you are a doo wop fan I’m pretty sure it was a breath of fresh air from the distant past. If you have never encountered this music before, you are probably already searching for box sets. And who better to take us down the romantic Memory Lane than the late great Alan Freed. In addition to his work as the original pioneer of rock and roll, Alan left some fun movies that you should check out when you can, including “Don’t Knock the Rock,” “Mr. Rock and Roll,” and “Go Johnny Go.” The plots are cornier than movie buttered popcorn, but they all include state of the art filmed performances of early rock stars in their dawn of time genius modes.More info on Alan Freed’s Memory Lane can be found on my free newsletter that you can click on anytime at professormikey.substack.com. The podcast is there, and anywhere else you find your podcasts. Subscribes and likes are the bitcoin of the new audio communication, and are always appreciated.Professor Mikey’s Old School is produced solely for educational purposes, and any dancing or kissing that may result is the sole proprietary responsibility of the listener. Any and all music heard resides within the public domain or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. I’m Professor Mikey, thanks for listening, join me next time on Old School where the past is always a blast!* Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1169/alan-freed: memorial page for Alan Freed (15 Dec 1921–20 Jan 1965), Find a Grave Memorial ID 1169, citing Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
