Tonight, the many talented folks who went up and down the staircase on Witherspoon St. (and on Rt. 1 I suppose) in Princeton will join together to celebrate the formation of what would become an adult rock format. It would NOT have been possible without Phil Geiger (deceased) and Tom Taylor...alive and kickin'...
I joined in '76 as a part-timer, and was given the full-time night slot (formerly occupied by John Brown) after I had taken a full-time gig in Lynchburg, VA for about 30 seconds. I never made it on the air on that AM top-40 station, as the Rebels were still fighting the Civil War, and my wife didn't care for the whole scene. She was correct, and I called Tom to ask for my part-time job back. He let me back in...and days later I was the night rocker. I followed Young Doug James (yes...the WIBBAGE jock who almost beat King George Michael at WFIL...) with Tom doing mid-days and EZ ED Johnson doing mornings. He had left WHLW AM where I worked to go to PST. I followed him there after TOM finally said I was ready (after sending him about a dozen air-checks.)
Tom was the most gracious and mentoring PD I've ever had. I can say without reservation that it was because of the freedom and yet close supervision that allowed me to continue in this business MUCH longer than I had anticipated. I went from the pea-shooters to the big time in one jump. THEN, 10 years later, I made the leap from PST to WNNBC.
So my wife Andrea and I have MANY fond memories of that time there..both of our kids were born while I worked there, and I worked with some incredible talent during my two stints there starting in '76-'81...and then again from '84-'86.
See you in Princeton!!!
BE BIG! Jay
I joined in '76 as a part-timer, and was given the full-time night slot (formerly occupied by John Brown) after I had taken a full-time gig in Lynchburg, VA for about 30 seconds. I never made it on the air on that AM top-40 station, as the Rebels were still fighting the Civil War, and my wife didn't care for the whole scene. She was correct, and I called Tom to ask for my part-time job back. He let me back in...and days later I was the night rocker. I followed Young Doug James (yes...the WIBBAGE jock who almost beat King George Michael at WFIL...) with Tom doing mid-days and EZ ED Johnson doing mornings. He had left WHLW AM where I worked to go to PST. I followed him there after TOM finally said I was ready (after sending him about a dozen air-checks.)
Tom was the most gracious and mentoring PD I've ever had. I can say without reservation that it was because of the freedom and yet close supervision that allowed me to continue in this business MUCH longer than I had anticipated. I went from the pea-shooters to the big time in one jump. THEN, 10 years later, I made the leap from PST to WNNBC.
So my wife Andrea and I have MANY fond memories of that time there..both of our kids were born while I worked there, and I worked with some incredible talent during my two stints there starting in '76-'81...and then again from '84-'86.
See you in Princeton!!!
BE BIG! Jay