John Paul Roberts began his radio career with a tiny station in his basement while still in high school. He played Top 40 at WBLF in Bellefonte, PA. in 1963 and in 1964, in Sharon, Pennyslvania at WPIC. He became known as Jolly Rodger in 1965 at WHOT, also Top 40, in Youngstown, Ohio.

In 1966, following a short stint as an engineer at WIXY in Cleveland, he joined Country-formatted WEEP in Pittsburgh as Johnny Breit. He was the daytimer's morning man, and after he signed the station on late six times in his first six months, they moved him to afternoon drive.

Back to Top 40 in 1968, Jolly Rodger was rated #1 doing 6PM to Midnight at WIRK in West Palm Beach, Florida. After five months, Lee Sherwood called from Miami and offered him the 9PM to 1AM shift at WQAM. He was the top-rated jock known as John Paul Roberts through 1969.

Jolly Rodger, WIRK West Palm Beach Florida, June 1968 (20:18)

. . . a vote for Snoopy is a vote for a bone on every plate . . .

In the summer of 1968, I was Jolly Rodger on WIRK in West Palm Beach Florida.

WIRK was the #1 rated station in the West Palm Beach Metro, playing Top 40. I was on 6PM to Midnight. This aircheck is mostly unscoped, but at the end, there were some problems with the tape and a portion was edited.

John Paul Roberts, WQAM Miami, December 18, 1968 (30:20)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (10:19)

. . . I was born ready . . .

I had only been on WIRK five months when I got a call from Lee Sherwood, PD at WQAM in Miami, offering me the 9PM to 1AM slot on the highest-rated station in all of Florida.

We had a 54 share back in those days. In this aircheck from December 18, 1968, you'll hear Dan Chandler promoting the upcoming Miami Pop Festival.

Roby Yonge with John Paul Roberts, June 13, 1995 (01:13:38)

. . . I never said the guy is dead, and I don't say it now, but there's reason to believe something is going on . . .

Young Roby Yonge Roby Yonge went from WQAM Miami to WABC New York in 1967. Soon after I got to WQAM he was visting Miami and called me on the request line saying, "Hey kid, you sound pretty good. How about we go have a drink when you get off?" To have a WABC DJ call me was almost like God calling. We became good friends until Roby passed away in the late 1990's.

At my home, after dinner one evening, we went into my back bedroom studio and recorded this for posterity. In this "interview", if you want to call it that, Roby talks about what it was like to sit down behind the mic at WABC for the first time, how he got there and was given a secret code, his thoughts about "Is Paul Dead", and more.

Roby Yonge was a great radio talent and a fine human being. He could tell wonderful stories and keep his listeners spellbound. He is sorely missed.