Dizzy Lizzy - KYOK
I am grateful to Michael for sending me this picture showing Novella Smith who used the name Dizzy Lizzy on KYOK. I'm not sure of the date; KATL flipped to KYOK in late 1954 and the name Dizzy Lizzy may have been used by more than one person over the years.
Other names used by KYOK jocks included Groovy George, Razzle Dazzle and Hotsy Totsy. I probably listened to Novella as a kid but not much. I listened to KYOK a lot in the late 1950s but because of their highly directional signal and my location, I could only pick them up at night and I'm pretty sure she was on during the day.
Novella also was a disc jockey on KPRC, 950, in the 60s, doing a jazz show in the evening. Her resume details even more of her accomplishments.
From the Friends of Novella blog, a picture of 'Bugaloo' George Frazier on KYOK, ca. 1970, and a story on how Dizzy Lizzy and Skipper Lee Frazier broke Roy Head's 'Treat Her Right' on KYOK in 1965.
3 comments:
I USED TO LISTEN TO HOTSY & DIZZY OFTEN IN EARLY 50'S. THEY PUT OUT A GREAT SHOW BEFORE ROCK & ROLL. I FIRST HEARD "LAWDY MISS CLAUDY" ON THEIR SHOWS. RACE MUSIC WAS MY THING BACK THEN. LITTLE DID I KNOW THAT WHITE PERFORMERS SUCH AS ELVIS WOULD START IMITATING THEM.
My dad Fred vela back 1960 or 61 was disjocky on a Spanish show kyok.at the time we lived in pasadena tx.
I listened only to KYOK before going to sleep at night while living in Foster Place during the 50s because it was the only station that my Rocket Radio would pick up. When we moved to Norwood Meadows in 1961, I really missed it because that crystal receiver only got KPRC - quite a different format! I got used to it though because I always loved the DJs' and announcers' voices in those days, not only on radio but also TV. It's pitiful how few unique voices are on nowadays. It's seems that the preferred voice style nowadays is non-descript. Remember the incomparable Mel Blanc? The Man of a Thousand Voices.
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