Douglas Jocko Henderson headlines this two-part exhibit from the WCBS-FM Radio Greats Reunion of June, 1995. Jocko is joined by one-time Cleveland DJ Eddie O’Jay for most of the show. A cameo appearance by Dan Ingram is featured in Part One. Jocko’s son Doug Henderson, Bobby Jay and Jimmy Castor are heard in Part Two. All but two of the recorded commercial announcements have been removed, but the live reads by Jocko and O’Jay are intact. Throughout the three hours, Jocko promotes and demonstrates his Get Ready Accelerated Learning Package, which uses rap and rhythm to help children pay attention in school.

Jocko Henderson &
Leo Rogers, Record PromoterJocko Henderson said he was neither “the imitator nor the duplicator, but the originator.” In the ’50’s, the Ace from Outer Space would commute from Philadelphia to New York’s WOV (later WADO) nightly. He hosted shows at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and at Loew’s State, Broadway’s first rock & roll review. His Rocket Ship Show at the Apollo was legendary. Wires suspended him from the ceiling, and he would fly onto the stage in a rocket with theatrical smoke, rapping for his audience. Jocko’s Rocket Ship Show was a nod to one of his idols, Hot Rod Hulbert, who had worked in Henderson’s home town of Baltimore.

Jocko Henderson passed away at the age of 82, on July 15, 2000. He would have been 77 for this 1995 Radio Greats appearance, which was his last. It features a few musical rarities and lots of the fast-talking rhymes and “googa mooga” for which he is remembered.