If you’re Chicano / Chicana, then chances are you know who are Art Laboe is. This is especially true if you’re from Southern California. If by some small chance, you don’t know who Art Laboe is, he was a radio DJ that catered to the Chicano community by playing the music that they like.

Art Laboe was not Chicano, Mexican, Hispanic, Latino or any other similar label, he was just Art Laboe. Actually, growing up, most fans just labeled him as a white man, but if you want to get to the nitty-gritty, Art Laboe came from Armenian decent. Nobody cares about that though.

Throughout the generations, most of you have appreciated him and loved listening to this music; especially his dedication show. You’ve heard his voice on the air as long as you can remember. For decades, he’s brought us great music to listen to as he become part of all our lives.

Art Laboe has been bringing us music for over 8 decades

Art Laboe first hit the airwaves in the 1940s. He came up with his dedication idea during the big band era. With the lack of technology at the time, Art did the only thing he could do. He would repeat on the air what the person on the telephone was telling him.

Of course, as technology improved, Art Laboe would take live dedications on the air during his radio shows. During the “Art Laboe Connection” listeners could hear the caller making a dedication live on the air. They would let out their feelings toward a loved one and would ask Art to play a certain song.

As a small child, here in Los Angeles, I can remember Art Laboe playing music on KRLA. This was an AM station in the Southern California area. Eventually his show would make the jump to FM radio; which sounded much clearer.

Why is Art Laboe part of Chicano culture?

Let’s face it, Chicanos and Chicanas love oldies. That’s a fact. Sure, there may be some knuckleheads out there that don’t, but generally speaking, the main music most Chicanos and Chicanas listen to are oldies. This includes all the great-grandmothers, great grand-fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, the mothers and fathers, teenagers of today, as well as kids.

Yes, “I’m your puppet,” “La la means I love you,” “Dreamin’ Causally,” etc. The list of iconic oldies but goodies can go on forever. Thee Midniters, Malo, El Chicano, the Delfonics, the Styleistics, the Tempress, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye; I better stop! Through Chicanos, thanks to Art Laboe, the beautiful music from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s will live on forever.

Even some 1980s, 1990s and newer music has been welcomed by Art Labo and his fans. Songs such as “Atomic dog,” “Genuis of love,” “More bounce to the ounce,” “I will always be there for you,” etc. have been added to Art’s platform.

As hip hop began to get popular in the 1990s, artists such as MC Magic and Lil Rob were also added to the platform. Even though Art Laboe’s main theme is older music, he always knew when a new song or artist should be welcomed onto his platform, and his listeners always agreed.

Due to his influence and impact on Chicanos and Chicanos growing up, Art Laboe has impacted all of our lives. Whether from California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico or any other state, we all know that familiar voice on the air taking dedications. We all have had fond memories of these oldies but goodies at some point in our lives.

The Oldies but Goodies collection

In 1959, Art Laboe released the compilation album “Oldies But Goodies – Volume 1.” The album included 12 songs. Some of the songs on this album included “Earth Angel” by the Penguins, “Let the good times roll” by Shirley and Lee and “Eddie my love” by the Teen Queens.

The compilation was very successful, and Art would eventually release his final “Oldies but Goodies – Volume 15” in 1985. All of this helped Art Laboe become even more synonymous with the catchphrase he was already known for. Yes, Art Laboe coined the popular phrase “Oldies but Goodies.”

Art wasn’t done putting out nice collections of music for his fans. In 1991, he put together a compilation titled “Art Laboes Dedicated to you – Volume 1.” The first song on the compilation was none other than “This is dedicated to the one I love” by the Shirelles.

Other songs included “Angel baby” by Rosie and the Originals, “Lowrider” by War and “I do love you” by Billy Stewart to name a few. The compilation had a total of 15 songs. Volume 12 was the final “Art Laboes Dedicated to you” and was released in 2004.

Art Laboe concerts

With Art Laboe playing great music during his dedication show “The Art Laboe Connection,” and the success of his record compilations, you know Art Laboe had to get his Art Laboe concerts together for his fans. Throughout the years, Art would bring together artists that his fans loved for a night they would always remember. There would usually be a star filled lineup with about 10 groups and artists. The Valentines concerts have always been very popular.

When Art Laboe was taken away from the Los Angeles market

There was a time, I believe it was 2015, when those of us in Los Angeles could not listen to “The Art Laboe Connection” anymore. At that time, Art’s show was aired on Hot 92.3. The station then changed it’s format to Real 92.3 and decided that they would be a hip-hop and rap station (Like there is not enough of that.)

IHeartMedia, the owners of the station, decided that “The Art Laboe Connection” would not be a good fit for their market and canceled his show. It was annoying. I remember some lady from IHeartMedia saying that the market in Los Angeles would prefer their new hip-hop format. If only she knew Art’s huge following.

The “Art Laboe Connection” would not be gone very long. About a year later, 93.5 KDAY began airing “The Art Laboe Connection” on Sunday from 6pm to midnight. All those Oldie but Goodies lovers were happy once again as they could listen to Art Laboes great music and his dedication show once again.

Art Laboe worked until his dying day

Amazingly, Art Laboe continued to work well in to his late 90s. The man just never stopped working. He ended up passing away from pneumonia on October 7, 2022 at the age of 97.

Art Laboe will always be a legend in the music industry. His voice will never fade from our hearts, and we will always love the music that he brought to us throughout the years.

Most of us probably listened to this music when we first feel in love and had those tingling butterfly feelings for someone. We would listen to this music when we cruised in our cars. We would listen to this music when we just hung around with friends and family doing nothing.

Art Laboe may now be with God, but the music he has given us will live on forever. We shouldn’t worry about Art Laboe though, I’m sure God has given him a nice jale (job) in heaven as a disc jockey.