Here’s a pop quiz question for you.
Who invented the mobile disco? And the DJ twin turntable deck, come to that.
The surprising answer is a post war Lincolnshire radio engineer with a business providing public address systems – and this year sees the 75th anniversary of his first pioneering ‘Diggola’ mobile disco deck.
Named as the world’s first disc jockey by DJ Magazine, and even called the godfather of “turntablists”, Ron Diggins came up with the design for the machine in the 1940s, after playing music for dancing by Land Army Girls and Italian prisoners of war.
Crafting his first Diggola in 1949 from coffin wood, because plywood was in scarce supply after the war, he went on to build seven of the twin-decked mobile machines in a DJ career spanning almost 50 years, during which he made over 20,000 appearances.
Ron, who died in 2007, played his last Diggola at a New Year’s Eve dance in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1994 when he was aged 77, and – modest to the end – claimed that he hadn’t invented anything, but just “put the same things to a different use”.
Now to mark his legendary status in the DJ world, and to celebrate the anniversary year, the Guildhall Museum in his hometown of Boston is to stage a special exhibition from October.
Star attraction will be one of his remarkable turntable machines featuring two record decks mounted behind a light box and speakers on a decorated base with a glitter ball, The display will also reveal more about the life and times of the man himself.
In a building where visitors can walk through 600 years of history, from medieval and Tudor times to the Pilgrim Fathers, the exhibition will also feature background music that Ron would have played, stretching from the 1940s up to the 1990s.
Before he started as a DJ with his mobile sound machine, village hall dances featured live piano and drums, or even a violin for special occasions. But with his art deco-style Diggola Ron could provide seamless music, originally spinning sounds from waltz and quick-step 78s.
He used the twin decks to play one tune after another without having to stop and change the record, but as mixing decks became more sophisticated modern DJs and musicians used them to combine sounds to create new music and effects.
The Ron Diggins exhibition will be staged at the Boston Guildhall from October 2024 until early 2025, with further details to be revealed later in the year.
Built in 1390 by the Guild of St Mary, the Guildhall houses a museum telling the history of Boston, which during the 13th century was second only to London as a trading port, as well as its significant links with America and Australia.
For more information, visit www.boston.gov.uk/bostonguildhall
For details about visiting Lincolnshire, see www.visitlincolnshire.com
Photo: Boston Borough Council