King Records was a legendary record label that was originally based in Cincinnati. In his history of King Jon Hartley Fox examines the formation of this label and the elements that converged in SW Ohio to make it the ideal location for just such an enterprise. This is quite a story. King was founded by a guy named Sid Nathan. He got the notion to start his own record label after a guy who owed him six dollars repaid the debt with a pile of used 78 RPM records that had originally done their rotations inside of jukeboxes in the Queen City region. As Sid resold those records and made some decent profits he realized that those records were a form of black gold and the rest is history.
Sid went on to break artists like James Brown, Freddie King, and the Stanley Brothers. While King is long gone the legend lives on. Jon Hartley Fox got a real musical education 40 years ago when he was serving as music director right here at WYSO.In this interview he reminisced about the quirky little community radio station he remembers and some of the world-class record collectors who served as volunteer DJs at WYSO during that period.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
