Former Lufkin DJ Remembers 60s and 70s Rock & Roll
Former Lufkin disc jockey Bill Young writes that it was hearing singers like Little Richard and Fats Domino blasting into the piney woods from Nashville that made him want to get on the radio himself so he could play that music right here at home.
In his book about his life in the radio business, Young writes it was those singers who made a permanent impression on him when he was at Hudson High School in the mid 1950s, and got him on the air as a teenage DJ at KTRE, when it was still a radio station.
Young was so blown away by Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll, he spent half his working life sharing it with others. From Lufkin he moved on to radio stations in Tyler, Waco and Nebraska. In 1966 he got the job that would make him famous, Program Director at KILT AM in Houston.
Over the next 15 years Young and his staff of legendary DJ's turned KILT into a Rock & Roll powerhouse. In 1981, he left the airwaves to start an audio and video production company that's known nationwide for his unique style of Rock & Roll concert promotional spots, most of which end with his trademark tag line, "BE THERE !"
Bill Young Productions is now a multimedia producer that turns out as many as 50,000 radio and TV commercials a year and is one of the biggest producers of concert spots in the country. Young is now retired from the company, but he still produces commercials and provides voice talent. His book is titled "Dead Air: The Rise and Demise of Music Radio."
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