Gene Shay - DJ , founder of the Philadelphia Folk Festival & co-owner of
Sliced Bread Records

Geo: When did you first broadcast as a DJ (with what station) and how did
you decide to become a DJ?

Gene: I was an avid radio listener when I was 11 years old. There was no TV
then. Radio was the big thing and I loved the medium. I would imitate radio
announcers---different styles, imitate radio actors and do funny voices. I
was the first kid on the block to own a tape recorder when they first came
out so I could practice--and playback my announcing sessions.
Please understand that when I was first interested in radio, there were not
too many DJs on the air---mainly specialty shows, dramas, soaps, adventure
shows quiz programs and lots of news.
In those days, to get into radio you had to learn to be a "staff announcer"
that meant being able to read commercials, deliver news, pronounce names in
the news and classical music composers---you had to be prepared for doing
many different kinds of shows.Only in the later years, long after the advent of television did specialty music station flourish on radio. Then stations would hire music experts
instead of staff announcers. The voice and delivery style of the announcer
would not be as professional but their knowledge of the music and good taste
was more important.
My first staff announcing was at Temple's WRTI in the early 50s. Then,
while a sophomore at Temple someone recommended me for a job at WHAT-AM & FM
in Phila.It was a once a week staff announcing job. You had to know how to run a
board (engineer) and how to deliver a spot and announce a show.
So I would introduce the Spanish American Hour with Nina and Henry
Beciero, engineer for them, do a spot or two then the next hour I would read
the intro for the Italian Hour with Frank Trombetta and one hour later intro
the Irish hour with Tommy Caulfield and his Erin's Pride Irish Orchestra.
Finally at 11 PM I had two hours of my own. The show I inherited was titled
"Romantic Rendevouz" and had sort of a corny poetic opening but I was
allowed to pick my own records.
That was my first DJ shift---in 1954, and on that late night show I would
try to get away from the syrupy love ballads they used to play and stick in
jazz pieces--vocals by Mel Torme and Chris Connor, slow, pretty pieces by
Miles and Brubeck.

Geo: How did it feel that first time as a DJ on radio playing music for
people?

Gene: I loved it. Especially when I would get calls from people---or meet people
on the street who would tell me how I changed their life---or their taste in
music by introducing them to new artists and genres. Years later I still get
the same kind of comments and still enjoy hearing them.

Geo: Did you listen to Alan Freed back in the 50's & if so, what did you think
of him? (Freed hosted his Moondog Coronation Ball in 1952 & R & R was said
to be born that night)

Gene: No, I grew up in Philly listening to "Jocko" Henderson, Larry Brown's R&B
show (the first white guy in Philly to play real R&B, WIP's "Dawn Patrol"
with Joe McCauley and later to the 950 club. My late night listening was to
J. Mitchell Reed in NYC on WOR Radio---he played hip, jazz and good quality
pop music. I listened to Gene Shepard also on WOR--he was a monologue guy
who told stories and played old Jimmy Yancey piano blues as background music for
his stories. I also listened to Long John Knebbel--another late night guy
who did shows about UFOs, ghosts and supernatural stuff.
At summer camp in my early teens I took advantage of my new location and
could get New York stations---especially WNEW, where I could listen to
Martin Block's "Make Believe Ballroom" and William B. Williams shows.

Geo: When did you first get involved with the Folk scene & what attracted you
to it?

Gene: I was doing a full time jazz show on WHAT-FM (5 days a week, just before Sid
Mark did his "Mark of Jazz" show). One of my shows was called something like
"All Kinds of Blues" and I played everyone from Count Basie to Jimmy Rushing
and Sarah Vaughan. One day I played an old blues tune and a listener called
me---asked if I had ever heard that same blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson.
When I said "No, but I would like to" the listener told me she was a guitar
teacher and was involved in the folk music world.
Ultimately I wound up taking guitar lessons from her, hanging out with a
folk crowd that sang blues and ballads. Soon I was managing my guitar
teacher---she had a contract to record albums with Prestige International,
and I was deeply involved with a whole new world of music. That was in the
early 60s. It was after I got home from Germany where I was a DJ/staff
announcer for the American Forces Radio in Frankfurt.The draft was still
on in those days but the US was between wars--Korean war
was over, Vietnam war had not started yet. Right after I graduated from Temple,
I volunteered for the draft so I could get my military obligation over with before
pursuing my broadcast career any further. I lucked out by getting sent to
Germany---and by being selected to work in radio there.

Geo: What did you think of the turbulent McCarthy era times in America as it's
political history derailed the singing career of the Weavers in 1952 as the
House's Un-American Activities Committee's charges of Communism for the
songs they sang?

Gene: They were terrible times but it brought the folk music community closer
together and helped produce some wonderful songs---and songwriters, like
Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton and many more. One of the great pleasures was seeing
McCarthy get his comeuppance and meeting some of the "revolutionaries" of
the era like Ochs, and Abbie Hoffman.

Geo: Do you know which coffee house was the First to open in Philadelphia?

Gene: I think the Proscenium was one of the first. That was on Walnut Street near
Rittenhouse Square. Manny Rubin opened that place when I was still in Europe
in the Army. Another early coffeehouse was the Gilded Cage owned and managed by Ed and
Esther Halpern. That was a big hangout for folk music fans.
In 61 or 62 Manny opened the Second Fret at 19th & Sansom---and the Trauma
on Arch Street years later.

Geo: How & who started the Philadelphia Folk Festival?

Gene: I was home from the Army and working at WHAT-FM (in Fairmount Park) when I
was taking guitar lessons and getting involved with the folk crowd. Soon I
joined the Philadelphia Folksong Society and became a board member of the
organization.One day Dave Hadler another fellow board member told me he had this idea
about the Society putting on an outdoor festival. He asked me if I would
like to join him and a few others to discuss his plan and then take the idea to a
Board meeting and see if we could generate enough interest to make it
happen. That we did. A small group of 6 or 7 of us became the founders and for
that very first Festival in September of 1962 Dave Hadler became the
Chairman and I became the Co Chairman. In 1963 I was in charge and Dave became the
co-chairman. Then as the years went on and the Festival kept getting bigger
and bigger I opted to just handle publicity and not get involved with the
booking and production as I had in the first years. We were all unpaid
volunteers and my career and my family (a wife a baby) needed more attention.
I could not devote so much time to the Folk Festival as I had.

Geo: Did you have a favorite coffee house to hang out at & catch the latest
acts? (most of the coffee houses were in the Center City location around
Rittenhouse Square area)

Gene: The Gilded Cage was the place to hang and meet friends. The Second Fret in
center city---and later, the Main Point in Bryn Mawr became my favorite
places to see new acts and say hi to performer friends.

Geo: What for you, was the best show you hosted in a Philly coffee house
during the 60's?

Gene: I don't remember. I do remember that when I did a regular Tuesday night open
mic at the Second Fret I would have Bill Cosby come by to try out his comedy
routines. I think I introduced Joni Mitchell one time at the Fret--and Steve Goodman
and John Prine at the Point.

Geo: Did you ever host any of the free concerts @ Rittenhouse Square in the
late 60's & early 70's (this was a favorite hang out for the musicians in
Philly along w/ The Guitar Workshop on Samsom St.) or at the Be-Ins?

Gene: I did a few of them and also Be-Ins in Fairmont Park. I remember introducing
Hall & Oates at one of those---I think I introduced Woody's Truck Stop in
the Square.

Geo: The Philadelphia band Elizabeth (Vanguard Records) seemed to start
Philly's Folk-Rock scene (some of the members started out in the folk
scene). What did you think of Elizabeth & this new Folk-Rock sound now part
of the coffee house scene?

Gene: I thought it was pretty neat and seemed to jive with what Dylan and the
Byrds were doing trying to contemporize folk music. I'm still in touch with some
of the original members of Elizabeth.

Geo: In 1967 Manny Rubin (2nd Fret owner) opened the Trauma on Arch Street
(away from the coffee house scene) as he seemed to see the importance of a
larger venue in the Philly music scene as his coffee house & others could
not accommodate the new bands & music . What did you think of his new venue
& scene?

Gene: I loved it! Manny knew how to decorate and manage a club to be in tune with
the times. The Trauma was groovy and in perfect synch with what was
happening then.

Geo: Back in February 1968 the Electric Factory opened up the street from the
Trauma. This larger venue had an impact on the Trauma & Manny had to close
the Trauma as he could not compete w/ the Factory. Were you sorry to see the
Trauma close?

Gene: Yes, I was but I could see that the size of the Factory and the booking
clout of the Spivak-Magid association was an overwhelming force that a smaller
club right around the corner could not handle. Problems with neighbors, the city
and others made things tough to operate.

Geo: After the Factory opened the Catholic School system along w/ Frank Rizzo
& the Philadelphia Police vowed to close down the Factory (it closed in 70).
What did you think of this harassment by Rizzo & the Police in the 60's with
new music & it's audience in Philadelphia?

Gene: By the way, Rizzo as a young policeman was raiding coffeehouses in center
city--long before the Trauma and the Factory. I remember that some of those
raids for suspected dopers or revolutionaries took place in small beatnik
style poetry reading hangouts just as I was coming back to the States after
my army time had ended. That was in 1959.
The anti-hippie movement was far reaching. Even the Main Point in Bryn Mawr
got its share of harassment from the establishment.
It was a bad scene for the young, creative types who wanted to make music or
express their political beliefs in poetry, art or theater. It always seemed
to me to be a case of old people insisting that young people live and think
their way--no deviation, no hint of rebelling---or you are labeled a dirty
hippie, pinko, commie..
A bad scene for us and for all of America.

Geo: How many years have you been broadcasting your Folk show on FM radio?

Gene: 40 years. In fact I'm being honored for that at a gala concert at the Keswick on May
12, 2003. Tom Rush, Tom Paxton, Chris Smither. Eric Andersen, The Kennedys, Christine
Lavin, Julie Gold, Tony Trishca and Skyline, Sonia and many will be there.

Geo: When did you become a member of the Philadelphia Branch of N.A.R.A.S.
(Grammy people) & what do you think of the Philadelphia Chapter's role in
the Philly music scene?

Gene: I was voted on the Board around 5 years ago. I thought they did a pretty
good job, but I have always been frustrated because they can only go so far. They
are too tightly governed by the main office in California. Maybe that was
the trickle down management style of Michael Greene---I don't know, but I have
always felt the Philly chapter was held back---and driven too much by pop
hits and big record companies. Not enough attention to folk music,
singer-songwriters, etc. Just yesterday I was asked if I'd be interested in
getting active with the newly activated Philadelphia Music Alliance.
I said I was interested, but I'm not sure how that will work out...

Geo: What was your idea behind your record label Sliced Bread Records & when
did you start the label?

Gene: We wanted mainly to be a folk label. It turned out that we became a
singer-songwriter label too. We started the label almost 8 years ago (I
think).

Geo: In 1995 you released the excellent double CD: The Songs of Phil Ochs.
How did this project come about?

Gene: I knew Phil. I was friendly---still am---with his sister Sonny. One day when
I heard Sonia Rutstein of the band Disappear Fear sing Phil's protest song,
"Is There Anybody Here" - I thought "Wow---young people are still getting
Phil's message and are into his music---why can't we ask a bunch of performers to contribute their
favorite Phil song to a tribute album?"
I sat down with Sonny Ochs at the Falcon Ridge Festival in upstate New York
and asked her what she thought. She loved the idea and I went ahead.
The boxed set that came from that is one of my proudest accomplishments.

Geo: Speaking of Phil, do you think the Government & most of radio kept Phil,
Pete Seeger & others from the radio listeners because of fear as they sang
about Civil Rights, the war & the CIA? (Dylan became interested in being a
Pop Star after the Beatles invaded America & seemed to abandon his voice &
words of the Folk scene in the mid to late 60's)

Gene: Yeah, once again the establishment or "silent majority" attempts to silence
anyone who disagrees with their beliefs or does something contrary to their
credo. I always see this as bigots and bullies putting down anyone who wishes to
speak their mind. Even today ---with the world again on the brink of war---I got a complaint
from a listener that I played "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (Phil Ochs) on my
WXPN program a few weeks ago.
When will the world ever learn that we all have the right to speak our
mind? It's one of our basic liberties---or so I thought.

Geo: As you DJ on Sundays @ WXPN in Philadelphia, do you feel that
there is a "play-list" that most DJ's have to follow on radio today as
opposed to the early days of "underground" 60's FM radio?

Gene: I don't just "feel" that there is a playlist---there is one. And most radio
stations use them--including WXPN. Only specialty show like mine and Jonny
Meister's Blues show have the freedom to program what we wish. But
radio---especially Triple A stations mean big business and music selection
is almost a science based on numbers and ratings and day-parts--and other
critical audience surveys. Our programmers happen to be very good at what they do,
and our DJs do have some choices in selecting their personal favorites, but the main parts of
most shows are preselected. That is a fact of life for most major radio
stations in larger markets.

Geo: What is next for you, Sliced Bread Records & the Philadelphia Folk
Festival?

Gene: 4 Way Street is coming out soon on Sliced Bread. These guys just keep
getting better. My big Anniversary show coming up in May.
And a big hope that we avoid a war and the country's economy will recover so
that small record labels can get back on their feet.

For more info with Gene & Sliced Bread Records go to:

http://geneshay.com/index2.html & http://www.slicedbread.com/



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