Images
of America
New
Orleans Radio
From humble beginnings in a physics lab on the campus of Loyola University came the sounds of the first radio station in the lower Mississippi River Valley, when WWL Radio signed on in 1922. That little station would grow into a national powerhouse, with its morning Dawnbusters show and nightly broadcasts from the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel. The city’s second oldest station, WSMB, with studios in the Maison Blanche Building, developed its own cast of favorites including Nut and Jeff. Later, in the city known as the birthplace of jazz, radio played a key role in popularizing early rock and roll. Disc jockeys at leading stations WTIX and WNOE helped develop the Crescent City sound, along with local personalities with colorful names like Poppa Stoppa, Jack the Cat and Dr. Daddy-O..
Author Dominic Massa is a native of the New Orleans area who works as the executive producer and special projects director at WWL-TV. A past president of the Press Club of New Orleans, he has written and produced numerous programs and features on broadcasting history, including two programs for the city’s PBS affiliate, WYES-TV: New Orleans TV: The Golden Age and Stay Tuned: New Orleans’ Classic TV Commercials. He is also the author of Images of America: New Orleans Television, also by Arcadia Publishing.
Paperback:
128 pages
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (October 20, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1467112429
ISBN-13: 978-1467112420
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 WWL was born out of a nationwide early interest in radio which also prompted Loyola to start a radio school on its Uptown campus. In 1913, Jesuit-educated wireless operator Joseph DuTreil was appointed director of the Wireless Radio School, which trained ship- and land-based wireless operators for World War I. (Courtesy of the Loyola University J. Edgar and Louise S.
Monroe Library.)
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| Images
of America
New Orleans Radio Cover |
Robert Mitchell grew up in New Orleans listening to WTIX, which sparked an early fascination with radio. In 1965 he joined WNNR, before being hired by WTIX, where he ended up on mornings and became program director. Fellow DJ Bu
zz Bennett gave him the nickname “The Real Robert Mitchell,” which he has used for decades. (Photo by Phillip Rauls.) |
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| New Orleans Radio uses close to 200 archival photographs to trace the history of local radio from its earliest days in 1922, with memories of popular programs and personalities over the past 90 years. |
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