A high school job, a bad Homecoming and a little bit of ambition all came together in 1980 to push Music Source into being. I really believe that the reason for our on-going success comes from the fact that I started the company for all of the right reasons: to this day our goal is to provide top quality entertainment and a great selection of music at a reasonable price to anyone who is in the market for a professional disc jockey service.

The High School Job.
I've always been a "ham". I like to be in front of people whether it's deejaying, M.C.-ing, doing stand-up comedy or acting. In the fall of 1980 I was lucky enough to be hired by the local radio station in Taylorville, IL. I was just about to turn sixteen. Sure, I was the guy who vacuumed at night and emptied the trash. But, I was also allowed on the air for part of my shift and I had many opportunities to get creative in the production studio. I put in a lot of extra hours at the station just learning about timing, cueing, mixing and song selection. I also learned a lot about the professional equipment necessary to broadcast and the differences between broadcasting and performing "live". That was the start of my deejay education. I believe that anyone can learn how to deejay but becoming a good deejay requires a little bit of natural talent and years of practice.

The Bad Homecoming.
Okay, when you're sixteen you believe you can do anything and just let somebody try to tell you differently. In the fall of 1980, I attended the Homecoming at my alma mater, Taylorville High School. We had hired a "professional" disc jockey from an area radio station to perform. I'd been working in radio for about 8 weeks and, of course, I considered myself an expert. It just wasn't a good show. The equipment was good and so was the sound but no one was dancing and everyone was complaining. Why? Well, the deejay rarely ever spoke, he didn't take any requests and he didn't have a light show. The songlist was so set that he was working with only two cassettes, mixing back and forth from one to the other. When I found out that the Student Council had paid $500 for this sub-par show, I made an announcement to the powers that be in student government. I told them that I would play the next year's homecoming and deliver a better show for half the price.

Our First Paid Performance...
I didn't have equipment, a music library or a light show but I knew how to make all of those things happen. I started working immediately on assembling the components I needed to deliver a top flight show to THS. By the summer of 1981, what would become Music Source was starting to take shape. To work out the bugs, I would play practice shows for friends' birthday parties. By the time Homecoming 1981 rolled around, Music Source was ready to go. We rented speakers for that first performance and the lights were good, but not great. Still, what we did was so much better than the previous year that Music Source continued to perform at the THS Homecoming for the next 10 years. The buzz generated by that first show in October of 1981, coupled with letters to schools in the area, was enough to secure our first bookings over that Christmas season.

If the THS show was a prototype, the first contracted show in December of 1981 was the actual kick-off to Music Source. That show established a number of Music Source business practices that still exist today. It was the first show to be billed hourly. We arrived for set-up an hour prior to the start time of the show and there were two operators performing for the event. In fact, it was my brother Russell who acted as the very first Music Source Light Operator. He was only 15 and I'm sure we were breaking all kinds of child labor laws but he was as hooked as I was when it came to this whole business of deejaying. Russell continued at his post as Light Operator until he left for college. Following a hiatus of a few years he returned to the Central Illinois area and resumed his duties with Music Source. Over the years Russell was involved with Music Source both as a Light Operator and as a Deejay for his own mobile unit.

We did 5 shows in 1981, then 35 during our first full year of business in 1982. Here's a testament to the consistently high quality and dependability of Music Source: one of those bookings from December 1981 is still a twice a year client.

Getting Better All the Time...
During those first few years of operation the show was known as "Music Source with Allen Stare". This meant that I had to be at every show because, hey, my name was on the sign. It didn't take long to see that having a single mobile unit was limiting our growth. We were doing 60-70 shows a year, but we were also turning down quite a few every month. In the summer of 1987, I married my lovely wife Donna who also became my business partner.

With Donna's help and support we began to look at ways that Music Source could grow. I wanted to be able to expand, but I didn't want to grow unless I could guarantee performance quality. When a friendly competitor became available for sale, we decided that by taking over their contracts and utilizing some of their equipment, we would be able to get a second show on the road. Early on we decided that lights, music library and sound equipment had to be identical in quality between the two shows. We never wanted anyone to feel that they had hired the "B" show when they called Music Source.

Buying and Building Means Bigger and Better
So, in the fall of 1987, Music Source purchased "Sounds Like a Good Time (SLAGT)", a well known Taylorville based mobile disc jockey service. We also officially incorporated (moving from a limited partnership status) and dropped "with Allen Stare" from the name of the show. According to the Secretary of State we were henceforth and officially known as the "Music Source Professional Disc Jockey Service, Inc.". Shortly after acquiring the new show, we undertook some radical changes to both shows. New, identical control consoles were constructed. The light show for the original unit was expanded and an identical light system was constructed for the new unit. The music library for the new unit was expanded and updated to match the existing library and deejays were hired and trained.

The second unit was a hit. Bookings increased dramatically. Our strict attention to detail guaranteed that both shows were identical in appearance and music library. Spurred on by the success of the expansion, it wasn't long before we were building additional mobile units. In 1990, we opened the Corporation to outside investors providing a cash infusion that allowed for the construction of a third and fourth mobile unit.

Just How Big is This thing Gonna Get?
Music Source was always treated as "professional" endeavor delivering the highest levels of quality and service...but it was never intended to be a full time job. Sometimes it felt like it was, but in truth it was always part time. Deejays in general are restricted to part time status primarily because we are a service business with a very limited window of delivery. A plumber has the luxury of scheduling work anytime during the week. If we could come play your wedding on Tuesday at 10 in the morning, this would definitely be a full time job. Instead, we are restricted to working primarily on Friday and Saturday nights. Occasionally a Thursday or a Sunday slips in, but not often enough to justify quitting the 9 to 5 "day job".

With four systems in service, the part time job was becoming a huge burden. Between maintaining four identical music libraries, keeping all of the equipment serviced and updated and corraling the personnel necessary to man four units, I was putting in 30 to 40 hours a week just managing Music Source. Something had to give.

In 1995 the decision was made to decommision the fourth unit and carry on with only three. Three was a manageable number that allowed us to be certain that quality was not compromised. We also computerized the contracting and music library functions on a custom designed database system. This reduced the time needed to maintain the music libraries and simplified the booking and scheduling process. With bookings strong, we spent money on additions to our light show and the structure of our existing units instead of worrying about when we're going to build the next system.

And into the 21st Century...
A new chapter was added to the Music Source story in 2005 when Allen Stare retired from deejaying and Jon Roth bought the system and took over ownership and management duties! Also known as "J.R." or "D.J. Jonny T.", Jon first became acquainted with Music Source in 1983, when he hired Allen to perform at his college graduation party. Ten years later in the Summer of 1993, J.R. joined the Music Source staff as a Light Operator. As an Understudy to "The Master", he was able to observe Allen at work at countless shows while operating the light show for the system. Jon soon earned a well-deserved reputation as "The Best Music Source Light Show Operator". After six months of observation coupled with intense training, J.R. graduated with an "Associates Degree" in Live Professional Disc Jockeying.

The Protege continued his relentless quest to become the best D.J. possible by working lights whenever he was not out honing his skill as a Disc Jockey for Music Source. When Music Source clientele began requesting that J.R. be the Disc Jockey at their events in the Summer of 1997, four years after joining Music Source as a Light Operator, J.R. graduated with a "Bachelors' Degree" in Live Professional Disc Jockeying. Saving parties from the brink of boredom and keeping the dance floor full when no requests were coming in become a skill that he too now possessed.

Jon feels that he graduated with a "Masters Degree" in Live Professional Disc Jockeying in the Summer of 2005. Allen passes the torch with complete faith and confidence that JR will be maintaining the high standards of performance and professionalism that have become hallmarks of Music Source for more than two decades.

J.R.'s outstanding communication and organizational skills, coupled with his thoughtful outgoing personality and attention to detail, assures the successful continuation of the institution of live disc jockey known as Music Source Professional Disc Jockey Service.

Music Source is a proud member of the American Disc Jockey Association. Logo ©Copyright 2008 by the ADJA, all rights reserved.