Scott Smokin’ Silz
WBMX AM And FM in Chicago was an R&B station that launched the DJ into the stratosphere with its “Hot Mixes” back in the day.
CLICK HERE FOR THE HISTORY OF WBMX AND THE HOT MIX 5
From the Saturday Night Live Ain’t No Jive Chicago Dance Party to it’s Friday Night Jams, Hot Lunch Mixes and more, the mix shows had a cume of over 1,000,000 people alone.
Unlike today, there was no alternative to AM or FM back in the day. There weren’t a million choices like YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, internet radio etc. The only “alternative” to radio back in the day was the mixes heard on the radio. The ‘mixes’ were a change of pace where people got to hear music other than what was being regularly programmed throughout the week. The music was mixed by DJs who were breaking new music and generating sales of music that weren’t in the radio station’s normal rotation.
Scott Smokin’ Silz was an original member of the Hot Mix 5.
Assembled by Lee Michaels in
1981. The founding members were Kenny Jammin’ Jason, our own resident DJ, U.S. Dance Music Hall of Fame DJ Mickey “Mixin” Oliver, Farley Jackmaster Funk and Ralphi The Razz Rosario. Another DJ, Jeff Davis who had worked at the Century Disco was supposed to be a sixth member, but Silz mentioned in an interview that he never showed up, leaving just the five members. Silz left the group in 1982.
