J. J. Jeffrey

J.J. Jeffrey (born Joseph N. Jeffrey, Jr.) is an American radio executive and a former prominent Top 40 disk jockey whose work was heard on some of the United States' most influential rock-and-roll stations during the 1960s and 1970s.

Jeffrey's broadcasting career began in Maine in the 1950s, and by the mid-1960s he was a personality (under the name "Melvin X. Melvin") on Boston's seminal Top 40 rocker, WMEX-AM. After a stint in Pensacola, Florida, he returned to Boston in March 1967 as the afternoon-drive personality for WRKO-AM, which — as "NOW Radio" and, later, "The Big 68" — dominated New England's teen market in the late 1960s.

Jeffrey hosted WRKO's weekly "Now 30" (later called "Big 30") countdowns on Thursdays and was famous for his high-energy style and catch-phrases such as, "This is J.J. Jeffrey, whippin' my great, Greek-god-like body into a frenzy for ya." He left Boston on October 31, 1969, and became the afternoon drive DJ for the leading Top 40 stations in two larger markets — WFIL-AM, Philadelphia, then WLS-AM, Chicago.

In 1975, Jeffrey and his business partner, Bob Fuller, also a former Maine disk jockey, purchased their first radio station, WBLM, an FM album rock outlet based in Lewiston, Maine. They purchased other stations, including northern New England's highly popular Country and Western FM station, WOKQ. Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting was sold to Citadel Broadcasting for a reported $63.5 million in 1999. Jeffrey then continued in broadcasting as the owner of Atlantic Coast Radio, operators of WJJB-AM/FM, Brunswick, Maine, WLOB-AM/FM, Portland, Maine, and WRED-FM, Saco, Maine.

References

*http://www.maine.rr.com/03/wlob/default.asp

External links

* [http://airchexx.com/markets/boston/jj-jeffries-on-68-wrko-boston-1969 WRKO aircheck (1969)]