Kendall B, Class of 1992, On 30 Years in Radio

Kendall B, Class of 1992, On 30 Years in Radio

Author: WJPZ February 10, 2023 Duration: 41:52

"If you stay ready, you ain't go to get ready."  - Sugar Free

That lyric is a mantra that Southern California native Kendall B has lived by ever since he got to Syracuse University and WJPZ.  When a morning show co-host didn't show up, this young overnight jock stuck around to do the show with Jim Gallagher.   When the prior host of the Saturday Night Dance Jam didn't show up to train him, Kendall took over the show.   And when a slot opened up on the morning show his senior year, he started hosting it.   This mantra served him well in his professional career, too.

Kendall started as an overnight jock in Greensboro, North Carolina, subsisting on extra Bojangles chicken sandwiches in his freezer.   By always being ready, he worked his way up to morning show producer, and eventually nights, hosting Kendall B's Night Train, in a truly golden era for Hip Hop and R&B.

Next, it was off to Denver to do middays, then mornings when that slot opened up.  His "interim" morning show gig lasted seventeen years, becoming a fixture in the community.   In fact, when that gig ended, he was approached by another GM in town who wanted him badly enough to let him do the show remotely.   It didn't matter that Kendall and his wife were headed home to LA.

Kendall stayed ready - getting into corporate radio training with Futuri Media, and after his last on-air gig ended, he moved his show to Amazon's new Amp platform - where his Denver and national listeners can hear him every weekday morning, Pacific time of course.

As a 30 year radio veteran, Kendall shares his thoughts on the current state of the industry, and what it needs to do going forward.  And we wrap up with a couple hilarious stories from WJPZ circa 1990, involving a cassette deck and a men's room.

More: Kendall B's show On Amp (live weekdays at 9am Eastern/6am Pacific): https://live.onamp.com/Y3w4zkVR6wb

Kendall's Goodbye Break on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OjLJDD52GuI

Join Us in Syracuse for Banquet on March 4th: https://bit.ly/WJPZ50BanquetTickets

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast is produced by Jon Gay '02 and JAG in Detroit Podcasts

Want to be on the show? Email JAG at jag@jagpodcastproductions.com

Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/


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For fifty years, the student-run airwaves of Syracuse University's WJPZ at 50 have been more than a radio station; they've been a launchpad. This oral history project captures that legacy not through dry facts, but through the voices that built it. Each episode is a conversation with a different alumnus, from the pioneers of the 1970s to recent graduates, tracing how their hands-on experience in what's called the "world's greatest media classroom" shaped careers in broadcasting and far beyond. You'll hear personal stories of late-night broadcasts, technical mishaps turned into triumphs, and the forging of lifelong bonds that created a unique professional family spanning generations. This podcast digs into the real, often messy, work of learning by doing, revealing how a campus station became an enduring institution. Tune in for a collection of fifty interviews that together form a living archive, celebrating the people, not just the programming, behind five decades of student-led radio.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

WJPZ at 50
Podcast Episodes
Matthew Reschke, aka R Source [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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We're talking today with Matthew Reschke, also known as R Source, from the class of 2012. Matt's connection to WJPZ started in his childhood, growing up near Syracuse and engaging with the station's DJs through AOL - bef…
What Happens (at the NAB Show) in Vegas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Every year, the WJPZ Alumni Association, via the Berrell Award, sends two students to an industry event. In 2023, GM Grace Denton and former sports director Joe Puccio went to Vegas for the National Association of Broadc…
Kelly (Foster) and Adam Shapiro, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:39
If you don't know Adam and Kelly (Foster) Shapiro's backstory, you might assume it's yet another romance started in the halls of WJPZ. Their story, as you'll hear here, is a much different road than than other Z89 couple…
Meteorologist Dave Roberts, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:48
While many of us flipped burgers or bagged groceries in high school, Dave Roberts was reading the news on an AM station and (literally) herding cats as a 15 year old. When he toured Syracuse and saw the WJPZ prize van, a…
Seattle Mariners VP of Marketing Kevin Martinez, Class of 1988 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:32
Kevin Tippy Martinez, '88, is the Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Seattle Mariners. It's no surprise that this New Jersey native, with passions for baseball and broadcasting, found himself trans…
Mike Roberts, longtime V103 Morning Man and PD, Class of 1979 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:55
Mike Roberts, Class of 1979, is one of the people who helped kept WJPZ alive in the early days. With the station's founders having graduated, Mike empowerd a team to run radio station, passing its educational lessons for…
GM Marc Bokoff, '87, on the Sit-In at WJPZ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:45
Today we interview Marc Bokoff, from the class of 1987. A management major, Marc came to the station as business manager under then-GM Larry Barron, before becoming general manager himself. He took over the station in th…
Scott Greene, Class of '93: Newspaper to Radio and Back! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:32
Scott Greene, '93, grew up just outside Boston wanting to be a newspaper reporter. He did it in high school and came to Syracuse wanting to pursue that career. But WJPZ quickly drew him in, and he says the only columns h…
Marty D, Class of 2001, Draws Out The Laughs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:07
Links!All of Marty's current work, including podcasts: https://weeklyhumorist.com/Marty's archive of Z Morning Zoo bits, including the full Rick Wright tour of the Ostrom House: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ascjv18c5…