Radio stations like WERE-AM, KYC (AM) (See WKYC), WHK-AM, and WIXY-AM in the 1950s and 1960s established a national "break-out" market by playing new records and artists first. Their acceptance and enthusiasm for new bands, musical trends, and recordings made Cleveland a hot music market. Freed died broke in 1964.įreed left behind a city of rock 'n' roll fans. In 1959 Freed was indicted on payola charges by an FTC congressional committee. His success on the radio and in the concert business would make rock 'n' roll a household word. Freed moved to WINS-AM in New York City on 15 Aug. Both his radio program and his concert business thrived. Suddenly, the press was talking about rock 'n' roll and its evils.įreed's popularity soared after the Moondog Ball. The local newspapers gave the incident front page coverage and the wire service spread the story around the world. Despite Freed's denial that the show was oversold, he was accused of exposing his young audience to danger. City Council immediately passed an ordinance making it illegal to oversell the capacity of a public building. It took the CLEVELAND POLICE and the CLEVELAND FIRE DEPARTMENT several hours to clear the Arena and to stop the fighting. Inside, fighting broke out in the audience and the concert ended after the first song. When the music started, the huge crowd outside broke down the Arena doors. After admitting the capacity of the hall, there were still thousands outside waiting to get in. Neither Freed or the Arena staff were prepared for the large crowd that showed up the night of the concert. Advertised as "the most terrible ball of them all," the event was called the "Moondog Coronation Ball" because Freed intended to crown himself the "King of the Moondoggers." The show featured Paul Williams & The Hucklebuckers, Tiny Grimes & The Rockin' Highlanders, the Dominoes, Danny Cobb, and Varetta Dilliard. After a few dances in Akron, Canton, and Vermillion, they promoted a large show at the ARENA on 21 Mar. After a few events, with promoter Booker Brooks, Freed formed a partnership with Lew Platt. They were attracted to the music, but it was Freed's Moondog persona that created a very loyal audience, the Moondoggers.Īfter several months at WJW, Freed began promoting dances that featured the R&B bands he played on his radio show. Freed's radio style, howling and yelling "rock & roll," while pounding on a telephone book, his wit and his ambition were the sparks that fueled his popularity with the teens in the black neighborhoods.
Although disc jockeys across the country were playing R&B records on the radio, Freed was the only one calling it rock 'n' roll.
With Leo Mintz sitting in the studio at his side, handing him records, the music mix evolved into the first rock 'n' roll radio format. radio program, "The Moondog Rock & Roll House Party," started as a mixture of popular hits and R&B records. With the sponsorship of Record Rendezvous, Freed started at WJW-AM in July 1951.
#Images of the words rock and roll movie
Freed entered the Cleveland market in April 1950, when he became the host of an afternoon movie program at WXEL-TV (Ch. Freed was impressed with Mintz's customers' reaction to rock 'n' roll and began playing a rock 'n' roll record on his afternoon show as a novelty song sometime in early 1949. Mintz finally met a young, brash disc jockey from WAKR-AM in Akron, ALAN FREED. A poster announcing the “first” rock concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena, March 1952.
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