Milton “Butterball” Smith’s Soul Explosion
WFEC Gospel DJ Vivian Smith R.I.P. – Miami Herald (1985)
VIVIAN SMITH, FORMER TEACHER Vivian Miller Smith, 48, a former teacher at West Dunbar Elementary School, died Thursday at Christian Hospital. Mrs. Smith, who came to Miami in 1952, also was a gospel music disc jockey for WFEC. Her latest job was as a teacher at Jackson Toddler Inn. She is survived by her husband […]
Milton Butterball Smith Cools Down Neighborhood Disturbance
Miami Herald – August 9, 1968 Guard Called In After Two Die In Shootouts “Then Milton (Butterball) Smith, a WAME radio announcer, took the microphone. He presented three demands. The crowds would go home, he said, only if the police left. Secondly, all people in jail should be released, and thirdly, everybody who made bond […]
Milton Butterball Smith Charges Dropped – Miami Herald (1964)
Miami Herald – 1964 Disc Jockey’s Charges Lifted Charges against Milton Butterball Smith, a former football star now a disc jockey on radio station WMBM, were dropped Tuesday in Miami Beach Municipal Court. A station engineer, Jack Caldwell, had charged Smith with starting a fistfight over how to operate a microphone switch.
Butterball from WMBM Hosts Little Willie John and Dizzy Jones at The Birdland Fiesta
The year was 1963. The location was Miami; Overtown to be specific, at the Birdland Fiesta, a club in the historic Mary Elizabeth Hotel. Little Willie John and Dizzy Jones were headlining another epic battle of hit songs in a three night stand to start the year off right. There were two shows nightly, and […]
Milton Butterball Smith “Keep Miami Cool” Campaign for Underprivileged Kids
Milton “Butterball” Smith was one of America’s 13 Original R&B DJ’s as noted by Jack The Rapper (Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr.) and worked on various radio stations in South Florida. His pioneering work in broadcast coincided with the careers of many famous people and he was influential nationally. Here is an article from Cash Box […]
Classic 1963 Ad for WMBM 1490 AM – The Community Station
Miami radio in 1963 was a major force in national playlists for R&B, pop, and dance music not only in the U.S., but the Caribbean as well. Even a little AM station like WMBM could be picked up as far away as the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica, where fans of the newest American hits tuned in for […]
Who Was Milton “Butterball” Smith? Miami’s Greatest Radio DJ Of All Time
Who Was Milton “Butterball” Smith? Article ©Jacob Katel DJ Milton “Butterball” Smith was a pioneering broadcaster of epic proportions who got his start on Florida radio in 1952. He was one of America’s first R&B DJ’s, and he played independent music from around the country. Butterball was a strong influence on record sales, and helped […]