Rockaway’s Playland, First Owned By a Roller Coaster Designer

The Queens amusement park, in its early days, was once owned by the developer of the modern roller coaster.

by Rich Watson 

Rockaway’s Playland occupied a small area of land on Queens’ Rockaway peninsula. It was not as popular as the Coney Island area in Brooklyn, but it was a well-known destination in Queens for decades.

It was owned by the first designer of the roller coaster, a staple of amusement parks the world over.

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Jocko Henderson Taught Students Through Rap Before Rap Took Off

Jocko Henderson was a rapper long before the birth of hip hop—and he used that skill to teach kids.

by Rich Watson 

Douglas Henderson, better known to radio listeners as Jocko, was a star deejay in both Philadelphia and New York during the early days of rock and roll. He was known for a routine not unlike rap. He is credited as one of the first rappers, a man who influenced a number of early hip-hoppers in the late seventies.

It was a style that served him later in life when he taught schoolchildren.

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The Alison Steele Method For Creating a Hit Late-Night Radio Show

How do you make a successful radio show, far from the prime-time hours? Follow these five steps Alison Steele took when she became a deejay for the first time.

by Rich Watson 

Alison Steele (no connection to The Real Don Steele) deejayed late at night, removed from the more popular early morning breakfast hours or the afternoon commute home from work. 

Yet during the seventies she amassed a substantial and loyal audience despite having no experience at the job.

She had to learn as she went.

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