THE MOONDOG CORONATION BALL- AMERICA'S FIRST ROCK AND ROLL CONCERT

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It was March 21st, 1952, in Cleveland, Ohio, at about 9pm, when the first 7,000 or more ticket holders streamed into the Cleveland Arena with high hopes of seeing 5 of their favorite Rhytm & Blues artists perform for a huge dance. By 9:30pm, the place was filled to capacity with over 9,000 teens- but there were still more than 10,000 more "Moondoggers" waiting outside. The doors broke down, glass shattered, seats were ripped from their moorings on the floor, and pandemonium ruled for the next hour. It was all the creation of a talented WJW radio DJ named Alan Freed, who, on his midnight shows, had been promoted The Moondog Coronation Ball for weeks. It was the first of many firsts that night- the first rock concert and dance, the first dance to which black teens were invited (although they made up 99% of the crowd), the first time "Rock and Roll" came to mean good music with a beat which could be enjoyed by all races, and the first time a concert had to be shut down by the police. Freed would go on to earn the title "The Father of Rock and Roll" and make 4 movies starring as himself, R&B would be recognized as the progenitor of Rock, and Cleveland, thanks to that seminal concert, would be chosen to host the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Story at 1001 Heroes, legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast beginning Sunday Aug 25th.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everybody, how y'all? This is Alan Freed, the old King of the Moondographers,
0:03.5	and a hearty welcome to all our thousands of friends in Northern Ohio, Ontario, Canada,
0:07.0	Western New York, West and Pennsylvania, West Virginia.
0:09.0	Along about 1130, 15 minutes from now, we'll be joining the Moon Dog Network.
0:13.6	Joining all us folks around the Cleveland area here will be thousands of
0:16.7	listeners over in New York City and New Jersey.
0:19.2	We listen to us over in Newark, New Jersey Station every night.
0:22.1	Good old Aaron Brew, Formula 1002 Northern Ohio's largest selling beer.
0:26.6	Make it possible for us to be with you.
0:28.5	A whole extra half hour on Saturday nights will be hittle 2.30 in the morning and operator 2 tennis at the
0:33.9	W JW switchboard to take your telephone request. When you're calling in
0:37.1	play it cool when you're call we'll get your request as soon as we can.
0:40.3	Pop the cap have a good ball wherever you are. Enjoy air and brew
0:43.6	Tero too and the moon dog show!
0:47.0	Welcome back everyone to one
0:49.2	heroes, legends, histories, and mysteries podcast.
0:53.2	This is your host, John Hagadorn.
0:55.3	And I'm bringing back the time machine today
0:57.2	to take you back to 1952 and the early days of rock and roll. It doesn't matter if you're 15 or 25 or 45 or 85.
1:08.0	The music genre we call rock and roll has affected your life in one way or another and its history is not only
1:13.7	important it's fun learning. Rock and roll has brought people and sometimes
1:18.5	nations together. It helped more than any other entity to break down
	...

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