Influential DJ and producer Joe Gracey dies
KOKE-FM was where Joe Gracey first made his mark on the Austin music scene in the '70s.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Joe Gracey, one of the giants of Austin music and media circles, has died at age 61.
In the early 1970s, before there was such a thing as “cosmic cowboys” or “outlaw country,” there was a disc jockey named Joe Gracey, and in Austin, he ruled the airwaves.
Gracey was more than just the top-rated music host at the legendary KOKE-FM, he helped invent a radio format merging rock ‘n’ roll and country: a distinctly Austin sound that came to be known as alternative country, a poke in the eye to slick Nashville music.
Gracey was one of the first to embrace the bandanna-wearing Willie Nelson. His championing of local artists inspired such productions as public TV’s Austin City Limits.
In 1978, Gracey lost his larynx to cancer, ending his career as Austin’s best known DJ, but he continued producing and recording many of Austin’s biggest names.
On Thursday, Gracey lost his long battle with cancer, but his legacy continues in the rich Austin music scene that he helped put on the map.
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I remember Joe Gracie DJing on KOKE FM fondly. He was my favorite radio host.
These was a radio show a few Sundays ago (November 27, December 4 ???), about 11:30 AM or so, with some great discussion about KOKE FM and some early taped of excerpts of the station, back in the day. Unfortunately, I had to leave my radio and could only catch a few minutes. This was not the Joe Gracie announcement on November 18, but that was greatly appreciated.
If there is any way that radio show can be accessed, I would really love to hear it in entirety.
Thanks!