WPLJ Throws Gala Going Away Party/Reunion In New York City

What A Night!

As the curtain is about to go down on one of radio's most iconic and beloved brands, CUMULUS Hot AC WPLJ/NEW YORK, THE CUTTING ROOM in MANHATTAN was the place to be last night (5/21,) as station staffers from the past and present joined together with numerous industry colleagues to celebrate 48 remarkable years.

For years TOM CUDDY ran the ship, and for one final time he had his hand back on the rudder, steering the event through a succession of speeches that were highly entertaining, often times steeped in nostalgia and lore, including words of wisdom from the station's longest staffer, BILL AYRES, whose SUNDAY night talk show has been on the station since 1973! Not to mention some outrageous television commercials from back in the day, and a "contest" to see if a couple of the former jocks could still "hit the post." They could and did--tip of the hat to both "FAST" JIMI ROBERTS and AJ HAMMER! 

From the station's early days as a ROCK stalwart, JIMMY FINK recounted having to meet JOHN LENNON at the elevator to bring him up to the studio. FINK gave a shout out to fellow legend CAROL MILLER, who was also in the house, and who broke many glass ceilings on her way to market number one. MITCH DOLAN, whose position in the corner office was a key component to the station's many successes, talked lovingly about how it always was about the people who made the magic happen--those both off and on the air. JIM KERR connected the dots from the station's earliest days to the present, completing the circle with current afternoon jock RACE TAYLOR. KERR also explained how his partner (both then and now) SHELLI SONSTEIN, turned an on-air dirty joke bit into a massively successful book. As the saying goes, only in NEW YORK...  The presentation concluded the only way it could have, with SCOTT SHANNON standing front and center with microphone in hand.  SHANNON spoke passionately about both the station and its people (a common theme all night), along with great schemes and promotions that made things sizzle. And he wrapped things up with the very appropriate DR. SUESS-ism, "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

The room was filled with folks from all walks of the station's life, from sales to promotions to engineering to administrative to interns. Recent PD's GILLETTE and JOHN FOXX were there, as were former MD's MIKE PRESTON and TONY MASCARO. The current staff was well represented, with an appearance on stage by the person who will be the last to sit in the PD chair, DAVE LABROZZI, not to mention the likes of MIKE ALLAN, MELONY TORRES and production whiz DAN KELLY. Late, great programmer LARRY BERGER was mentioned fondly throughout the night as well.  

There were legendary promotion executives on hand as well, with JOHN BOULOS, DANNY BUCH, PETE COSENZA, MIKE EASTERLIN, CHARLIE FOSTER, JERRY LEMBO, PADDY RASCONA, JOE RICCITELLI and MARK RIZZO representing. 

Thankfully, "Radio's Best Friend," ART VUOLO was there with camera rolling to capture all of the action.

WPLJ will sign off on MAY 31st.  New owner Christian broadcaster EMF will take over at that time. There will be a special broadcast prior to the ownership hand off.

CUDDY tells ALL ACCESS that this roll call of attendees "has an accuracy rate of 97%."
DAVE ALBERTSON, JACKIE ALDERMAN, MIKE ALLAN, THERESA ANGELA, RALPHIE AVERSA, BILL & JEANNINE AYRES, CORRINE BALDASSANO, MARLA BANE, TONY BANKS, JANET BARDINI, ALEX BENNETT, BRAD BLANKS, ADAM BLEAKNEY, STEVE BORNEMAN, CATHY BORRUSO, SCOTT BOUDIN, JOHN BOULOS, BRITTANY BRADY, ANNA MARIE BRANCUCCI, CARRIE BREGAR, ROBBY BRIDGES, TONY BROWN, JIM BROWNWOLD, FRANK BRUNO, CAROL TATE BRYANT, TINA BURKE, FRANK CAMMARATA, MARIA CARCHIDI, RAY CASTRO, PAUL CAVALCONTE, JENNIFER CAVANAUGH, BARBARA CHASE, CINDI CLARK, BRUCE CLAYTON, MARC COPPOLA, PETE COSENZA, TOM COSTABILE, TOM CUNNINGHAM, MICHAEL CUPOLO, ANNE DALTON, MEREDITH DANIELS, FRANK D'ELIA, DANIELLE DELLILO, ROY & MARJORIE DEUTSCHMANN, NAOMI DICLEMENTE, JIMMY DIELE, MITCH DOLAN, ROSS DORON, SYEDAH DUNCAN, MIKE EASTERLIN, MICHAEL ELLIS, LINDA EMERY, BLAIN ENSLEY, BETH EPSTEIN, BILL EVANS, MELISSA EXELBERTH, MAX FELDER, MICHAEL FELDMAN, SEAN FERGUSON, DIANA FERRITO, GINA MARIE SCOLLO FESTO, HEATHER FEUER, JIMMY FINK, JOSHUA FISCHER, WILLIAM FITZPATRICK, ALI FLEMING, JESSE FLOHR, ALINA FLORESCU, JOHN FOXX, EUNICE "EUTOPIA" FRANKLIN, MERLE FRIMARK, BLAIR GARNER, KEVIN GARRITY, GILLETTE, BOB GILMORE, ELLEN GIRONE, BERNADETTE GLENDON, BRUCE GOLDBERG, ADAM GOODMAN, PAT GRACE, DENNIS GRAIANI, FRED GREENSPAN, JANE GRIMALDI, CARYN GRODENCHIK, CONNOR HALL, TANIA HAMILTON, AJ HAMMER, STEVE HART, ALYSSA HEIMRICH, MARLENA HIDLAY, MARC HILSENRATH, DAN HIRSCHI, DAVE HOEFFEL, HOWARD HOFFMAN, MARTA HOGAN, KIKI HOOPER, THERESA IANNANTUANO, FRANK IEMMITI, JAMES INGRASSIA, KERI INGVARSSON, RUBY IPPOLITO, PAT JARMEK, MARILYN KRAMER, MICHAEL KAOS, HARRY KAPSALIS, JACQUELYN KARL, DEBBIE KATTOUR, DAN KELLY, TODD KELLY, JJ KENNEDY, LAURIE KLINE, CHRIS KONYA, MARK KORDASH, JOEY & TINA KRAMER, JOHN KREHLEY, DAVID KREISWIRTH, EVETTE, KRUMREY, DAVE LABROZZI, CAROL LAFACE, RAUL LAHEE, SCOTT LAKEFIELD, PAM LANDRY, CHRISTINA LANG, BETH LARKIN, TINA LASTELLA, JULIE LAVIN, COOPER LAWRENCE, ANNE MARIE, LEAMY, JAMIE LEE, MAUREEN LESOURD, SCOTT LIEF, DIANA LOCHBRIDGE, WILLARD LOCKRIDGE, JENNIFER WILLIAMS LOCUST, CHAD LOPEZ, KRISTIN LOPEZ, KATHRYN FISHER LOPEZ, MICHAEL MAIMONE, CHRIS MARINO, BOB MARRONE, TONY MASCARO, MARY MATHERS, LANA MATRAI, TED MATURO, GENE MAXWELL, TIM MCCARTHY, KELLYANN MCENERY, JIM & DIANE MCGUIRE, KRISTIE MCINTYRE, RAYMOND MCKENZIE, KATHY MCLAUGHLIN, MARYANN MCNERNEY, ADRIENNE MCWILLIAMS, JANEEN MEGLORANZO, DANNY MEYERS, PHIL MICARI, TODD MICHALAK, JEFF MILES, CAROL MILLER, JESSICA MILLINGTON, PAUL MIRALDI, CINDY MIRANDA, STACEY MOLETA, ZORAIDA MONTALVO, TOM MORGAN, BERNARDO MORONTA, GEORGE THOMAS MUSGRAVE, WALTER MYSHOLOWSKY, ERIK NAGEL, JOE NOLAN, PAUL NOONAN, ROSEMARY OCCHIOGROSSO, DENISE OLIVER, HEATHER O'ROURKE, ROBIN OSTROWSKI, HERNANDO PACHON, MAY PANG, BOB PAQUETTE, JOE PARDAVILA, JOHN PATTERSON, STEVE PEPE, DEBORAH PETRUZZELLI, MICHAEL PHILLIPS, TONY PIGG, SCOTT PITEK, VANESSA PITTMAN, HENRY PLIMACK, MIKE PRESTON, NICOLE QUERCI, JIM REILLY ALBERT REINOSO, CHRISTINE RICHIE, JOE RICCITELLI, BRADLEY RICHMAN, MARK RIZZO, FAST JIMI ROBERTS, GLADYS RODRIGUEZ, TONY ROMA, ALEX ROMAN, SU RONNENBURGER, CHRISTINA ROOFE, HOWARD ROSENBLATT, RAY ROSSI, JERRY RUBINO, DONNA RUSSO, KAREN RUSSO, KAREN RUTTNER, WALT SABO, SCOTT SALEM, DAVID SALIDOR, NAOMI SALVATORE, MILAGROS SANCHEZ, PAUL SANCHEZ, SHAUN SANDOVAL, DANIELLE SANZONE, KRISTINE SATKOSKY, PATRICIA SCANLON, PAULA SCHNEIDER, ANITA SCIPIO, CARLA SCOTT, MICHELLE SEIDENFRAU, MATT SEINBERG, BUTCH SELTZER, SCOTT SHANNON, ALLEN SHAW, JOSH SHRON ,SANDY SIDOTI, SCOTT SIEGEL, KENYATTA SIMPSON, NATE SMITH, TED SMITH, ADAM SMOOK, SHELLI SONSTEIN, PAT ST. JOHN, PATTY STEELE, YVETTE STOKER, MATT SUCICH, JEAN SYNODINOS, JOHN TANTILLO, RACE TAYLOR, ROB TAYLOR, MELONY TORRES, ROBERTO TORRES, DONNA TRAVERS, SUSAN TRUGMAN, HEIDI VANDENBROUCK, MARIAN VELIVIS, WILL VOUGHT, ART VUOLO, KENNY WALKER, SKY WALKER, JANE WALLACH, KYLE WATSON, JOE WEINHOLTZ, LINDA WNEK, MELISSA WRIGHT, CHUCK YOCHIM, BILL ZAFIROS, TOM ZARECKI and CAROLE ZIMMER.

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