Beech Tree News Network

This week I’ll continue my series on classic disc jockeys by chronicling Al Jarvis (1909-1970).  Al Jarvis was born in Russia in 1909 and emigrated to the U.S. by way of Canada, where he would work in a bank.  He had done some acting in high school and was chosen from several applicants to perform at the Pasadena Community Playhouse where he was considered very talented.  He was educated at the University of Southern California.

He got his first radio announcing job at about age 20 by answering a newspaper ad and later joined Warner Brothers’ station KFWB.  He soon developed an informal on-air style, using information about musicians gleaned from reading Billboard and Variety.  He was one of the first radio disc jockeys in Los Angeles.  

From Hollywood Spotlight by Earl Griffin, September 4, 1947: Jarvis was credited with using black artists on his radio show as early as 1933, but the L.A. Sentinel columnist said Jarvis “has hoodwinked the public into believing he was the “great white father” of our group”.  Griffin went onto critique an ad on Jarvis’ “Make Believe Ballroom” for a housing development that didn’t say homes were restricted to whites.  

Make Believe Ballroom was a long-running radio program that first aired on radio station WNEW in 1935.  The show was created as filler by announcer Martin Block to fill time between news bulletins covering the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.  The station did not have access to a live orchestra to play music, so Block played records instead,  The concept proved successful and led to the launch of Make Believe Ballroom on February 3, 1935, as a 15-minute experimental program, with Block borrowing the concept and title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, who had launched the similarly named The World’s Largest Make Believe Ballroom in 1932, with Block as assistant.  The program consisted of Block playing records from popular bands and singers with the conceit that they were live performances in an imaginary ballroom.  The show expanded its timeslot and at one point during Block’s tenure attracted 25% of the listening audience in New York City.    Jarvis hosted a west coast and television version of the show. (www.wilipedia.com).  Jarvis, dubbed the “dean of disc jockeys” by the Los Angeles Times, died of a heart attack May 6, 1970, at the age of 60 after a long career in radio and early television.  

No link this week, as I’ve yet to record my vlog.  Come back next week for a look at another radio legend!