RIP Art Laboe

   Art Laboe, who died at the age of 97 on October 7th, is rightly hailed as a pioneering DJ.  He was one of the first to play "Rock and Roll" records in the 50's, one of the first to let listeners dedicate a song on air and even more importantly, through his DJ shows at drive-in eateries in Southern California help end segregation by attracting Black, White and Latino crowds.   Laboe's various syndicated radio show got played throughout the U.S., but he was based in California. 

  But Laboe was a pioneer in another field.  The catalog compilation album. In 1959, on his own record label called Original Sound Record Inc., he released a 12 song album called Oldies but Goodies Vol. 1. The phrase "oldies but goodies" was likely coined but definitely popularized by Laboe. The 12 songs on the album were recent hits, but Laboe saw potential in compiling hits of recent years on an album.  The surprise was that the album was a hit.  Peaking at #12 in 1959 and staying on the album chart for an amazing 183 weeks.  More albums followed as did similarly themed ones. 

  When news of Laboe's death was announced I thought about those albums.  But I also thought of how influential they were and still are today.  Those Oldies but Goodies albums were the precursor to the K-tel comps that started in the mid-60's and really took off in the 70's.  They were also a forerunner for the Now series that began in the UK in the 80's.  In reality, the success of Laboe's comps inspired tons of various resissues labels like Rhino. 

 Laboe kept broadcasting his weekly show until the last weeks of his life.  Spreading the potency of "Rock and Roll" every Sunday night to loyal listeners and any new ones that he could convert with the power of another spin of  "In The Still of the Night".