“Good evening, New York. This is the show that’s bound to put more dips in your hips, more cut in your strut, and more glide in your slide. If you don’t dig it, you know you’ve got a hole in your soul, and you don’t eat chicken on Sunday.”
This was the rap of legendary DJ Frankie Crocker, “often imitated, never duplicated.” The words, no doubt, are burned in the memory of many who lived in New York in the 1970s. It didn’t matter if you were black or white, young or old. Anyone who listened to music and owned a pair of roller skates knew the man (and his show) and loved it.
This photograph was taken by Times photographer Eddie Hausner in November 1968. He spent the afternoon with Crocker at WWRL in Woodside, Queens. According to his notes from the day, Crocker spun records while interjecting sexy prose over soul. He blasted a French horn and stood up for most of the show. He was also in charge of his own engineering.
The image wasn’t published, and there were no articles in The New York Times mentioning this show or Crocker’s involvement with the station.
“Tall, tan, young, and fly. Any time you want me baby, reach up for me, I’m your guy. Just as good to ya as it is for ya. You get so much with the Frankie Crocker touch. After all, how can you lose with the stuff I use?”
Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the soul powerhouse, WUFO. He moved to New York City in 1965 but was best known for his time at Manhattan’s WBLS in the 1970s. He was a master of ceremonies at the Apollo Theater and was one of the first VJs on VH1. He also appeared in several Hollywood movies.
“Turn out the light and hold me tight, Frankie says it’s just got to be all right. Closer than white on rice. Closer than coals on ice. Closer than the collar on a dog. Closer than a ham on a country hog.”
Frankie “Hollywood” Crocker, the “Chief Rocker,” died in 2000 at the age of 63.
“Sock it to me, Momma!”
My roller skates no longer fit.
—DARCY EVELEIGH