Donald Johnson

Video

Oral History Information

Interview Date
Birth Date
Deceased Date
Job Title
Former Sales Rep
Company Name
Coast Wholesale Music Company

Donald Johnson was known throughout the industry as DJ. He began working in music retail in 1958 in the San Jose, California, area before joining Coast Wholesale in 1961. It was an interesting and historic time to begin calling on retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The folk music boom was in full swing and DJ was on hand to witness first-hand the British Invasion and the full power the Beatles had on the music industry. He ran his own music retail store in northern California before returning to wholesale in the late 1970s for Kaman, which had purchased Coast. DJ also had a long association with Saga Musical Instruments in San Francisco and the company’s founder Richard Keldsen.