Meet The Radio Personalities
Al GordonAl Gordon is a veteran DJ, personality, program director and engineer. Officiallly starting in radio in 1975 at age 15, but pretending to be on the air since age 8 with two record players and a bunch of 45's.
Working many formats including top 40 rock and roll, adult contemporary, album rock, country and oldies, Al found his "niche" back in the 1980's doing Jewish radio, in an upbeat top 40 presentation. Having come full circle and owning WJPR, Al has created the first hybrid Jewish/rock and roll oldies format ever! WJPR is unique in that it is Jewish all day, rock and roll oldies all night and off the air Shabbos and Yom Tov. Oh, did we mention he also hosts the WJPR morning show 6-10AM EST weekday mornings. Hope you can tune in for news, sports, weather, local traffic conditions with the legendary Tony Dee and the best music you are going to find! Al does a "break the format" segment right after 8, where he plays 3 old rock and roll songs including a lost 45 on a real turntable! And now let's meet the latest addition to the WJPR family Sarah (Newcomb) Gordon: Mrs. Sarah Gordon (Newcomb), a Newcomer to our Station with a big presence both on and off air. A Writer, Realtor, Speaker, Cheerleader, Instigator 😁and overall full partner in life bringing a special magic to WJPR with a contagious smile. Affectionately known as “Joey’s Mom” (Joey Newcomb, an international inspirer via music and more), she heralds from Queens, NY originally. Together, Sarah and Al keep the Fun and Music going all morning, day & night. We love listener interaction and welcome you to Join us anytime. 
Pat ApplesonPat Appleson considers himself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with talent as diverse as Jamie Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano), David Cassidy, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, Ray Stevens, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Merle Haggard, Eric Church, Larry Gatlin, Roger Miller, Tanya Tucker, Bill Anderson, Charlie Pride, Mac Davis, Alabama Blues Brothers, Bob Eubanks, Cathy Moriarty-Gentile (Raging Bull), Daniel J. Travanti (Hill Street Blues), and many others. In addition, Appleson’s client list includes Miami City Ballet, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Universal Studios (work on Miami Vice), Warner Brothers Television (work on Growing Pains), WTVJ-TV 6 (Miami NBC affiliate), Television Matrix of Los Angeles, Inc., and J.C. Penney and Co., Inc. among others.
Pat worked on Legendary WWOK Miami and his voice has appeared in many commercials for various products throughout the years. Pat's show, "Pat's Country Classics" is on every Sunday from 9PM-Midnight EST. |
Shelli ColeShelli Cole has been in the radio Business for over 30 years, which is odd, considering she is, of course, only 29 years old. Sheli was certainly born to be a radio DJ. When her Father asked her at 2 years old what she would like for Christmas, her answer was "I want a microphone like you!" He was no DJ, he just loved playing guitar, making Shelli sing harmonies and recording all on reel to reel!
Later in life, while in college, Shelli was lucky enough to get a foot in the door at the number one station the country, in good old NYC! Having learned from the best of the best, Shelli decided to take her radio career on the road. She was young, brave and on a mission having worked for stations in Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and New Jersey. She's been a DJ on all different kinds of varieties of stations from Top 40, to Hip Hop to Contemporary to Oldies. She traveled the country and met so many 'radio families' that she can probably vacation in any state for free! That's a GOOD perk for a radio DJ! At each of these stations, Shelli wore multiple hats from Music Director, to Promotions Director to Program Director to... wait for it... coffee maker. Her ratings have certainly spoken for themselves, including a 19.8 share in a market with 19 competing stations! Shelli was also the Assistant Director at a prominent broadcasting school where she taught and encouraged so many students that they still call her to this day for her radio wisdom and advice! She's a true radio chick and usually being the only full time woman at a job is difficult.... Shelli, on the other hand considers her radio peers her family and her listeners as true friends as you'll see when you tune in for yourself. Of course,you can hear Shelli right here at 1640 WJPR on Sunday evenings from 6 pm-8 pm it's The Hall of Fame Program. Two hours of all of your requests, dedications and the best oldies of all time!. 
Larry RavenswoodLarry Ravenswood was born in Chicago in the early 1960s, and practically from the point of birth, he had always had a happy ear for music, especially popular music.
He remembers his mother playing Beatles records (and that means RECORDS ..VINYL!) when he was in the playpen. As the 60's became the 70's, Larry carried his enthusiasm for pop music into a whole new ecstasy: American Top 40. Not a week would go by where Larry wasn’t glued to his favorite radio program listening to Casey Kasem’s every word..it was “heavenly”! From 2004-2005 Larry produced and hosted a program called “The Strawberry Pop Show” on KFAI radio Minneapolis/St. Paul. The program attracted many listeners and(in Larry’s humble opinion) became a late night cult classic. The format featured many sights and sounds that Larry heard in his youth..and then some!" Currently, Larry produces mini music biography segments for radio entitled "Classic Artist Spotlight" which are available in various time segments; 90 second, 5-7 minutes, and a half hour (technically 26 minutes of program to allow 4 total minutes of announcements and advertising for the stations to equal 30 minutes total). Larry's program, "Classic Artist Spotlight" airs every Sunday 8-9PM EST. Tune in! |
Mike GreenbergMike Greenberg, the host of “Kol Yehudim,” grew up listening to all styles of Jewish music. The “golden age” sounds of The Barry Sisters, Jan Peerce, Richard Tucker and Yossele Rosenblatt often heard at his grandparents’ house, made him appreciate and develop a love for chazzanut which continues to this day. In fact, one of Mike’s favorite albums of all time is the classic “Moishe Oysher Seder.” He looks forward to playing that each year just prior to Passover to expose his audience to one of the greats of Jewish music.
Growing up on Long Island, Mike & his family often listened to Art Raymond’s (ZT”L) Sunday Simcha, whom he considers one of his broadcasting idols. Mike even ends each broadcast with the Art Raymond signature “I wish you health, wealth and time to enjoy it” – adding his own “L’hitraot Baby” to cap off the show. Such artists as Safam, MBD, Avraham Fried, Debbie Friedman, Shlock Rock, the Zim Brothers and Kol B’Seder were also part of his record/cassette collection. Mike graduated in 1994 from Buffalo State College, with a degree in Media Communications. His dream to work in radio unfortunately didn’t pan out – especially since he didn’t want to end up in some town in the middle of nowhere, so he ended up returning to school and obtaining a M.S. in Elementary Education at Long Island University. That proved to be very successful as Mike just completed his 20th year teaching for the NYC Department of Education. In college, he worked for the Buffalo State College station, WBNY; the Nassau Community College station, WHPC, the Hofstra University station, WRHU and the SUNY New Paltz station, WRNP/WFNP. It was at these stations Mike learned the fine art of being an “air personality,” rather than a human jukebox. Even after teaching, Mike never lost the “radio bug” and decided to put together a proposal for a radio show that would be very different than any other Jewish music program out there today. The show would blend many types of Jewish music styles into one show, including Contemporary American, Chazzanut, Israeli (Folk/Pop/Mizrahi), Ladino/Sephardi, as well as liturgical selections. He chose the name Kol Yehudim due to the “play on words” of which Mike is known for. Kol Yehudim (depending on the Hebrew spelling) can refer to “All of the Jewish People” or the “Voices of the Jewish People,” both fo which apply to the program. Fast-forward to the summer of 2016, where Mike presented his proposal for the Kol Yehudim show – music from all of K’lal Yisroel for all of K’lal Yisroel. The management of WJPR loved the idea (thanks, Al!) and thus, the Kol Yehudim show was born. We even programmed in two very special features – from 8-8:30 is a Tam Fir Yiddish – giving listeners a taste of Yiddish from the “golden age” to that of today. From 9-9:30, A Bissel Chazzanut can be heard, where we feature some of the greatest chazzones of all time. Kol Yehudim is on every Sunday from 6-10 AM, on 1640 WJPR, online at 1640wjpr.com and on the go with the TuneIn Radio App. Archived shows can be found at http:/bit.ly/Kol Yehudim. Requests and Mazel Tov wishes can be emailed to Mike Greenberg at [email protected]. He is also on Twitter and Facebook, just search for @CoolJewishRadio. Thanks for listening! |
