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White was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on October 27, 1941. He is the only child of Ray E. & Doris P. White. During his youth, the family would later relocate to Torrington in northwestern Connecticut. As a youngster, White was a student at Rumsey Hall School from 1952 until his graduation in 1956.
Musician
White dropped out of high school in 1957 and worked various jobs in and around Torrington. In 1958, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked during the day as an IBM operator in the machine accounting department of Loyola Federal Savings and Loan, and played drums by night at some of Baltimore's red light district nightclubs, in an area famously known as "The Block." (His 2019 memoir, entitled Rock Around the Block, includes recollections of this formative period.)
In his late teenage years, he played drums for a number of local bands that served the triangle region of northwestern Connecticut, southeastern New York state and southwestern Massachusetts. Between 1960 through 1963, White was a founding member of the rockabilly-influenced trio Turk and The Party Cats alongside frontman Turk Coury (vocals & rhythm guitar) and Michael 'Mike' Stoffi (lead guitar), which achieved considerable popularity in the region, particularly in Poughkeepsie, where they were the area's most popular act. (White departed the band to go into radio broadcasting, as the band played fewer dates in the Poughkeepsie area.)
Top 40 Radio / First U.S. nightclub disc jockey
Exterior shot of The Rumpus Room, c.1965
Interior shot of The Rumpus Room, c.1965
The Rumpus Room, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
In 1964, at the age of 23, having completed a 13-week training program at the Columbia School of Broadcasting in Washington, D.C., White began working at WHVW AM 950 in Hyde Park, N.Y. WHVW covered most of the Hudson Valley, and was known at that time as 'Live 95'.
While at WHVW, White alternated morning newscasts with legendary news director Jim Tyrell, hosted a drive time Top 40 show from 5 PM until station sign-off, and also occasionally hosted a talk show called Open Line. Between programs, he either sold advertising for the station or worked in the studio to write and produce ads.
At the time, WHVW was a brand-new sign on station which shot to the top of the Hudson Valley ratings based almost solely on the talents of a newcomer to radio named Large Sarge.
Disc jockey Johnny 'Large Sarge' Donovan working at WHVW-FM, circa 1965.Donovan and White at the beach, Ocean City, N.J., summer of 1965
When White joined the station a year or two later he and Sarge became fast friends and they performed at record hops, produced theater shows with name recording stars and soon dominated the Hudson Valley radio market. It was reported at one point that WHVW's ratings were higher than all the other stations in the market combined.
White left the station in 1966 to focus on his nightclub ventures and Sarge left a few years later, eventually winding up in New York at legendary ABC flagship, 50,000-watt clear-channel Top 40 station WABC, under the name Johnny Donovan. (When WABC went all talk in 1982, Donovan stayed with the station as Production Director, eventually becoming the announcer for Rush Limbaugh's show, where he was often affectionately referred to as “The Voice of God”. Donovan retired shortly after Limbaugh's passing in 2021.)
Banking upon the notoriety of his highly rated WHVW afternoon drive show, White was hired by a group of students at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie to DJ a themed dance at the college promoted under the name 'Discotheque'. The dance was based on the discotheque club concept the students had discovered in Europe the previous summer. This event would become the first known discotheque dance in the United States.
That same year, based on what he had learned at the Vassar dance, White partnered with WHVW sales manager Bill DeCesare opened the first discotheque in the United States, the Rumpus Room Nightclub & Discotheque, in Dover Plains, N.Y., where the drinking age was 18.
The Rumpus Room was only a few miles from the Connecticut border, where the legal drinking age was 21, and the club was wildly successful until it was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s.
As with the subsequently opened Whisky a Go Go in L.A. The Rumpus Room featured live bands, DJ'd music (provided by White), and headline performances from noted recording stars of the era. By deejaying professionally from a booth at the club, White unintentionally became the first professional nightclub DJ in America beginning in 1965.
Booking agent
Beginning in early 1966 and throughout 1967, White worked as the primary booking agent at the powerful Paramount Artists Corporation in Washington, D.C., an agency which specialized in booking touring nightclub bands. White, using his contacts from his radio days, was able to expand the agency by signing a number of prominent recording stars he had known during his time at WHVW.
Paramount Artists exclusively represented and/or booked among others:
In late 1967, White departed Paramount Artists and was recruited by Action Talents agency, located at the legendary 1650 Broadway Building in New York City. Action Talents was an agency that received financing and support from Neil Bogart of Buddah Records. Bogart was an innovator and cleverly sought for artists with singles released on Buddah to be booked into areas where their records were breaking.
Owner-operator Betty Sperber of Action Talents, circa 1968
Action Talents was helmed by Betty Sperber--who was an artists' manager--and with White as her head agent during this period, and under their combined leadership, Bogart achieved his goal.
Action Talents also exclusively booked acts into over 100 Hullabaloo Teen Clubs, franchised across America by the Transamerica investment group, due to the popularity of the TV series of the same name.
White soon became an integral at Betty Sperber's Action Talents agency.[1] One Monday night in 1968, Sperber and White were hosting a monthly 'Battle of the Bands' talent search at the Cloud Nine nightclub on Long Island, and Sperber brought recording star Johnny Maestro, lead singer of The Crests (whom Sperber managed) along as the evening's special guest star.
White—who was by then Action Talents' Vice President and General Manager—suggested that Maestro be backed up that night by a seven-piece brass-filled group of young musicians called The Rhythm Method. That night's performance was so successful that the following day, Sperber decided to combine the talents of Maestro, three of the four Del-Satins (whom she also managed), and The Rhythm Method band. The new group's name came about when White made the off-handed comment that "it would be easier to sell the Brooklyn Bridge" than find bookings for this proposed 11-piece act. [2]
When the band was first introduced to the public, it happened during a promotional photo session on the actual Brooklyn Bridge featuring Maestro, the three remaining Del Satins, the members of The Rhythm Method comprising the new 11-piece band, along with Bogart, Sperber and the Mayor of Brooklyn, N.Y.
One day, during a heated discussion between Buddha record executive Neil Bogart and record producer Wes Farrell (The Cowsills, The Partridge Family), White represented Maestro in his argument that the group should record Jimmy Webb's song The Worst That Could Happen," which Maestro found on a Fifth Dimension album. The song went on to become the defining hit for The Brooklyn Bridge.
Disco era
Talent manager
In 1969, White moved to Philadelphia to become the personal manager and booking agent for his friend, 1960s rock and roll star and former Dovells lead singer Len Barry. At the time, Barry was producing what would become the first two disco records: Who Can I Turn To and a cover of Johnny Ray's 1950s classic, Cry, both by Atlanta R&B singer Grover Mitchell.
While neither record became a hit, the next Barry-produced dance recording was Keem-O-Sabe by The Electric Indian and that record would become the first disco record ever to crack the national charts, reaching number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1969.
In 1972, using these same studio musicians, White produced a middle-of-the-road version of The Theme from M*A*S*H, which was later released on Hickory Records just as the television series debuted.
Nightclub DJ
Eventually, Alan changed directions and returned to radio. Between 1972 and 1973, he served as a sidekick to Peter 'The Flying Dutchman' Berry of Baltimore's WFBR 1300 AM. Berry's morning show on Mad Radio 13—as it was known at the time—consistently dominated ratings in the Baltimore market.
White hosted and Dj'd at The Dutchman's record hops and public appearances, and was also an occasional voice character on the morning show. In addition to working on-air with The Dutchman, White also provided marketing and consulting services for Baltimore area restaurants and nightclubs.
By 1974, he had also returned to DJing in nightclubs and played and programmed music in a variety of nightclubs as he toured along the East Coast.
In 1975, while performing at Emerson's Restaurant in downtown Baltimore, he was presented with a proclamation by then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer naming White The Evening Mayor of Baltimore, in appreciation of his contributions to bringing nighttime business back into Baltimore's downtown.
White being presented with proclamation by Baltimore Mayor Schaefer.
Saturday Night Fever
In 1976, due to his notoriety as the first American nightclub DJ, White appeared on Maury Povich's highly rated Washington, D.C. based news and interview show, Panorama. A second guest on the same segment was British writer Nik Cohn, who was promoting a book of photographs of oil paintings of famous rock stars titled "Rock Dreams", to which he had contributed liner notes to accompany each photograph.
The conversation centered on two topics: the James Dean movie Rebel Without a Cause, and White's burgeoning disco career. At the end of the show, following White's declaration that Disco would be the next big thing, Povich turned to Cohn and quipped 'You should re-write Rebel Without a Cause and turn it into a disco movie!' Although this offhanded comment brought laughter all around at the time, Cohn did, in fact, rewrite Rebel, not as a movie script, but as a fictionalized account which would be published in 1976 in New York Magazine under the title 'Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night.' This article ultimately found its way to Cohn's good friend, talent manager and music industry impresario Robert Stigwood, who at the time was seeking a story to use as a vehicle for a musical film featuring his artists The Bee Gees.
Stigwood optioned Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night for what would eventually become the script for the film Saturday Night Fever. And so, as Povich suggested, Rebel Without a Cause was rewritten into a disco movie after all. While White is quick to state that he didn't think of Rebel Without a Cause as a disco movie, he notes that had he not been a guest on that day's show along with Cohn, the subject of disco likely wouldn't have come up.
Disco and beyond
White settled in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977 and became the resident DJ and musical director at Jeryl's, which was Atlanta's most prominent mainstream disco venue during that era.
He was the on-camera television spokesman for the Georgia School of Bartending, which ran late night advertisements (as frequently as a dozen times nightly) on Ted Turner's soon-to-be SuperstationWTBS from 1977 until early into the 1980s.
White received a gold record, both for his recommendation of remix artist Jim Burgess, and for his promotional efforts which helped nationally break Burgess's 12" remix of Alicia Bridges' I Love the Nightlife in 1978.
Tim Monnig presenting Alan w gold record for 'I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)'
In the early 1980s, he would perform on and produce a couple of novelty records for his own label Hot Hits Records, including a new wave remake of The Name Game, which charted on various dance club charts in Europe, where it was exclusively released.
White also produced a full LP of local Atlanta talent titled The Atlanta All-Stars in 1989. The album included work from recording artists Jayne Doe (who later performed as Sugar Kayne), Linda Susan, and Men in White. Most of the tracks were co-produced and mixed by Aron Siegel and Randy "Spike" Dethman.
White continued to enjoy performing in nightclubs, and in 1986, would settle into a position as music director and resident DJ at Atlanta's legendary nightspot, Johnny's Hideaway, where he developed the Dancing Through the Decades music format they still use to this day. He would serve there in this capacity until 2000.
Swing revival
In 1998, White began to DJ and promote dance events for young Atlanta-area swing dancers, who had become caught up in a resurgence of interest in swing music and dancing which would later come to be known internationally as the Swing Revival or the Neo-Swing movement. Popularly known as The Swing Kids, this trend was led musically by artists like Brian Setzer, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Indigo Swing. White would become the preeminent DJ for the Atlanta Swing Kids over the ensuing decade.
Atlanta Swing Kids (circa 1998)
In 2001, White—along with web designer Dr. Clio Soleil—launched an internet radio station called SwingTop40Radio.com. Over the course of two years, White produced and hosted 108 weekly Top 40 countdown shows, with songs voted upon by reporting swing music DJs from around the world.
In 2002, SwingTop40Radio.com would partner with SwingAwards.com to digitally produce the first of two special broadcasts that served as a virtual formal awards program for the neo-swing music industry.
When SwingTop40Radio ceased production in April 2003, the individual show segments were archived online. These archived programs served as a detailed historical record of the swing music revival of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
On Memorial Day weekend of 2005, Alan White was inducted into the Swing DJs Hall of Fame.[3]
White being inducted into the Swing DJs Hall of Fame in 2005.
Present day
White continues to DJ and promotes dance events throughout Atlanta area.
In February 2019, Blue Room Books published White's memoir, Rock Around the Block, featuring his anecdotes from his adventures in the talent management industry, as a nightclub DJ, and as a radio personality.
Cover art for White's 2019 memoir Rock Around the Block.
The Third Party: How We Might Build It and Win
In January 2024, Bright White Books published his second book, a non-fiction discourse entitled The Third Party: How We Might Build It and Win. The concept behind this book is to pull together the various aspects of the third-party political conversation into one easy-to-read, short and inexpensive book. An operating manual, if you will, for how to create a full-fledged, down-ticket major third party that could compete and win. This book is currently available exclusively via Amazon.
The Len Barry Story: the full movie
After the passing of his former client and lifelong friend Len Barry in 2020, White wrote, produced, directed and narrated a 30-minute documentary film on Len's life and times, now available via YouTube.
Personal life
White currently resides in Lilburn, Georgia, a northeastern suburb of Atlanta.
He is divorced, and the father of two sons: Alan Ray 'A.J.' White, Jr. (born 1991), and Zachary (born 1995).
Writer, producer, spokesperson for hundreds of assorted radio commercials throughout the 1960s-1980s
Television
On-air spokesperson for The Georgia School of Bartending; spots airing hundreds of times nightly between 1977 and 1982 on WTTG (later WTBS), Ted Turner's Superstation
Host: Late Night Atlanta (2-episode pilot) - 1987
Host: 70s Dance Party (7 episodes), Atlanta cable - 1994
Spokesperson for dozens of television commercials
Awards
Gold Record - 1-2-3 - Len Barry
Gold Record - I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round) - Alicia Bridges
Named honorary Evening Mayor of Baltimore (1975)
Lifetime Achievement Award - International Disco Association
Honorary lifetime member - Atlanta Swing Dancers Club
All Swing DJs Hall of Fame
Global DJs Hall of Fame
Related Research Articles
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs, club DJs, mobile DJs, and turntablists. Originally, the "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records, but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ, controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names.
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