From the desk of TJ Lubinsky

[am-fm]

FYI, (for the Philly board), it was my decision to pull back on the WPEN show. The management at WPEN was very nice and absolutely extended a very warm option to continue with the program until the flip, however I thought the best option for me at this time, was to really focus my efforts, attention and resources on my Sunday Night Request Show on Oldies 100, WJRZ in New Jersey.

Since we began the "Sunday Night Request Show on WJRZ" about six weeks ago (on Oldies 100, WJRZ and WJRZ.com), the live audience response in New Jersey (and Internet listeners via their live stream) has been absolutely overwhelming. We log close to 400 calls per program, per week, for the "greatest hits of the 60s and 70s," plus the special live "call-in" artist interview we do every week (where WJRZ listeners can actually call-in and interact with the hit makers) featuring various performers from Roger McGuinn to Chuck Negron, Tommy James to The Temptations.

I do the program live each week in their Manahwakin studios, I can't begin to "share" (Frankie Lymon pun intended) with you how supportive WJRZ has been of the relationship - from the sales team to promotion, the PD to GM, everyone I've met truly shares a sincere passion and love for the survival music, and of the format. It's hard to believe WCBS-FM is gone. I'm very grateful WJRZ continues to carry the music we all love so much, which as you know, is becoming such a rarity on FM radio these days.

I spend my summers and fall in New Jersey with my family, and between the live station appearances, plus my various television music specials airing and in production (five this year from Motown to Movie Songs), Oldies 100, WJRZ is really the right the place for me.

Thankfully, The Geator still has his other Philly and NJ radio outlets - - I'm also very thankful, for a short time anyway, I was able to share the airwaves with Christie, Charley, and Nettleton. I hope they (like my friends Bobby Jay, Don K. Reed, and Joe McCoy at WCBS-FM) like Brucie, will come out of this experience stronger, and better than ever before.

I love this music so much, it's so sad to see what's happening to the music, and to the people still playing it. If it weren't for these folks playing these songs, (The Geator, Holiday, Hy, Brucie) and stations such as CBS-FM, and WGOL, I never would have been exposed to so many of the greatest songs - b-sides, album cuts and forgotten 45's that eventually made it into my tv shows, and make-up my memories. So many memories, emotions, and truly talented personalities...like The Chantels said "I Pray" every night they will find "their place in the sun."

be well,
- tj

Oldies 100, WJRZ
Sunday Night Request Show
live 7pm to Midnight<P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.125.155:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>

 

[bierkenstock]

From the shovel of TJ Lubinsky

Kid, you will believe anything. You believed the Geator when he said his show was not brokered, and the Geator also brokered this for his buddy.

He is giving up Saturday nights in Philly to "focus" on Sunday nights in Ocean County? Some jocks work five or six days a week (Big Joe works seven). Since this little station in the middle of nowhere (Manahawkin - Not Atlantic City, not Tom's River, Lakewood or Asbury Park - proud to be Sand Dune 100)is also owned by - guess who - Greater Media, he is not really free to speak.

400 calls on a Sunday night (dead time)? On a station with mediocre numbers in a medium market (Monmouth-Ocean)? In his dreams. By the way, is this show brokered, too? Will the Geator be taking over weekday evenings here, too, and replace a paid DJ (Spyder, update your resume and start recording airchecks). Or will Greater Media be flipping here, too?

Geator has other Philly outlets? Is TJ confused on the facts in his desire to flatter or has the Geator already got something else lined up?

Boy, this guy is good at dropping names. A true graduate of the Geator school. By the way, Cousin Brucie came out "stronger and better than ever before" by going to satellite radio. And to paraphrase, Lloyd Bensen, TJ, you are no Cousin Brucie (or any of the other people you claim as "friends").

> FYI, (for the Philly board), it was my decision to pull
> back on the WPEN show. The management at WPEN was very nice
> and absolutely extended a very warm option to continue with
> the program until the flip, however I thought the best
> option for me at this time, was to really focus my efforts,
> attention and resources on my Sunday Night Request Show on
> Oldies 100, WJRZ in New Jersey.
>
> Since we began the "Sunday Night Request Show on WJRZ" about
> six weeks ago (on Oldies 100, WJRZ and WJRZ.com), the live
> audience response in New Jersey (and Internet listeners via
> their live stream) has been absolutely overwhelming. We log
> close to 400 calls per program, per week, for the "greatest
> hits of the 60s and 70s," plus the special live "call-in"
> artist interview we do every week (where WJRZ listeners can
> actually call-in and interact with the hit makers) featuring
> various performers from Roger McGuinn to Chuck Negron, Tommy
> James to The Temptations.
>
> I do the program live each week in their Manahwakin studios,
> I can't begin to "share" (Frankie Lymon pun intended) with
> you how supportive WJRZ has been of the relationship - from
> the sales team to promotion, the PD to GM, everyone I've met
> truly shares a sincere passion and love for the survival
> music, and of the format. It's hard to believe WCBS-FM is
> gone. I'm very grateful WJRZ continues to carry the music we
> all love so much, which as you know, is becoming such a
> rarity on FM radio these days.
>
> I spend my summers and fall in New Jersey with my family,
> and between the live station appearances, plus my various
> television music specials airing and in production (five
> this year from Motown to Movie Songs), Oldies 100, WJRZ is
> really the right the place for me.
>
> Thankfully, The Geator still has his other Philly and NJ
> radio outlets - - I'm also very thankful, for a short time
> anyway, I was able to share the airwaves with Christie,
> Charley, and Nettleton. I hope they (like my friends Bobby
> Jay, Don K. Reed, and Joe McCoy at WCBS-FM) like Brucie,
> will come out of this experience stronger, and better than
> ever before.
>
> I love this music so much, it's so sad to see what's
> happening to the music, and to the people still playing it.
> If it weren't for these folks playing these songs, (The
> Geator, Holiday, Hy, Brucie) and stations such as CBS-FM,
> and WGOL, I never would have been exposed to so many of the
> greatest songs - b-sides, album cuts and forgotten 45's that
> eventually made it into my tv shows, and make-up my
> memories. So many memories, emotions, and truly talented
> personalities...like The Chantels said "I Pray" every night
> they will find "their place in the sun."
>
> be well,
> - tj
>
> Oldies 100, WJRZ
> Sunday Night Request Show
> live 7pm to Midnight
>

 

[am-fm]

Stop

> Kid, you will believe anything. You believed the Geator
> when he said his show was not brokered, and the Geator also
> brokered this for his buddy.

> He is giving up Saturday nights in Philly to "focus" on
> Sunday nights in Ocean County? Some jocks work five or six
> days a week (Big Joe works seven). Since this little
> station in the middle of nowhere (Manahawkin - Not Atlantic
> City, not Tom's River, Lakewood or Asbury Park - proud to be
> Sand Dune 100)is also owned by - guess who - Greater Media,
> he is not really free to speak.

He is on the radio, has produced oldies concerts and has ties to recording artists and the record companies. Look, I dont know what your vendetta is against TJ or Jerry Blavat is - why the hell should I beleve a mysterious poster when I have emails from TJ, Jerry, and have had phone conversations with the APD of WJRZ confirming that TJ is getting paid do to his show.

One final time - ITS NOT BROKERED! If you post false information, or anything thats sladerous or libelous, I will make sure you are banned...<P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.125.155:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>

 

[TJLubinsky]

Re: From the shovel of TJ Lubinsky

> Kid, you will believe anything. You believed the Geator
> when he said his show was not brokered, and the Geator also
> brokered this for his buddy.

Um, nope. My show on WPEN was not brokered, or bartered, or ever sold by the station or anyone else including Jerry, with, or as part of a a package with The Geator's radio programs (off or on WPEN), nor did my former WPEN show have any connection to Jerry's business relationship with WPEN with respect to sales or programming. It was also not a syndicated show, it was a weekly pre-recorded effort made just for the Philly market, with the requests always two weeks delayed via voicemail.

One of the reasons I chose to contact my hometown Oldies stations, WRJZ about starting a new Sunday Night Request Show last winter (around the time the WPEN show debuted) is bacause I really prefer "live caller requests", an opportunity that for various reasons was difficult to accomplish live while I was making the WPEN shows.

>
> He is giving up Saturday nights in Philly to "focus" on
> Sunday nights in Ocean County? Some jocks work five or six
> days a week (Big Joe works seven).

Yes, and I applaud them for being that lucky, especially if they are playing oldies in todays world of radio. I work seven days a week with my main job, making six major television concerts a year. From finding many of the performers, to talent and rights negotiations, licensing, publishing clearances, copyright licensing, mastering and remixing (such as the 30 Motown hits we just mixed into true extended stereo for the first time ever), to editing and actally traveling with many of the artists as the programs premiere, market-by-market all around the country's major markets.

Radio, for me personally, is a creative outlet. It's about being able to share the stories from the artists themselves of how their hits were made, playing some great B-sides and Album cuts, and connecting with my local hometown audience in a forum that is separate from fundraising for PBS.

Beacuse I've been blessed with the opportunity to work so closely recording and in fact, re-recording so many artists across so many musical genres from 50s Pop to 60s rock, Doo Wop to Disco, Folk Rock to Philly Soul, Motown to Movie Songs - - I take this local radio opportunity very very seriously.

Honestly, I'm not aware of any other "local" oldies station (also streaming live on the net) anywhere in the country, that actually features a regular weekly feature with the original hit makers (so far this month alone - Roger McGwinn, Chuck Negron, Rob Grill of The Grass Roots, Tommy James, and even Wild Cherry) have already called-in live to talk to WJRZ listeners. Add in the creative freedom to actually "turn records over" to play classic flip sides, forgotten 45's and album cuts along with the biggest hits of the 60s and 70s, plus some classic doo wop and early rock thrown in twice per hour, and we're creating something very special, "made in New Jersey, for New Jersey", with lots of listeners calling in each week from the around the Shore, and around the World (last week, one caller from Japan, another two from the UK, this week we had a live caller on the air from Germany, three in Manhattan, in one in Virginia). If you heard the show, you'd have heard these calls and request, live on the air.


Since this little > station in the middle of nowhere (Manahawkin - Not Atlantic
> City, not Tom's River, Lakewood or Asbury Park - proud to be
> Sand Dune 100)is also owned by - guess who - Greater Media,
> he is not really free to speak.
>
> 400 calls on a Sunday night (dead time)? On a station with
> mediocre numbers in a medium market (Monmouth-Ocean)? In
> his dreams. By the way, is this show brokered, too? Will
> the Geator be taking over weekday evenings here, too, and
> replace a paid DJ (Spyder, update your resume and start
> recording airchecks). Or will Greater Media be flipping
> here, too?

Um...I'm sorry but this assertion you have made is totally unfounded and untrue.

In my circumstance, it is pure coincidence that GM is the same ownership as WPEN. And yes, believe it or not, it's also pure coincidence that my hometown oldies station (now that the old WCBS is gone and not likely to come back)was owned by GM, when I contacted them last winter about starting up a new live summertime show.

I contacted them because I was born and raised in Bradley Beach, New Jersey. And WJRZ is here, my hometown oldies station, in my hometown, where I stay in the summer months and early fall with my family.

I don't think they would have hired me (note: I used the word hired, as in paid employee) if there were any plans to flip the format. Instead, they invested their airtime, with a new, live, local, open-formatted request show, "made in Jersey, for New Jersey" vs some syndicated programming they were doing previously during my Sunday Night shift.

The station just launched a new web-site, all the regular jocks are right where they have always been in recent years, (yup, including Spyder every night), there is absolutely no truth to your false assertions that somehow the Geator's show or anyone else, including myself would displace them.

And though Jerry is a friend, I have no knowledge what-so-ever of what his business dealings are with WPEN or anyone else, because after all, that is "his business", and none of mine. Any speculation that he somehow paid for my airtime on WPEN, or that he continues to have a role in my new WJRZ efforts is totally false, untrue, hurtful, and meritless.


TJ, you are no > Cousin Brucie (or any of the other people you claim as
> "friends").
>

Well, that I know. I'm not trying to be.
I am very appreciateive of him, his legacy and his help of my tv efforts over the years. That's why I was so honored when he recorded the opening to my WJRZ show, heard on the air last week, where he "seriously" invites Oldies 100, WJRZ listeners to tune-in and listen to my Sunday night show, every Sunday night.

I'm a young guy that grew up listening to him, learning from him, the same as the Geator, the same as Bobby Jay, and Don K Reed, the same as Holiday, Hy and Pantano, the same way I used to listen to tapes of Alan Freed, Murray The K, and Art LaBoe, Joe Johnson, Rick Shaw, and Ken Held in Miami . All their stylings shaped my musical tastes as a teenager (when I first discovered the music, and my passion for it). Sure, it happened years later via old tapes or oldies formatted stations for me - - but Brucie was the first person I heard play "In The Still Of The Night", while Christie was the first person I heard play "Would I Love You" by The Miracles, Holiday gave me "Here Am I Broken Hearted" whil the Geator taught me everything from Tommy Ridgeley to The Sons Of Robn Stone.

I could never - or would I ever try to compete with any of these people. I love them, respect them, and treasure them too much for that. I hope in some way I can continue the efforts for the next generation (if the format survives the way we know it - you're guess is as good as mine).

I guess where I'm getting a little stuck is why it has to be "either", "or"...From convincing "The Orioles" to reunite, to convincing "The McGuire Sisters" to reunite, to convincing "A Taste Of Honey" to reunite, to getting "The Tymes" to reunite just before George Williams passing, to Jerry Butler and Betty Everett reuniting before her passing, from recording Aretha, Frankie Valli, Patti LaBelle, The Four Lads, The Stylistics, McFadden & Whitehead, to Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield - - I've got some stories and memories to share ALSO. And I really do the "Wagner Walk" to "It's A Good Good Feeling", and cha cha to "I'll Turn To Stone".

Whether it's for one of my (Inter)national television efforts, or a local radio station close to Exit 63, my heart, my passion, my love for this music (yes from The Bee Gees to The Robins) is in exactly the same place as yours.

Next time you decide to pre-judge me based on erronious non-factual fabricated rumors and speculation, why not contact me first and get the correct facts? My email is still [email protected], or [email protected].

We don't have to agree, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion (by all means you are welcome to hate my radio show, my tv shows (which are created in my head btw - they are not a work for hire, they are a multi-artist gathering of all the great songs I heard on oldies radio growing up here in New jersey) you are are welcome to hate me, that's what being an American is all about), but next time, before you call me a liar without having any of the correct information, please get the correct facts before you attack my integrity and efforts by stateing false speculation as certainty.

That's a lesson I learned (by the way) from a man named Roby Younge, who when I met him in 1989, (I produced and picked the music for his local call-in Miami radio show 5 nights a week on AM radio) had learned the hard way how hurtful false rumors based on speculation can really be to many people affected even indirectly by his words.


I do hope you'll reply to me directly.

I'm not a "flamer" kind of "public posting" sort of guy, I much prefer individual communications, since this kind of negative thread tends to bring everyone down. This will be my last post on this topic, though I'm very happy to communicate with you regarding any questions you may have concerning my efforts directly at [email protected] or [email protected].

 

[bierkenstock]

Stop Yourself

I asked a question. Please read my post more carefully. In this case, you are misquoting me and you are on the one posting false information about what I said in my earlier post.

I don't know what your issue is with brokered programming. I have said in several posts that I admire Blavat as an entrepreneur. Given the low pay and the lack of job security in radio, I would urge anyone considering coming into the biz to use him as a model. He produces and controls his shows. He provides programming to stations. He takes the risks. He sells spots. He keeps the profits. Sounds like the American way, to me. But it seems you consider brokering somehow disreputible.

 

[galaxie]

Re: TJ Lubinsky

TJ,

From my perspective we are fortunate to have someone like you - a young guy who loves the music and is willing to put in the time and effort to put quality prodcutions on the air. Glad you are at JRZ. There are a fine group of people there not the least of which is the PD Jeff Rafter.

Just my personal opinion: Whether you or the Geator buy time on stations or get paid isn't relevent. If you are putting out a quality product (which your both are) and are able to sell it (which many sales folks at radio stations don't seem to be able to do) then more power to you.

Keep on keeping on!