"[4] He was permitted to play big band and jazz records shortly before the station signed off at midnight, later encouraging his listeners to call the station to make song requests, an idea so ahead of its time that[3] the technology did not yet exist to broadcast live telephone calls. Since it was outside the city limits of Los Angeles, Laboe was not subject to a city ordinance that mandated LA Board of Education approval for any public dance intended for high school students. Art Laboe and Little Richard (1973) Laboe was always short of stature, standing at just a hair over five feet tall, but he's grown thinner in recent years. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. Art Laboe, who recently marked 79 years on air, was a pioneering DJ widely credited with desegregating Southern California's airwaves, in addition to popularizing the phrase "oldies but goodies." The man who coined Oldies, but Goodies became a highly celebrated phenomenon and has achieved numerous feeds, including having 17 July set aside for celebrating him in Los Angeles. [9], He later returned to Los Angeles and began his time at KPOP. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Laboe in 2009, hosting one of his Valentines Super Love Jam concerts in Glendale, Arizona. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Children: 2. He released the top-charting compilation album titled Oldies But Goodies: Vol. "And he became, you know, a really constant family member." He obtained the job because he had a first-class radiotelephone license and the station had been depleted of staff in order to meet wartime demands. The show became one of the most popular at KSAN where he began working during WWII. Art Laboe started his radio career during World War II at KSAN, while stationed at Treasure Island outside San Francisco. The Art Laboe Connection, a syndicated request and dedication radio show, debuted in January 2006. [citation needed], Laboe later DJ'd on two syndicated radio shows, both of which were broadcast across the American Southwest.