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Looking for recordings of the Jay Roberts NIGHTFLIGHT overnight show on WJR

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
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conelrad
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Looking for recordings of the Jay Roberts NIGHTFLIGHT overnight show on WJR

Post by conelrad » Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:49 pm

Growing up, I used to enjoy listening to Jay Roberts and his overnight NIGHTFLIGHT 760 on WJR (back when they really WERE the Great Voice of The Great Lakes). I've found snippets of recordings on YouTube --- but not from way back in the 60's. Does anyone out there have recordings of any of his shows, or portions of them? I remember some of his earlier theme songs like THAT'S ALL and remember when it was one of several overnight radio shows on 50kw clear channel AM stations around the country whose overnight shows were branded and sponsored by American Airlines ("Music Til Dawn" etc). Any info or feedback would be appreciated. THANKS



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RayQix
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Re: Looking for recordings of the Jay Roberts NIGHTFLIGHT overnight show on WJR

Post by RayQix » Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:52 pm

I was a fan too…… and remember them well.

I’m sure somewhere out there these still exist hopefully.


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Bobbert
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Re: Looking for recordings of the Jay Roberts NIGHTFLIGHT overnight show on WJR

Post by Bobbert » Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:49 am

I don't know of any sound clippings from the 1960s. But here is a newspaper article from 1965 that should help satisfy some nostalgic yearnings for Jay Roberts and Night Flight during that time.

*****************

Detroit Free Press
May 9, 1965

Jay Roberts: A View on "Rock"


BY BETTELOU PETERSON Free Press Radio-TV Writer

Let a disc jockey own up to his profession to a stranger and he's sure to get an earful.

The other day on a plane trip from New York to Detroit, Jay Roberts fell into conversation with his seat mate who recognized his name. Out of the conversation came:

"Why can't radio stations play records for young people that will help them appreciate good music? Why must shows aimed at teenagers be nothing but ear-splitting noise? How can they learn about music if they don't hear it? And surely there must be teenagers who enjoy something better."

Jay generally agrees with the thoughts. And his audience on WJR's "Night Flight" from midnight to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Sunday is usually not from the younger generation.

Still, to a man intensely interested in and knowledgeable about music, it is something that bothers Jay.

"Not all rock n' roll music is bad," he says. "There are some fine piece of rock music. But too much of it is cheap and bad. Kids like the beat but remember there are Jazz and swing numbers that have a good beat but are good music, too."

Jay isn't so sure that the "big beat" is the only sound that youngsters dig. There's a "teen-age underground" that tells him they are fans of his music-ln-the-middle style. But they won't own to it in public. They're afraid their contemporaries will consider them square.

Jay Isn't sure whether it's funny or sad. His own program makes him feel like an extraordinarily lucky person. The music is very much to Jay's own taste. He does his own programming, and since April, 1958, when he started handling the late show, he's learned to know his audience.

"Night people seem to be more aware of sound," he says. "The day normally is so noisy you have to tune some of it out. At night, senses seem to be heightened and you are more aware of mood. When I program the show, I try to fit each segment Into a certain mood.

"Every morning, I try to use comedy records, the Bickersons. Bob Newhart and the like. So many people who work at night never have a chance to hear the latest sensation on TV or in the night clubs and I try to fill them in."

Jay plays complete albums of the latest Broadway hits for the same reason. (They also give him an uninterrupted spot to do some advance programming) And he has a special fondness for Broadway. He might well be there now himself.

Jay was still a youngster when music came into his life. He was born in Highland Park but did most of his growing up in Utica, N.Y. He had a fine singing voice and on. his second day in high school he found himself the only freshman in the senior a capella choir.

His teacher was so impressed that Jay was sent off to the summer session of the Westminster Choir College at Princeton, N.J. His second summer there, Fred Waring came looking for high-voiced singer (his star tenor was ill). He picked tenor Jay.

It could have been the start of a career but when autumn came, Jay's mother thought that at 15, he was too young.

Two years later, Jay joined the Army and was sent to Japan in the Criminal Investigation division. He was at the Osaka Armed Forces radio station to help shut down black marketing operations when he fell in love with radio.

Back home, he used the GI Bill to study radio, TV and theater, first at Syracuse, then at the Leland Powers School in Boston. In those days dinner very often was a 25-cent bowl of soup. One job paid off in salami.

One summer Jay was visiting in New York and tried out for a chorus job. The director picks his candidates by looks and auditions them later. An astonished Jay found himself one of three picked for the chorus of "As the Girls Go" with Bobby Clark.

The next summer, he landed In the "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" chorus the same way.

He might have gone on after leaving school but an opportunity at an Arkansas radio station turned up. Jay's never regretted turning his back on New York. For one thing he found Mrs. Roberts, Jo Ann, while working in Little Rock. The Roberts now are the proud parents of six-months-old Cynthia.

In many ways, says Jay, he misses singing. He recalls a concert by the late tenor James Melton.

"I looked around the audience and saw the pleasure in their faces as they listened to him and I thought: What a wonderful way to spend your life.

"But perhaps I'm bringing some of the same pleasure to people. In the seven years I've been doing "Night Flight," I've had over 50.000 calls from listeners.

"You become a sort of friend when you are on the air late at night. People call to tell you their problems. The night is so lonely and they appreciate having someone who will listen."



Bobbert
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Re: Looking for recordings of the Jay Roberts NIGHTFLIGHT overnight show on WJR

Post by Bobbert » Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:55 am

conelrad wrote:
Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:49 pm
....remember when it was one of several overnight radio shows on 50kw clear channel AM stations around the country whose overnight shows were branded and sponsored by American Airlines ("Music Til Dawn" etc). Any info or feedback would be appreciated. THANKS
Here's something from the Detroit Free Press of 6/23/65:

"MUSIC 'TIL DAWN" moves to WJR starting July 1. Jay Roberts will be host of the all-night musical program heard Monday through Saturday 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.

"Music" has been on CKLW where it moved last year after several years on WWJ radio. The program is sponsored by American Airlines which originated the concept built around good music and news 12 years ago. The airline sponsors the show on stations all over the country.

The move to WJR is appropriate. The station's late show has been "Night Flight" which simulates air trips to various cities.



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