Frank Kingston Smith, Jr., is an American

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

disk jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

who worked extensively in

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

formatted AM and FM stations in major

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

markets for almost three decades. A native of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Smith worked at stations such as

WFIL WFIL (560 AM) is a radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Christian radio format consisting of teaching and talk programs. Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNTP ...

and WIBG, Philadelphia (1966; 1970); WICE,

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

(1967–68);

WRKO WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly ho ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, under the

Bill Drake Bill Drake (January 14, 1937 – November 29, 2008), born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.Douglas, Susan, "Listening In: Radio and the ...

-assigned name "Bobby Mitchell" (1968–70); and WABC,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(1971–74). At WRKO, "Mitchell" preceded Boston radio legend

Dale Dorman Dale Dorman (September 2, 1943 – October 21, 2014) was an American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame radio disc jockey on WODS in Boston. Until September 15, 2008, he hosted ''The Breakfast Club with Dale Dorman'' weekday mornings from 5:30-9 AM. Dorma ...

as the morning personality (on one of his first days on the job, he was preempted by coverage of the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

), and was the successor to another Hub radio luminary, J. J. Jeffrey, in the afternoon drive slot. In 1974, Smith returned to Boston radio, where he worked for almost 20 years at many of the city's "contemporary hit," mainstream and oldies music stations: WHDH (1974–75); WVBF (1975–78); WBZ (1978–79); WRKO again, this time under his real name (1979–81);

WROR WROR-FM (105.7 FM) – branded as 105.7 WROR – is a commercial classic hits radio station licensed to Framingham, Massachusetts. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, the station serves Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England, incl ...

(1981–1985); WKKT (became WZLX, 1985–88); and WODS (1988–93). A private

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for many years, Smith also has served as master of ceremonies at air shows throughout the USA. He relocated to the

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, area in late 1993 and has continued to work as a host of such events and as a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

artist. Smith's father, Frank Kingston Smith, Sr., was a well known and highly respected aviation writer. He wrote nine books and hundreds of magazine articles about private aviation.

External links

*http://www.frankkingstonsmith.com (domain inactive) *http://www.aero-news.net/news/featurestories.cfm?ContentBlockID=21cffd85-f2e3-4811-8926-c3b613aadd01&Dynamic=1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Frank Kingston Living people American radio personalities Year of birth missing (living people)