Jim Collins began his radio career at 15 in Lawrence, Kansas. "It was a small operation out in the middle of a cow pasture. I had to water the cows before signing on the station each morning".

He first came to the Washington area in 1969 while stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital. While an announcer with the Armed Forces Network, he also did weekends & swing as "Mark West" at WPGC, a name he shed by the time he joined the station full time initially for late nights, then afternoons in late 1972. Early in 1975 he became Program Director, a position he held until the 'Great Strike That Struck Out' in May of 1977.

Following the strike, Jim became Vice President of Pop Promotion for Polydor Records in New York.  He returned to radio in the early '80's as Asst. Program Director of 66 WNBC, which was then the most listened to station in the nation.  There he also produced the weekly 'Music Magazine' feature and was the regular fill in host for the 'Imus in the Morning' program.

Jim passed away in the early '90's. This site is dedicated in his memory.

This aircheck was recorded in a moving car heading away from DC. Thus, reception fades in & out. It's historical significance however warrants its inclusion here. It comes from roughly six months prior to The Great Strike That Struck Out that saw all of the Air Personalities except Jim Elliott replaced by Marriott controlled, First Media in their effort to rid themselves of the union.

The highlight of this tape is a promo done by Jim Collins for John Denver's concert at the Capital Centre. Tickets to the show were part of the station's contesting efforts at the time. But the main promotional thrust at the time was for the Visible Vault, in reality a two foot Plexiglass cube stuffed with currency ("eight cubic feet of cash"). Listeners had to keep track of on-going guesses of the amount inside it, ala 'Hi-Lo' to win the big bucks. The winning guess a month later was $9,391.00.

Jingles were from the first package ordered from JAM, a compilation of two packages, 'Logoset' & 'Priority One'. The station's primary positioner, 'MusicRadio' was featured prominently as the musical logo in said mention jingles.

 

 

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