- ISBN13: 9781556527746
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
When Herb Kent was a straight-A college student in the 1940s, his white professor told him, “You have the best voice in class, but you’ll never make it in radio because you’re a Negro.” This did not deter the poor kid from the Chicago housing projects who had decided on a radio career at age five. It was just one more obstacle to face head on and overcome. Known as the Cool Gent, the King of the Dusties, and the Mayor of Bronzeville, H… More >>
The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent
Tags: 1940s, bronzeville, dusties, Gent, housing projects, nine lives, poor kid, radio career, radio legend, remainder mark
#1 by John E. Williams on May 30, 2010 - 4:42 pm
I’ve known Herb Kent since 1958 and his autobiography is right on the mark. He did cover as much as he could in a single book!
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by Shamontiel L. Vaughn on May 30, 2010 - 5:46 pm
I’ve been familiar with Herb Kent since I was little (I’m 27) because my mother constantly listened to him on the radio. But as I got older, I started listening to WGCI and some other music radio station that was big in the late 80s (can’t remember the name of it but it was on the same time as I used to watch The Jukebox on cable). I was not into talk radio and only listened when my parents were around, and when I get in my car now, I don’t usually listen to the radio at all, just pop in some CDs and ride out.
However, working for the “Chicago Defender” has made me way more interested in African-American media outlets that I hadn’t really appreciated before. I liked them, but I didn’t fully appreciate the struggle. And Black radio is one of them. After attending a screening about Black Radio called “Disappearing Voices,” I’d just picked up Herb Kent’s new book a few days before, which had been reviewed in the “Defender.”
And a mix of that movie plus the newspaper review made me dive right in. I loved this book, read through it twice to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Herb Kent takes on so many different topics: the start of radio, radio history; groupies; sex in the entertainment industry; drugs; violence with gangs; job etiquette; parties; well-known entertainers like the Jackson 5 (the story about them was funny), Smokie Robinson, and James Brown; and his nine lives (of course). The book is written like you’re sitting on his couch listening to him talk about “the good old days” and is an easy read. I’ll no doubt re-read this book somewhere down the line because there was so much information, plus I want to memorize the historical facts.
I’d recommend this to anyone who is interested in “Herbie baby, Herbie baby, on V103.”
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Ksun on May 30, 2010 - 8:28 pm
Kent’s book provides great insight into the evolution of black music in the Chicago area from the 1950’s until now. I’m sure Herb has enough info to write a series of books on the topics of the development of black music radio and of his encounters with black music artists throughout the years. He deserves great “props” for his hand in promoting the “steppin” dance phenomenom that has spread across the country among middle-age blacks as a way of both self-expression and good exercise.
Herb still emcees shows in the Chicago area and his own “performances” are always fun to watch and hear. And when an “old school” music artist is in the news; Herb’s is the voice that many in Chicagoland listen for to hear an authoritative take on the life and career of the artist in question. His on-air tales of his encounters with noted black music artists are usually blunt, funny and true-to-life. His weekend radio shows are usually “must-listen” events for many middle age blacks in the Chicago area.
I grew up listening to Herb Kent and am glad that his shows are streamed on-line so that I can hear him wherever I go. Long reign the undisputed “King of the Dusties”!
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Randall Hampton on May 30, 2010 - 10:36 pm
[ASIN:1556527748 The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent]] One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. This book gives a very real and vivid look at the life of one of the best radio personalities to ever grace the airwaves. Herb Kent recounts the highs & lows of his broadcasting career, the inner workings of the industry, his relationships (partying) with artists and his fans (the groupies, the stalkers, etc), his tumultuous fall, incredible recovery, and induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Herb Kent achieved his dream and after 60+ years is still broadcasting with the same love and passion he started with.
Thanks Herb, for the book, the music and being a part of my life.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Ronald Smith on May 31, 2010 - 12:50 am
Chicago DJ Herb Kent (WVON, WBEE, WVAZ, WGCI, WRLL and so many other stations) is so synonymous with oldies in the Windy City (or “dusties”– a term he coined to define their crackly sound) that you just assume he’d already written his life story. I mean, he’s been in the Radio Hall of Fame since 1995. But maybe he just hadn’t used up enough of his nine lives. That’s the premise behind “Cool Gent: The Nine Lives Of Radio Legend Herb Kent” published with journalist David Smallwood.
Herb, who’s now past 80 years old, contends that like most “cats” he was given nine lives. He’s been spared from permanently checking out in remarkable ways– being run over by a car as a child, nearly driving off a cliff himself in the mountains of West Virginia, even missing a horrendous and potentially deadly car crash thanks to WVON “Good Guy” E. Rodney Jones’ burning desire to get a pig ear sandwich in Milwaukee. Not all of the stories are as amusing. The insistence of his general manager at WGCI that he enter drug rehabilitation or be fired certainly saved his life. And almost immediately afterwards, Herb successfully battled cancer of the esophagus that nine of out of ten of his doctors said was 100% fatal.
I worked with “Herbie Baby” for three years (so I can tell you he’s one of the classiest guys I know– right up there with Ramsey Lewis, who I think even sleeps in a three-piece suit) and I never knew these things about him. In fact, he didn’t even tell his daughter or program director he was undergoing chemo and radiation. That’s how private a man Herb is. So it’s rather shocking to see him open up so candidly about his life– the bad as well as the good.
Along the way he relates how he rejected some great advice from Hugh Downs, to his regret. But also how he rejected the notion of his college radio professor that he’d never make it in broadcasting because of the color of his skin.
As you would expect, the book is full of short vignettes about the various artists he’s known and worked with over the years, starting with his own Kool Gents and their lead singer, Dee Clark. You’ll hear about the Dells, the Impressions, the O’Jays, Minnie Riperton, Smokey Robinson, James Brown and a riot at Midway Airport involving the Jackson 5. You’ll hear the full story of “The Wahoo Man”, Herb’s creation that ended up almost as legendary as the Cool Gent. But you’ll also hear about a standoff between Carbondale police and Herb’s bodyguards that ends up involving the town’s mayor and how Herb went to jail for standing up to an unreasonable cop.
The book even asks a musical trivia question at the beginning of each chapter, with the answer at the end.
“Cool Gent” works as a remembrance of the music of the `50s, `60s and beyond, as a history of Chicago’s black radio and as an insight into, as he puts it, “a little guy who wanted to be on the radio since he was a whipper-snapper, finally gets in, succeeds greatly, crashes, recovers, and rises to the top of radio again.” Long may he reign.
Rating: 5 / 5