Historic Hollywood

ART LABOE
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Above: Just some of the many music
icons that Laboe helped to stardom.
Opposite, top: All the hip “cats”
listened to The Art Laboe Show,
named Los Angeles’ number one radio
program in 1956.
Opposite, bottom: Art Laboe receives
his star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame, July 17, 1981.
If, as the saying goes, everything old is new
again, the musical magic created by radio icon
Art Laboe is here to stay forever.
Legend has it that it was a young Laboe who,
at just 12 years of age, was running a radio station
out of his childhood home. He landed his
first professional gig in radio just six years later.
Laboe is credited with coining the phrase
“Oldies But Goodies,” a term that has come to
represent many music genres from generation to
generation in the 50 years since Laboe
got his start.
Laboe also made history as the father of the
compilation LP, after ingeniously conceiving the
idea of placing all of his listener’s favorite old
songs on a single album. “Oldies But
Goodies” released by Laboe’s Original Sound
Records was the first compilation record ever
made. The album stayed on Billboard’s Top 100
LP’s chart for over three years.
As a young man, Laboe served as a Flight
Radio Officer in the U.S. Navy, where he was
assigned to Pan American World Airways (Pan
Am). He managed the U.S. Armed Forces radio
and television stations for several years. Laboe
achieved the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army
Reserve in 1954, a rank he continues to
hold today.
Laboe hosted a radio show broadcast live from
Scrivner’s Drive-In Restaurant. Laboe noted the
kids’ fondness for the older songs he incorporated
into his broadcasts. It was that format that
gave way to the creation of “Oldies But Goodies.”
Laboe was the first disc jockey in the western
United States to play rock ‘n’ roll on the radio in
the early 1950’s, offering the music of both
black and white artists and merging the sounds
that make the genre what it is today.
In 1956, “The Art Laboe Show,” heard on
KPOP (now KTNQ) was named Los Angeles’
number one radio program with a 33 share rating–a
record that continues to stand. Laboe also
achieved a number one Arbitron ranking as program
director at Los Angeles’ KRLA in 1977,
where he became senior vice president. During
this period, he also owned Art Laboe’s Club, formerly
Ciro’s, on the Sunset Strip.
Laboe’s business interests include: Original
Sound Record Company; Royal Programs, Inc.;
Drive-In Music Company, Inc.; Original Sounds
Sales Corp.; Bonnyview Music Corp.; and radio
station KOKO in Fresno, California. He also sold
three formerly owned Tucson (Arizona) radio
stations to Clear Channel Communications.
Laboe manufactures recorded compilations;
offers publishing and music licensing services for
58 ✦ HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD