Congratulations, Madison!
This week's subject is
Make Believe Ballroom, a radio program that debuted in 1935 on New York radio station WNEW and is still on the air over 90 years later.
Long before President Trump started begging for a ballroom, Martin Block created
MBB to create the illusion that live bands and artists were live in the studio as opposed to the fact that he was just spinning records. Because of this, he was considered to be the world's first disk jockey.
MBB was so popular that the program became syndicated in 1940. In 1949, it became the basis of a Columbia Picture of the same name, featuring Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Nat King Cole. Block left the show in 1954 and went to ABC Radio. He died in 1967.
The program continued until the 1970s when WNEW changed format. Today, the show originates from WGMC in Syracuse, NY and is hosted by Jeff Bresler.
According to Casey Kasem,
MBB inspired him to become a DJ.
New game next week!