Did we call them "jocks"? Or did we call them "announcers"? The term was used interchangeably in the aforementioned; however, "jocks" just never sounded quite right to me in describing on-air personalities of "underground" rock stations. I think part of the reason is that this new kind of format was so very different from top-40: delivery was deliberately laid-back, as if carrying on a quiet conversation or telling an intriguing story. (Most of us were laid-back in those days--that was the culture, that was the lifestyle). These on-air people were not hired because they had great sets of "pipes", they were hired because they knew the music, and they knew the spirit in which it should be presented. (1). This music was never meant to be formatted as if it were top-40, yet there were stations in some of the larger cities which did just that during this same time period, complete with a bouncy dj--all "underground" music all the time on AM radio, what a horror story! WJDX-fm 102.9 in Jackson MS was a great place to work in 1968..
