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Jay Jay Jaxon passes
- Thread starter Ssummers
- Start date
He'll be remembered by radio folks and listeners alike.
Who can forget his tenure on Yes 97? Yessssssss.... 97!
Or some of the clients he voiced commercials for:
"When you run out, run out to... The... Paannnnnnntry!"
"Chippendolls... baaaaares it alllllllllll!"
"Shang-gri-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Who can forget his tenure on Yes 97? Yessssssss.... 97!
Or some of the clients he voiced commercials for:
"When you run out, run out to... The... Paannnnnnntry!"
"Chippendolls... baaaaares it alllllllllll!"
"Shang-gri-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
WOW!!! That is sad... most of the late 80's and 90's his voice was all over the Columbia airways.... I also think he did the commercials for Sansbury optical center also... I remember when they had just opened up on Two Notch Rd... CC1
It really is sad. Aside from his on-air presence, he was an awesome guy and friend. If you'll indulge me, back in January 1985 when Jay Jay and I worked at WNOK, my brother passed away. It was a HUGE shock to me and my family. When I returned to work a week later, Jay Jay kind of took me under his wing and looked after me. Getting used to the loss of a family member is difficult for almost anyone, but it struck me particularly hard. Without being preachy or judgemental, Jay Jay became a surrogate big brother to me...allowing me to grieve and heal in my own way and in my own time. I was a wreck for quite a while back then, but having Jay Jay's friendship and guidance kept me sane, out of jail and, most of all, alive. Back then, when he and his ex-wife, Marcy, were together, they always welcomed me into their home no matter what the reason or occasion, even though they were themselves going through a crazy time with the birth of their daughter, Lauren. Selflessness, friendship and grace like that is hard to find, harder still to forget. He will be missed.
I was shocked when I learned of this early Saturday morning. I worked with him very, very briefly but the kindness he showed me is still remembered. That tells you something right there. We are always building our own legend by our actions and words. What do we choose that to be? Jay Jay chose to be a genuinely nice person. My condolences to his family.
That's sad. I remember when I first heard him in 1981 when he was doing afternoons on WNOK. Jay Jay had been a mainstay in Columbia radio during the 80s, working at C-103 and Yes 97 after leaving WNOK. The last time I heard him on the air was a few years ago when he did some part-time work at Oldies 103. R.I.P.
Robyn
Robyn
RobynWattsV2.0 said:That's sad. I remember when I first heard him in 1981 when he was doing afternoons on WNOK. Jay Jay had been a mainstay in Columbia radio during the 80s, working at C-103 and Yes 97 after leaving WNOK. The last time I heard him on the air was a few years ago when he did some part-time work at Oldies 103. R.I.P.
Robyn
Not parsing Robyn, but actually Jay Jay didn't start at WNOK until late, late 1983 or the first part of 1984.
On another note, how have you been, Robyn?
Ssummers said:Not parsing Robyn, but actually Jay Jay didn't start at WNOK until late, late 1983 or the first part of 1984.
On another note, how have you been, Robyn?
Hi Scott:
I'm OK. I now live in Asheville. Was working for the US Census for a few months while getting ready to go back to school. Now that the Census is done, I'm back to "pounding the pavement" in looking for another job.
Anyway, I've managed to find an aircheck of Jay Jay (along with Mark Plemmons) when he was at WNOK from 1985. The only problem is that I don't have any editing software on my computer, so in order to hear it you have to go though a bunch of Mark's old bits (which isn't a bad thing-anyone up for hearing "The Lizard Man Song" or "Malfunction Junction"?). It's at 12:00.
https://www.yousendit.com/download/UFVxNU1OQ1JZY1R2Wmc9PQ
BTW: Didn't Mark do afternoons on WNOK in 1981-82? Maybe that's who I remember who did afternoon drive during that time. I know that they did had a male afternoon AT before Tom Kent trashed the station in 1983.
Robyn
You're right, any Plemmons production is good production. He was a production guru. As for him working afternoons 81-82, I can't say for sure. I thought Hunter was afternoons then. Maybe not, but then, maybe Plemmons was filling in for him.
Regarding Tom Kent, I can't say a whole lot of bad things about him. I know he didn't get how the Columbia audience responds and what they respond to. But, he did hire me the day after Frank Baker fired me at Z96 for missing an announcers' meeting(I had an exam at Carolina...but that's another story for another time...lol). After Hunter quit, TK moved me to 6p-10p and made me the music director. It was the very first time someone trusted me in a leadership capacity in radio(only MD, but it was a start)and I learned a LOT from TK and from having the position. Two months later and TK was gone and I was the afternoon guy. Crazy how things work out sometimes, you know?
Incidentally, when TK was there, Phil Gardner was doing mornings, Pandora middays, TK from 3p-6p, Hunter 6p-10p, me from 10p-2a and Jimmy Duncan from 2a-6a. When Hunter left, I moved to 6p-10p and TK hired John Rocke from Z96 to do 10p-2a. When TK got fired, I went to 3-7 and Rocke went to 7p-12 mid with Jimmy doing mid-6a. I think Phil Gardner stayed for awhile(until trends came out) and they got rid of him. Phil was a class act about it, tho. Hell of a nice guy.
It was when Pete Hamlett became PD that they hired Jay Jay to do middays, moved Pandora to mornings with Leo. They moved Mark to mornings, too and VOILA! it became the K-Team Morning Zoo.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Regarding Tom Kent, I can't say a whole lot of bad things about him. I know he didn't get how the Columbia audience responds and what they respond to. But, he did hire me the day after Frank Baker fired me at Z96 for missing an announcers' meeting(I had an exam at Carolina...but that's another story for another time...lol). After Hunter quit, TK moved me to 6p-10p and made me the music director. It was the very first time someone trusted me in a leadership capacity in radio(only MD, but it was a start)and I learned a LOT from TK and from having the position. Two months later and TK was gone and I was the afternoon guy. Crazy how things work out sometimes, you know?
Incidentally, when TK was there, Phil Gardner was doing mornings, Pandora middays, TK from 3p-6p, Hunter 6p-10p, me from 10p-2a and Jimmy Duncan from 2a-6a. When Hunter left, I moved to 6p-10p and TK hired John Rocke from Z96 to do 10p-2a. When TK got fired, I went to 3-7 and Rocke went to 7p-12 mid with Jimmy doing mid-6a. I think Phil Gardner stayed for awhile(until trends came out) and they got rid of him. Phil was a class act about it, tho. Hell of a nice guy.
It was when Pete Hamlett became PD that they hired Jay Jay to do middays, moved Pandora to mornings with Leo. They moved Mark to mornings, too and VOILA! it became the K-Team Morning Zoo.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hi Scott,
What you said about Tom Kent not knowing (or getting to know) the market was true. The reason why I've said that he trashed WNOK was the fact that he fired Woody and Leo because he "didn't like their accent".
Anyway, I'm off-topic so back to reminiscing about Jay Jay Jaxon: Remember when C-103 did their only TV spot (this was in 1987)? It was a short :15 second spot staring Jay Jay, telling us to be on the lookout in the mail for "C-103's Winning Check Sweepstakes". (Hey I'm still waiting for mine, guess I wasn't in a "hot zipcode"! LOL)
Best,
Robyn
What you said about Tom Kent not knowing (or getting to know) the market was true. The reason why I've said that he trashed WNOK was the fact that he fired Woody and Leo because he "didn't like their accent".
Anyway, I'm off-topic so back to reminiscing about Jay Jay Jaxon: Remember when C-103 did their only TV spot (this was in 1987)? It was a short :15 second spot staring Jay Jay, telling us to be on the lookout in the mail for "C-103's Winning Check Sweepstakes". (Hey I'm still waiting for mine, guess I wasn't in a "hot zipcode"! LOL)
Best,
Robyn
Didn't like their accent! what a goofball.
....hold on a second. Only Woody was let go from WNOK at that time. Leo stayed and did the morning show with Plemmons and Pandora. That lasted for years. I don't know the reason Woody was let go but I doubt it was b/c of his "accent."
Actually, though I didn't realize it at the time, it was my introduction to a major market guy coing to a smaller market and thinking he was going to show the small town what bigtime radio was. Again, no hateration towards TK intended, but he came in and made wholesale changes to the heritage CHR in town without regard to what kind of radio Columbia needed and thrived upon. It was a lesson that I always remembered.
And people from major markets on down can say what they want about Woody & Leo, but they knew their audience, they knew Columbia and Columbia loved them for it. I still meet people today who can recite "There's a LOBBBBSTERRRRRR ON THE LOOSE!" and Beach Billy bits verbatim from the 70s and 80s.
And people from major markets on down can say what they want about Woody & Leo, but they knew their audience, they knew Columbia and Columbia loved them for it. I still meet people today who can recite "There's a LOBBBBSTERRRRRR ON THE LOOSE!" and Beach Billy bits verbatim from the 70s and 80s.
JJ was a big part of Columbia radio... No matter what station your tuned in on you could usually hear him somewhere... The late 70's through the 80's Columbia radio was special and awesome all at the same time... We might not have had WLS type stations, but for Cola-Town the jocks who was apart of Columbia radio made it our own WLS type radio... Heck there was a lot of great people who have gone through Columbia radio that made it fun... There was one Jock that came up that I had forgot and that was Jimmy Duncan... I remember him doing overnights back in the 84ish time frame and another one that I remember as a teen listening to was a guy by the name of Frank Fox who was on WNOK... Dunno if that was his real name or what, but he always seemed to break format and always play dance mixes of songs that was popular back in the day... He was the only jock who did it so maybe it was a earl;y version of a mix show... CC1
CrazeeCarroll1 said:...and another one that I remember as a teen listening to was a guy by the name of Frank Fox who was on WNOK... Dunno if that was his real name or what, but he always seemed to break format and always play dance mixes of songs that was popular back in the day... He was the only jock who did it so maybe it was a earl;y version of a mix show...
Hi Carrol,
I may be wrong, but I think Frank Fox was Frank LaComba.
Thrills! said:Somewhere between New York and Miami, you will be missed.
In 20+ years in the business, I never heard a club spot that painted such a powerful picture. I remember the first time I went to Saints, waited in line for an hour to get in, and saw a generic hotel bar. All I could think was "THIS is Saints'?"
I tried for years to come up with something close to it. Before I became a PD, I did a lot of production, and as the slimmest guy with the most hair at just about every station I worked at, I was the one who got the most club appearances, and therefore produced the most club spots. Never came close to Jay Jay's Saints' spots.
I've always wondered about Jay Jay. After WNOK, I'm pretty sure he went to Yes 97, didn't he? And after that, wasn't he on WOMC? What did he do after that?
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