The legendary Irish singer's death was announced on Friday evening in a statement from his family.
Appearing on O'Connor's weekend radio show, music manager Walsh said of Rock: "He was a proper star, he was one of the three legends of showbands - you had Joe Dolan, Brendan Bowyer and you had Dickie.
"He was a fantastic entertainer, fantastic singer, he was a great guy. He loved his job, he absolutely loved it."
Rock, who was unquestionably Ireland's first pop superstar, came to fame with the Miami Showband in the 1960s, enjoying more than a dozen hit records with songs such as Georgie Porgie, Every Step of the Way and From The Candystore on the Corner.
He went solo in the 1970s, although he still performed occasionally with the Miami Showband.
Walsh said of Rock's rise to prominence: "He started at the bottom and worked his way up, he had an amazing, long career. He was a great crooner, he was a great rock 'n' roller, he loved the game. I admired him greatly."
Also speaking on O'Connor's show was entertainer Adele King, aka Twink, who said Rock was "unspeakably nice to me".
"He used to say himself that he was a fan and I would laugh," she said. "He was very supportive of me. He had that killer edge of 'I'm the best, look at me when I come out on stage'."
King continued: "It was a shame that Dickie came up in a time where international management wasn't really there in Ireland because he had the potential to go out around the world.
"The system wasn't in place at that time for somebody of Dickie's talent."
Walsh said: "He was a big fish here, he was the number one pop star in Dublin. He had great ambition and a great career."
King added: "If he'd had Louis managing him he would have been as big as Elvis."
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