The Revolutionary History of the DJ

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I have a DJ alter ego. His name is Kid Finesse. 

He came to me while daydreaming in seventh-grade math class. I was obsessed with rap music and DJ culture and wanted to be like my idols, Grandmaster Flash and Jam Master Jay. Scribbling graffiti tags in my notebook, I experimented with JJ Flash, DJ Mellow J, but ultimately, Kid Finesse won my young heart and mind. 

As Kid Finesse, I spent many nights practicing my DJ skills on a sound system that I’d cobbled together out of my dad’s old turntables and a cheap Radio Shack mixer. I used pennies to weigh down the needles so they wouldn’t skip while I attempted to scratch. 

In college in the late 80s, I hosted a hip-hop show called Finesse Radio on WCNI in New London, Connecticut. The name stuck (albeit sort of as a joke). I still run into people from college who apologize, saying they don’t remember my real name. They only know me as Finesse. 

Later, I started a mobile DJ company called The Chill Factor and DJed wedding and bar mitzvahs. I even landed a few steady DJ gigs at Joe’s Pub and Angle in New York City. But I never believed DJing could be a real profession. It was a hobby, a side hustle, something other people much better and cooler than I did. 

So I traded in my turntables for a laptop and pursued a career in writing and editing. I still DJ from time to time. The PTA loves me because I deejay all the fundraising dances. But the DJ dream is long gone. 

I was wrong about DJing not being a real profession. As my guest Bill Brewster, a professional DJ and journalist, points out, “the DJ has been the driving force in popular music.” 

Brewster chronicles the DJ’s evolution and explosion in his classic book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. 

Starting with Christopher Stone a tuxedoed British DJ in the 1930s, Brewster highlights all the big moments and big personalities in DJ history—Martin Block, Alan Freed, Jimmy Savile, Wolfman Jack, Cool DJ Herc, Francis Grasso, David Mancuso, Grandmaster Flash, Larry Levan, Franke Knuckles, Tiesto, the list goes on. These people took spinning records for people’s enjoyment to new levels.

And, by the way, they made quite a good living doing it.

Stupid me!