The late 1940s in Chicago had
Al Benson and
Jockey Jack on the air and in 1948 Daddy-O became a radio host, his jazz knowledge, honed working in the entertainment district and his rhyming made him a standout on air. He called the show 'Jazz from Dad's Pad' and became the first DJ in the Chicago market to play
Jazz and
Be-Bop as an antidote to
Swing as mainstays. Audiences who heard him thought he was friends with the musicians, he spoke like them and his friend Travis, who was a piano player, recalled that he sounded like a 'hepcat', in the jive argot of the day. He used his program to become active in Civil Rights and one of Daddy-O's special shout-outs on WGN was Operation Christmas Basket, which donated food to hungry Chicagoans during Christmastime. One of his favorite musicians was
Eleanora Fagan and he knew
Duke Ellington and
Louis Armstrong from seeing their acts at the clubs where he had bartended. The
Ramsey Lewis Trio credited him with getting them their big break with an audition at
Chess Records in the 1950s.
Grammy Award-winning pianist Ramsey Lewis later recalled,
"One night he came through and said, `Hey, you guys are pretty good. You should have an album out" and he set them up with the producers, Leonard and Phil Chess. The record didn't pan out but Daddy-O played it on his radio program and the resulting buzz got the group bookings. He was the unofficial manager for the group for a number of years, along with the bassist
Eldee Young and drummer
Redd Holt whom also played with Lewis. He also produced the trio's second album,
Ramsey Lewis and his Gentle-men of Jazz. In 1955 he sued the Loews movie chain and MGM for improper use of his copyrighted name,
Daddy-O which he said was used in a derogatory manner in the movie "Blackboard Jungle" for $700K. He had not authorized the use and asked for an injunction on the showing of the film. The suit was not successful. He copyrighted the name 'Daddy-O' in 1948. Beginning in 1956, the overnight hours were his domain, "Daddy-O" brought his sense of humor, way with words and musical knowledge to WMAQ as he played cool jazz through the night. "Daddy-O" was the first African-American hosting a regularly scheduled radio show on a network owned and operated Chicago radio station. At AM 950
WNTD, previously WAAF, a daytime only station, Daddy-O played jazz in the late morning and was followed on air by Olympic great
Jesse Owens whom also played jazz from noon-3. During the period of
Black Appeal radio and the rise of the personality jock, Black disc jockeys' phrasing on-air was distinctly ear-catching as the music they played. Each had a different style which played off the characteristics of the area of the country they were in. "Daddy-O" Daylie talked in hip rhymes to every record title as he played be-bop and jazz. Their influence was so overwhelming that there was a rush by the white deejays to imitate their style and patter. He was active in the
NAACP, His civic activities included the
Urban League and
Operation PUSH, Rev. Jesse Jackson's organization in Chicago. He later became a co-owner of a Bowling Alley, the Starlite Bowling Lanes on 87th Street. In 1958 hard bop saxophonist
Cannonball Adderley wrote a piece dedicated to Holmes titled "One for Daddy-O". In 2001 he was given writing credit on
Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions for the cut "Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal" with Marl H. Young. ==Death==