[NJARC] WAAT WWDJ Steve Hollis

[Pmalvasi at aol.com]

I send this earlier via reply to the original thread but it never came out  . 
so I'll send it again as a new post. This is from Fred W2AAB regarding the  
earlier threads on Steve Hollis ...
 
73 Pete, W2PM
 
 
Pete:  I worked at WJRZ starting in June, 1969, right after graduating  from 
FDU, and until early 1972.  I knew "Steve" quite well.  "Steve  Hollis" was an 
airname only.  (Real name:  Ernest Dittner).   "Steve" originally had a music 
show, but by the time I joined WJRZ, he  was News Director, and had no 
regular on-air duties, except as a fill-in  man on newscasts when too many newsmen 
were on vacation.  He also,  sometimes, recorded station promos and commercials 
on tape.   
I don't remember the year, but perhaps a year or so after I joined the  
station's staff, "Steve" was the victim of a violent crime.  In those  days, the 
side door of the WJRZ building (497 Hackensack Ave., now demolished)  was left 
unlocked in the evenings so employees could freely enter or  leave.  One night, 
a mentally ill "job-seeker" entered the building,  announcing to "Steve" that 
he was looking for employment.  When "Steve"  said there were no openings, 
the "job-seeker" took out a knife and stabbed  him.  "Steve" recovered, but he 
lost the use of his legs, and for the rest  of his life, had to get around on 
crutches.  After that, the side door was  always kept locked, and the 
assignment of keys kept tightly controlled.   "Steve" passed away some years ago--my 
memory is hazy as to just when, of causes  unrelated to his injuries.  
As far as any archived programs, I doubt whether any remain.  From my  own 
experience, old program tapes were kept a short time, then erased and  re-used.  
I once found some transcription discs of Paul Brenner's program  
"Requestfully Yours," dating back to WAAT days (late 1940s to early 1950s), that  were 
being used as "cueing discs."  That's when you glue a 45 rpm adapter  onto an 
existing LP or transcription disc, for playing the smaller records on  the studio 
turntables.  They didn't believe in preserving history.   
The original call was WAAT in Newark, then WNTA, then they moved a tiny  
"fishbowl" studio to Bergen County in the early 1960s--It was on the eastbound  
side of Route 4, either in River Edge or Hackensack, eventually moving the whole 
 station to Hackensack Ave., and changing callsign to WJRZ.  They sold  to 
Pacific & Southern Broadcasting (Cincinnatti, OH)  in 1970, I think,  and 
changed callsign to WWDJ.  I may be the only ex-DJ employee  who remembers what the 
latters were supposed to stand for:  "Wondferful  World of Disk Jockeys," a 
logo thought up by one of the boss's secretaries  (Cindy Underwood).  I can tell 
you a hundred stories about that place,  humorous and sad, but that's for 
another time.  
In any event, the new management spent money like water, and unsuccessfully  
tried to compete in radio's toughest market with a lot of cornball  
promotions.  None of it was enough, and a format change, to album cuts,  took place 
later in 1972, after I'd left.  Within a year or so of that, the  place was up for 
sale, and the Bible Thumpers bought it.  I don't know if  the same people own 
it now.  BTW, there is at least one WWDJ appreciation  website, started by 
former fans.  Good grief!  I roared with laughter  reading the comments about 
the place.  If they ONLY KNEW!! 
DE W2AAB