The Big Montage, 95.5 WPLJ New York | 1978
October 15, 2004 
13 Comments
One of our most popular attractions has to be this fabulous montage put together and aired by Pat St. John. It’s been remastered and put to CD now – and we have it for you in it’s entirety.
Courtesy of BigAppleAirchecks.
I remember listening to WPLJ in the 70′s and waiting for these little tidbits to air at the top of the hour. I put them all togther on reel to reel, and one day Pat St. John put the “Big Montage” on in it’s entirety. Naturally after 20 something years, the reel didn’t play to well. I asked Pat for a copy of it, and he sent me a CD copy of it along with some other stuff. I’ve known Pat since I was in high school, and we’re still in contact today. He’s a great jock, and a good friend.
I recorded this off the radio when it aired in 1982 on halloween. I still have my original copy and have burned it onto a cd. still sounds great today.
Well I stumbled on to this website somehow and played the “big montage” in the office for a friend of mine. Talk about bringing back the memories. WPLJ was the only station I listened to back then and its very cool to hear the music, and the DJ’s names. Thanks for the bit of “time travel”. This is a keeper for me.
Where can I buy the CD?
Nice hearing the WPLJ Big Montage. Any of the other mixes they have done? Is there a cd available?
Nice hearing the complete WPLJ montage. Any other mixes from their hey day available? Is there a cd available?
I know you converted this about three years ago now, but I’m hoping you’ll be able to re-do the tape onto 128/44 mp3 in stereo. This really brought back memories but it was frustrating to have it in such a lo-fi format. And in RealAudio? I had to install the player just to listen to your rm file. Plus it seems a little fast.
Hopefully you can re-do it.
Thanks
Mik
This is the radio station that turned me on to rock ‘n’ roll. I was born in Jamaica and grew up listening to reggae mostly, but one day I was station surfing and came across these guys on WPLJ and hearing the opening chords of the The Cars “My Best Friend’s Gir” and my world was changed. I was heartbroken when they changed format back in the 80′s but continued to follow some of the guys on their various forays on other station, especially Pat St.John, Tony Pigg and Dave Hermann. Form me the Classic WPLJ will always be the best.
This exhibit is listed as being aired in 1978, but I’m thinking it’s probably really 1979 or 1980.
Because at the 9:58 mark you hear a few seconds of Led Zeppelin’s “All My Love”, and that song was not released until August 1979!
Great exhibit, though….
Actually you are correct. I have the original recording on the original broadcast date that I made on reel-to-reel and it is dated Jan 31, 1980.
Wow, great to hear this after so many years. WPLJ used bits of this as station ID’s, so I’ve heard a lot of it separately. I especially love the “Same Old Song” section. Any change you could slow it down a tad though — it’s a little faster than it should be. Thanks for posting this classic!!
Wow…did that jolt my 5 pound mass of protoplasm…I remember “Focus’s My…” was the bed all the jocks used to do top of the hour IDs…and the flying TV montage ad. The cornerstone of WPLJ tho…was its sound processing…it brought music to life! I would get so bumbed when i’d get a record, then go home and listen to it on my Kenwood…or Marantz..and not hear that reverb/compression. Going to college in DC…I remember how they “tip toed” introducing AOR to the capital, changing format at 8pm…til 1am…DC101. I remember going to their studios and telling the Program Director Dwight Douglas…how their sound was shit compared to PLJ. Deaf ears…sound like a cheap ceramic cartidge needle would. Nice to find this site… I had a weekend overnite stint at Z100 in 1984, though iy only lasted 3 months, it was a thrill for the moment! And I did have a few zingers I threw before the jingle…fun fun fun!(John Barry)
AWESOME! Thanks for posting this!!!