Art Laboe—the pioneering Los Angeles DJ credited with coining the phrase “oldies but goodies”—has died, The Associated Press reports. A spokesperson for Laboe’s production company Dart Entertainment confirmed that Laboe died Friday (October 7) at his home in Palm Springs, California, following a brief bout of pneumonia. He was 97 years old.
Laboe spent nearly 80 years as a DJ, first taking to the airwaves in 1943 at San Francisco’s KSAN while serving in the United States Navy. He played songs by Black, Latinx, and white artists without consideration for their racial differences, rejecting the quietly enforced segregation of the music industry. While at KSAN, Laboe developed the call-in request format that became a radio programming standard for decades to come. After stints at KCMJ in Palm Springs and KPOP in Los Angeles, Laboe found a long-term home at Los Angeles’ KXLA.
As his radio popularity rose, Laboe met up with fans after his shows and hosted dance parties at a local drive-in, which became a popular gathering for teenagers. As the parties continued to attract young people of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, Laboe eventually relocated the gatherings to the El Monte Legion Stadium outside of Los Angeles city limits. The new location was a loophole to get around laws aimed at enforcing racial segregation, which dictated that the Los Angeles Board of Education had to approve social dances that were marketed to teens.
Over the next seven decades, Laboe became a beloved figure for multiple generations of those living in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, attracting fans through his deep knowledge of music, easygoing demeanor, and enthusiasm for his work. He continued to favor “oldies” music across his shows, releasing a compilation dubbed Oldies But Goodies: Vol. 1 that stayed on the Billboard 200 for more than two years. Laboe was regularly credited with helping families stay connected with incarcerated loved ones through his request format and nonjudgemental bearing.
Laboe moved his show to 93.5 KDAY after his iHeartRadio-owned home station, Hot 92.3, changed formats in 2015. His work was syndicated well beyond California and thorughout the Southwest. Laboe continued to host regular programming until just a few days before his death: according to NPR, he produced his final episode last week, and it aired on Sunday, October 9.
Revisit Pitchfork’s 2015 piece “To Art Laboe, With Love,” on the Pitch.
