R.I.P.: Bob Jones WNEW-AM NYC Personality

UPDATE 01/06/2013:  NYTimes Obit, Click Here.

Original Posting....

Bob Jones, who hosted overnight on the legendary WNEW 1130AM NYC, passed away over the weekend.  He reportedly had been battling non-hodgkins lymphoma.

Jones who was the host of WNEW-AM's Milkman's Matinee from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s.  He also hosted an evening version of “The Make-Believe Ballroom”.

In early 1988, WQXR-AM added Bob Jones to its line-up for afternoons. He also worked for WHN and WQEW.

He was last in the tradition of all the great Milkmen, which it should also be noted was the first all night radio program ‘when the day begins, the music begins’.



WNEW pioneered playing records (instead of live bands) as filler in between coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping trial which morphed into the Ballroom when Martin Block moved it and himself from California to New York.

In 1984, Jones was part of a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of radio station WNEW will be held at the Felt Forum. The concert showcased the influence of WNEW-AM and performers included Mel Torme, Vic Damone, Rosemary Clooney, Margaret Whiting, Peggy Lee, Les Paul, Joe Williams, Woody Herman, George Shearing, Tony Bennett, Jerry Orbach, Jerry Herman, Sammy Cahn and Carol Channing along with the station disk jockeys, Ted Brown, Jonathan Schwartz, Jim Lowe and William B. Williams.

In August 1986, Bob hosted an on-air tribute to radio personality William B. Williams. Williams died that month after a long illness. 

This recording, courtesy of airchexx.com,  begins sometime at the start of Bob Jones’ fill-in show in the “Morning Report with the Chairman of the Board”. The whole program is a tribute to William B. Williams, and features recordings of Williams’ best shows, with guests like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

The segment starts with a fascinating clip of Nat “King” Cole singing the WNEW calls.