Back Then…The Unofficial History Of NJ 101.5

Come Saturday morning...an old song from a long time ago. But a lot has happened on Saturday mornings at New Jersey 101.5 over the years. Just ask Big Joe, Bob Williams or Amy Wright.I remember, back then, when John and Ken were doing afternoons, the arrangement also called for John Kobylt to switch hats and become a DJ on Saturday mornings. One such day back then, I was also working the morning news shift. John was due to start at 10am. He was living down near Atlantic City back then, so he had quite a drive all the way up to our studios in Ewing. Now it is 10:15. 10:30. John is late and we are worried, not just because the DJ who did the morning show wants to go home, but also because John has not called and we do not know where he is. And back then, (early 90's) there were no cell phones.

So after calling his house and calling the local hospitals and such back then, we became more and more concerned.

Finally around noon on that Saturday, John shows up. He had been driving his small compact car, coming to work up the Atlantic City Expressway when he hit, no, totaled, a deer. What's more, the deer totaled his car, leaving him stranded on the expressway until State Police arrived and helped arrange transportation for him to the radio station. John was a bit shaken and stirred but none the worse for wear.

I will never forget Saturday, March 13th, 1993 back then. It was another Saturday for me working a weekend news shift. The deal was I work 6am to 12noon. Well, on this particular Saturday, it started to snow very early and it never stopped...major blizzard back then.

One of the things I remember about that day is our CEO back then, Bob McAllan, calling me again and again to make sure we were okay and that our humble little gas generator was in working order if the power failed. The power stayed on, but Bob kept calling. New Jersey 101.5 was his baby, and Bob wanted to make sure we were getting what we needed on that bad weather Saturday back then.

Instead of leaving at noon, I faced a major snow emergency and worked until 1am Sunday morning. Wow! What a day!

There were a lot more memorable Saturdays and Sundays back then, and a lot more happened besides the music coming out to play.

Stay tuned.