Martin Block

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Martin Block (1901-1967) was the first radio disc jockey to become a star in his own right. He was born in Los Angeles, California.

American commentator Walter Winchell coined the term "disc jockey" (the combination of "disc", referring to the disc records, and "jockey", which is an operator of a machine) as a description of Block. In 1935, while his audience at WNEW in New York (now information outlet WBBR) was awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block played records and created the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom, with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. The show, which he called the Make Believe Ballroom, was an instant hit and lasted on WNEW into the late 1980s.

Block left Make Believe Ballroom in 1954 to host The Martin Block Show for ABC Radio. Towards the end of his career, he was heard on WOR/New York.

Martin Block was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988. The Make Believe Ballroom, started in 1935 by Block on WNEW, is currently hosted on New York's WSHR by Bill Frisch.