Press & broadcasting / Music
The Electrifying Mojo
· radio DJ and broadcaster
Genre-blind Detroit radio DJ whose late-night shows mixed Prince, Parliament and Kraftwerk and inspired the young inventors of Detroit techno.
- Birth name
- Charles Johnson
- Also known as
- Mojo · C. J. Surge
- Detroit years
- 1977–2000s
- Field
- Press & broadcasting, Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Charles Johnson started in radio in his native Little Rock and, after Air Force service, studied at the University of Michigan in the mid-1970s, broadcasting on campus radio and Ann Arbor's WAAM. In 1977 he moved to Detroit's WGPR (107.5 FM), where his “genre-bending” night show put funk, soul, new wave, rock, hip-hop and European synth-pop side by side and played whole albums without interruption. He moved to WJLB around 1982, where billboards announced the nightly “Landing of the Mothership” at 10 p.m., and later worked at WHYT, WMXD, WGPR again and WCHB. Mojo championed Prince so faithfully that the star gave him a rare phone interview after his 1986 birthday concert at Cobo Arena. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, and later Jeff Mills, Carl Craig and Richie Hawtin, all credit his broadcasts with shaping techno; Mojo aired the first Cybotron records.
Highlights
- Joined WGPR in Detroit in 1977; moved to WJLB around 1982.
- Introduced Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, the B-52's and Kraftwerk to Detroit listeners.
- Interviewed Prince by phone after the June 7, 1986 Cobo Arena concert.
- Cited as a formative influence by all three members of the Belleville Three.
- Wrote The Mental Machine, a book of poetry and prose he read on air.
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · mid-1970s
University of Michigan
He studied here after Air Force service and began broadcasting on the university station.