Jocko Henderson

Douglas "Jocko" Henderson (March 8, 1918, Baltimore^[1]-July 15, 2000, Philadelphia) was an American radio deejay.

Henderson began his broadcast career in 1952 at Baltimore station WSID, and in 1953 began broadcasting in Philadelphia on WHAT.^[2] He hosted a show called "Rocket Ship" out of New York radio stations WOV and WADO from 1954 to 1964, which was an early conduit for rock & roll.^[3] He was known for a distinctive style of rhythmic patter in his radio voice, which he had learned from a Baltimore deejay, Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert.^[3] Henderson continued on the stations WDAS and WHAT until 1974, deejaying in Philadelphia and New York as well as hosting concerts in both cities and a TV music program in New York.^[4] In addition to Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore, Henderson was also broadcast on stations in St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, and Boston.^[2]

In 1978, Henderson made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district.^[2] He also made some early rap records, recording 12" singles for Philadelphia International and Sugar Hill Records. He continued deejaying on oldies stations into the 1990s.^[5]

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Henderson into their Hall of Fame in 2004.

Reception, Retrospect and Influence

In a 2013 interview, Questlove described Jocko Henderson as "unofficially the first MC" (adapting a jazz style of scat singing in the late disco era), and stated that he was a major influence on the earliest rap and hip-hop in Philadelphia in the late 1970s.^[6]

Discography

• "A little bit of everything" (circa 1953?)
• "Blast Off to Love" (circa 1953?)
• "Rhythm Talk" (Philadelphia International, 1979)
• "The Rocketship" (Philadelphia International, 1979)
• "Everybody's Uptight (Trying to Get Their Money Right)" (Sugar Hill Records, 1983)

References