Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 04, 2009 at 09:35:19:
In Reply to: Herb Kent, radio's 'Cool Gent,' still tops at 80 posted by chicagomedia.org on February 04, 2009 at 09:32:53:
For the record, DJ's Herb Kent's biography is the 'Cool'-est
By David Hinckley
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, February 4th 2009, 4:00 AM
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If you want to take a great ride through black radio, or radio in general, pick up "The Cool Gent," the autobiography of R&B disk jockey Herb Kent, co-written with David Smallwood (Lawrence Hill, $24.95).
Kent got his first radio job in 1944, at a time when his college professor was telling him that "you have the best voice in the class. . . . Too bad you'll never be able to use it on radio because you're a Negro."
He got into radio for good in 1949, and he's still on the air today. He's a Chicago guy, but his radio stories, music business stories and life story will ring bells for people anywhere.
Kent conveys how much power black radio had in its golden age, the 1950s through 1970s, and how much fun it was to be part of it.
At the same time, he doesn't overromanticize. His stories about the advertisers early black jocks recruited to finance their shows are as sobering as they are hilarious.
He was romancing a girlfriend one night when two repo thugs from a furniture company broke down her door to take her TV set. As this was happening, he realized this company was one of his advertisers.
He's not shy about recounting how artists got screwed over the years, and at 80 he doesn't mind naming names.
He talks about the crazy folks, groupies and gangsters he encountered over decades on the Chicago night scene, and he talks about himself, like how he fell into drugs.
Kent often tucks the radio history alongside his stories, which can make it come even more alive. When Chicago's legendary WVON was nearing the end of its prime in 1977, we can feel the forces that were about to dismantle it.
If you like radio, history, music or people, you'll like "The Cool Gent," a man who got his money's worth out of life.