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William Roscoe Mercer (1927–2000), also known asRosko, was an Americanannouncer, commercialvoice over specialist anddisc jockey (DJ). He is best known for his stints on New York'sWOR-FM andWNEW-FM in the late 1960s and 1970s. He was often a rareAfrican-American voice onradio stations that primarily broadcast to white audiences.
His first job for a largemedia market radio station came in 1965, when he was a DJ onKBLA1500 AM inBurbank, California.[1][2] Later, Rosko and other DJs of the time pioneered theProgressive Rockformat onFM stations, in response to the restrictiveplaylist programming ofTop 40AM stations.
Mercer provided voiceovers for several films thatJim Henson created during the early days ofSesame Street.
Rosco provided the sleeve notes for theSly & the Family Stone album,Life that was released in 1968.[3] In the same year he read portions ofKhalil Gibran's work, along with accompaniment byJohn Berberian onMusic And Gibran (A Contemporary Interpretation) (Verve Records).
In the early 1980s, he joined 92.3WKTU in New York during itsdisco music era, for an evening program. He started and ended each show with the greeting "This is Rosko. I sure do love you so."
Mercer died of cancer on August 1, 2000.
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