[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 96 (Friday, July 21, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1299-E1300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS ``JOCKO'' HENDERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 20, 2000

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Douglas 
``Jocko'' Henderson, who passed away July 15, 2000. Douglas ``Jocko'' 
Henderson was an innovative radio pioneer whose contribution to the 
industry is legendary. One of the first African American disc jockeys 
in Philadelphia, ``Jocko'' was known for his smooth rhyming rap before 
rap had a name.
  From 1952 to 1974, Jocko hosted his ``Rocketship'' music program on 
radio stations WHAT and WDAS. He played the popular records of the day 
but introduced them with his silver-voiced rhyming style that other 
disc

[[Page E1300]]

jockeys began to imitate. For many years he hosted popular radio 
programs in Philadelphia and New York. He also produced sell-out rhythm 
and blues shows at theaters on the east coast, from Miami to Boston.
  In 1993 he was honored with a plaque on the Philadelphia Music 
Alliance's Walk of Fame.
  In later years he developed and marketed a series of educational 
audiotapes designed to help teach children to read by utilizing his 
rhyming style.
  Douglas ``Jocko'' Henderson was an innovator and a man of great 
talent and dignity.

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