WORDS BY BILL DAHL
Disgraced American DJ Alan Freed (1921-1965) was the ultimate rock and roll impresario
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Rock and roll’s mid- 1950s explosion made instant stars of the genre’s groundbreaking first generation. Those icons weren’t the only dynamic voices that teenagers dug daily over the American radio airwaves. A battalion of mellifluous, motormouthed DJs spun the latest hits and promoted the latest discoveries, their manic patter complementing the savage music they championed.