Frank Cope broke into broadcasting in Ogden, UT and arrived in San Francisco to take a management position at KPO.
From 1930 to 1959, he held forth on KJBS, where his “Alarm Klok Klub” morning show was a staple. Many historians consider him the industry’s first disc jockey, because KJBS broke from other stations and programmed nothing but recorded music, interspersed with announcements.
Radio historian John Schneider wrote, “Cope was probably the world’s first bona fide disk jockey, and his daily five to eight AM “Alarm Klok Klub” was San Francisco’s most popular radio program for nearly twenty five years…Although Arthur Godfrey is often given credit for being the first radio personality to ad lib commercials and kid his sponsors, Frank Cope was doing all this on KJBS in the 1930’s.”
His lengthy tenure led to a nickname: “World’s Oldest Disc Jockey.”
Frank Cope died in 1974 at age 72.