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Joe Blevins 
"Don't I look handsome?"
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 Posted - 10/26/2008 : 01:00:42
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I was listening to the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack album recently, and it contains a lot of Steven Wright's deejay patter from the movie. ("You' re listening to K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies Weekend.") Although Dogs is set in the 1990s, Wright plays only 1970s oldies, and the film has a very retro seventies vibe throughout. I got to wondering if Wright's character had been intended as a throwback to 1970s movies in which there's a recurring DJ character who either comments on the plot as it develops or whose words provide a counterpoint to the main action. I'm thinking of American Graffiti (Wolfman Jack), The Warriors (Lynn Thigpen) and Vanishing Point (Cleavon Little), specifically. I guess Spike Lee sort of revived the trend in the 1980s with Samuel L. Jackson's character in Do The Right Thing. Wright is unique here among movie disc jockeys, as he does not actually appear onscreen, never comments on the plot, and is not a slangy hipster. In fact, on the rare occasions when he does use slang ("keep on truckin'") he does so in a flat monotone that makes it sound all the more ridiculous. In that way, he's sort of a parody of all the other movie DJs.
Any great recurring deejay characters I'm missing here? Is this still a character type that occasionally appears in movies, or is it strictly a relic of the past? |
Edited by - Joe Blevins on 10/26/2008 01:04:19 |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/26/2008 : 01:49:08
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| I don't have the best memory for these kinds of things (I can't think of any offhand), but I'd guess that this is mostly a relic of the past. Effectively the 'recurring DJ' is a kind of subtle narration, and my gut feel is that narration is used a lot less than it used to be. |
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Joe Blevins
"Don't I look handsome?"
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Posted - 10/26/2008 : 17:18:53
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| I agree that the "recurring DJ" character is mainly a relic of the past in movies, and I think it might have to do with the decreasing importance of commercial radio in our daily lives. Is it possible that the hip-talking DJ is no longer a central figure in pop culture? Have MP3 players and the Internet killed him off? |
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 10/26/2008 : 17:38:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Blevins
I agree that the "recurring DJ" character is mainly a relic of the past in movies, and I think it might have to do with the decreasing importance of commercial radio in our daily lives. Is it possible that the hip-talking DJ is no longer a central figure in pop culture? Have MP3 players and the Internet killed him off?
This is sooooooooo far from my area of expertise, but even I have been aware of the rise in popularity of BBC Radio 1 DJs - each seems to have a corner of their particular market. And, I'm guessing, the lack of adverts has something to do with keeping it real.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 11/30/2008 : 21:48:31
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Look at early Ron Howard, particularly 70s-era GRAND THEFT AUTO. There's a goofy LA DJ who follows the escaping couple, even in a helicopter, and I've seen this same idiotic guy in several movies since: he must have been a real radio celebrity in LA at the time. He's so obnoxious that I forgot his name instantly.
MguyX? Help? |
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'70s movies with recurring deejays
