WHJY

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WHJY
City of license Providence, Rhode Island
Broadcast area Providence metropolitan area
Branding 94HJY
Slogan "The Home of Rock & Roll"
Frequency 94.1 MHz
First air date 1950s, format= October 1981
Format Rock
ERP 50,000 watts
HAAT 139 meters
Class B
Facility ID 72298
Transmitter Coordinates 41º49'40"N, 71º22'9"W
Callsign meaning JoY (former format).
Former callsigns WHIM-FM
Owner Clear Channel Communications
(Clear Channel Communications (as Capstar TX))
Sister stations WHJJ, WSNE, WWBB
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.whjy.com

WHJY is a commercial radio station in Providence, Rhode Island owned by Clear Channel that broadcasts at 94.1 MHz. (Channel 231). WHJY plays classic and mainstream rock. Its broadcast center, along with its sister stations, is at 75 Oxford Street, just west of Interstate 95 in Providence, and its transmitter is located at 115 Eastern Avenue in East Providence. (The station's studio is located on the northeast corner of the building, facing traffic, and is sometimes referred to by DJ's as "the Ghetto Penthouse.")

Contents

[edit] Current Disc Jockeys

  • Paul & Al (5:30 AM-10:00 AM) - Paul Fuller and Al Matthews are currently the longest-tenured DJ's on the station, having been around since the late 1980s. They frequently feature skits and fake recordings, having made fun of many of the local politicians (including, notably, imitations of Rhode Island Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy which compare him to Wally Cleaver). The duo also hosts a "Stump the DJ" hour on Thursdays, where callers call in with jokes and Paul & Al attempt to get the punchlines before the caller. They also are involved in annual trips, including a whitewater rafting trip in Maine and a trip to the annual New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins game in Miami. Regular contributions come from "Kevin The Lowly Stuntboy", with news by Johnny Skidmarks (real name Hamblett) and Jim Shorts on Sports (real name Steve McDonald, who also serves as radio announcer for URI basketball on sister station WHJJ).
  • Jenn (10:00 AM - 3:00 PM) - Midday broadcaster since late 2003, and host of The Classic Lunch, which includes older tracks, and finishes with "Hair in Your Lunch," a featured hair metal song.
  • Geoff Charles (3:00 PM - 7:00 PM) - Geoff Charles has been with the station since the early 1990s, first as the evening host, then as the drive time DJ. Charles' show is fairly popular, featuring a daily 4:20 Club, "Stuff I Know That You Don't Know," "Human Tricks," and "Quick Ones," the latter three being a collection of random facts. For the past several years Charles has hosted a trip to Amsterdam, which originally fell during the week of the Cannabis Cup festival (before Thanksgiving), and currently falls the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Charles also has begun airing a daily blog, which is called "Diary of a Psychotic," which usually deals with current events or other topics (the February 20, 2008 blog, for example, was about late DJ Mike "Doctor Metal" Gonsalves, who was one of the 100 victims of the Station nightclub fire-see below). He is currently joined by Scarpetti, with former co-hosts being Mike Brangiforte (who was released for the same financial reasons as Quinn and Cantera), John Laurenti and Steve Conte, a.k.a. "The Troll."
  • Matt Battle (7:00 PM - 12:00 AM) - Battle is the newest DJ to WHJY, replacing Quinn and Cantera, who were released in November of 2007 for financial reasons, according to a MySpace blog.
  • Missy Lanyan (12:00 AM - 5:30 AM) - Missy has been on the air since 2005, and was the permanent replacement for Doctor Metal. In the interim, Big Jim (who currently hosts "The Metal Zone," a late-night Saturday night program featuring harder metal acts started by Doc, and Sound Check, which features local talent) covered many of the shifts.

The station also plays several weekly shows on the weekends, including The House of Hair with Dee Snider, Hard Drive with Lou Brutus (the station's drive-time DJ in the late 1980s and early 1990s), Little Steven's Underground Garage, Racing Rocks! with Riki Rachtman, In The Studio with RedBeard and others.

[edit] WHJY and The Station Night Club Fire

WHJY was not the sponsor of the Great White concert at the Station Night Club in West Warwick, Rhode Island on February 20, 2003 but they promoted the event with popular DJ Michael "Doctor Metal" Gonsalves as emcee. Tragically, a pyrotechnics display triggered a massive fire, killing Gonsalves and 99 other people and destroying the club. In his memory, the radio station has set up "The Doc Fund," a scholarship with Rhode Island College (his alma mater) to support the victims and families of those affected who attend the school.

[edit] References


[edit] External links