Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the AM Soul powerhouse WUFO before moving to Manhattan, where he first worked for Soul station WWRL and later top-40 WMCA in 1969.
Frankie at WMCA on August 6, 1969. [ LISTEN ] (21:34)
Crocker's on-air passion for the music was only matched by his flamboyance off it. He drove fast cars and wore his hair long. But the core of his life was music and radio...
He then worked for WBLS-FM as program director, taking that station to the top of the ratings during the late 1970s and pioneering the radio format now known as urban contemporary. He sometimes called himself the "Chief Rocker", and he was as well known for his boastful on-air patter as for his off-air flamboyance. Crocker’s format emphasized less jive talk, a cross blend of jazz, pop/rock, sophisticated soul, funk, and R&B. The sound is similar to late '90's jazz stations.
When Studio 54 was at the height of its popularity, Crocker rode in through the front entrance on a white stallion. In the studio, before he left for the day, Crocker would light a candle and invite female listeners to enjoy a candlelight bath with him. He signed off the air each night to the tune "Moody's Mood For Love" by vocalese crooner King Pleasure. Crocker, a native of Buffalo, coined the phrase "urban contemporary" in the 1970s, a label for the eclectic mix of songs that he played.
WMCA, Fast Frankie c.1970
He’d been the program director at WWRL-AM and felt held back by what he considered to be the narrow perspective of the station. Back then New York political and media don, Percy Sutton, had control of two soul stations on the dial, WLIB-AM, and WLIB-FM. The latter eventually became WBLS-FM 107.5, the call letters where Frankie changed the way people listened to the music played by black artists forever. He was not just breaking records but educating and breaking movements. WBLS was first to play all the soul music coming out of England. First station to play Soul II Soul, Loose Ends, Five Star, Level 42, Junior, Heaven 17, and Mica Paris to name a few.THE CHIEF ROCKER:
FRANKIE CROCKER
The baddest man to ever dawn a pair of headphones. He captivated New York City in the 70’s & 80’s with his charm, whit and slickness.He was PD at WBLS, MC’d shows at the Apollo Theater, was one of the first VJ’s at VH1, appeared in several movies, promoted concerts at Madison Square Garden and more.If Frankie Crocker wasn’t on your radio, your radio wasn’t really on.
TOP TO BOTTOM: Frankie with Smokey Robinson, Bob Marley, Disco Queen Donner Summer, and Shaka Khan. Also Frankie's Disco LPs released in 1977 on Casablanca Records.
The station broke Blondie, Madonna, Shannon, D Train, all Arthur Baker records, The System, Colonel Abrams, Alicia Myers and supermodel Grace Jones. He made, “Love is the Message” by MSFB NYC’s unofficial anthem on the radio. WBLS airplay made “Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead a favorite cookout, church, wedding and graduation song.
The Frankie Crocker show made “Set It Off” by Strafe a club classic that people still play to this day. "The Magnificent Seven" by the Clash became a hot song in the Black Community. He gave America exposure to an obscure genre called "Reggae" and a little known Jamaican rocker named Bob Marley. Fatback Band frontman Bill Curtis credited Crocker with breaking the group in New York.
Friday afternoons in the city when the weather was warm and you could hear Frankie coming from every car, cab, UPS truck, or any boom-box that urbanites had set up while they worked getting pumped up for the weekend activities. If it was a cookout or in just the park, Frankie Crocker would set you straight. It was Urban Contemporary and it was the vibe of the city.
In addition to radio, Crocker was the master of ceremonies of shows at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and was one of VH1’s original VJs, along with hosting both NBC’s Friday Night Videos and Solid Gold. As his formidable reputation grew, Crocker was offered different opportunities. He appeared in the movies 
Cleopatra Jones, Five on the Black Hand Side, Darktown Strutters, Jimi Hendrix, Death Drug, Taking Heat and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
He is credited with introducing as many as 30 new artists to the mainstream, including Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" to American audiences. While both Gary Byrd and Herb Hamlett were influenced by Crocker, it is only Hamlett who always attributes his success to his mentor in Buffalo, Frankie Crocker.
He released two disco albums on Casablanca Records as Frankie Crocker’s Heart and Soul Orchestra — The Heart and Soul Orchestra, Love in C Minor, and Disco Suite Symphony No. 1 in Rhythm and Excellence.
Later he hosted his own syndicated radio show, Classic Soul Countdown. The Intro on the Ike & Tina Turner Heart and Soul series was done by DJ Frankie Crocker and MC Eddie Burkes.
Frankie is captured at the "scene."This aircheck was labeled April 14, 1977, but judging from the movie ads and the released date of the Isaac Hayes album, it's believed that this contains various segments from May 1973 and August 29, 1974.
[ LISTEN ] (41:25)
The first part of the aircheck contains the great Frankie, who had also appeared on WWRL, WLIB and WMCA. Crocker became program director of WBLS-FM and for a time, it was the number one station in New York City. He also takes credit for coining the phrase "Urban Contemporary", a term used in radio broadcasting to this day, although when Crocker used the term meant to describe an eclectic mix of music appealing to urban residents.
[ LISTEN ] (41:25)The first part of the aircheck contains the great Frankie, who had also appeared on WWRL, WLIB and WMCA. Crocker became program director of WBLS-FM and for a time, it was the number one station in New York City. He also takes credit for coining the phrase "Urban Contemporary", a term used in radio broadcasting to this day, although when Crocker used the term meant to describe an eclectic mix of music appealing to urban residents.
At WBLS in the late 1970's.
The station dropped him, and he moved to L.A., returning to school. The conviction was later overturned, but his notoriety and high life at his mansion had its downturns. He was charged in 1983 with hitting a girlfriend, Penthouse Pet Carmela Pope, but the charges were later dropped.
Air-checks of the 'Chief Rocker'
In October 2000, Crocker went into a Miami area hospital for several weeks. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and kept the illness a secret from his friends and even from his mother. He died on Saturday, October 21, 2000. His friend and former boss Bob Law, a onetime program director of WWRL, said Crocker understood how radio could go beyond music to reflect listeners' lives and culture. "He encompassed all of the urban sophistication," Law said in a NY Daily News article: "He appreciated the culture, the whole urban experience, and he wove it together.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Museum of Uncut Funk, New York Radio Archive.
