Pat St. John (born February 12, 1951) is an American radio personality and voice-over artist. He began his radio career on Windsor, Ontario'sCKLW (800 AM) in 1969 and 1970, followed byWKNR (1310 AM) in late 1970 to early 1972, followed byWRIF FM (101.1) to April 1973. St. John is best known for the 42 years he spent in theNew York City radio market working forWPLJ,WNEW-FM,WAXQ andWCBS FM. He can now be heard onSirius XM Radio'60s Gold Weekdays 3PM to 7 PM ET and Saturdays from 8-11PM ET.[1] St. John has done television voiceover work, including announcing forDick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve from 2000 to 2010.
St. John is known for his conversational on-air style interspersed with bits of music trivia, along with "Collectible Cuts" from his extensive record library. He has been called a "walking encyclopedia" when it comes to his knowledge of music.[citation needed] St. John has interviewed many musicians. In 2023, St. John was inducted into the nationalRadio Hall of Fame.[2]
St. John was born in Detroit and was raised on the music ofMotown. In early 1969, at the age of 18, he landed his first gig as a radio personality on Windsor's CKLW, where he also worked for CKLW's 20/20 news doing newscasts one day a week, and part-time booth announcing on CKLW-TV Channel 9. In late 1970 he moved across the border toWKNR and was then hired in early 1972 at theABC-ownedalbum-oriented rock (AOR) stationWRIF until 1973.
In April 1973, St. John began an almost 15-year stint at New York's WPLJ. For most of his years at WPLJ he was rated byArbitron as the most-listened-to afternoon radio personality in America (source: ARB's "Drive-Time Dominaters"). He survived the station's transition from AOR totop 40 in 1983, and during that era, continued hisArbitron ratings success with that same ranking.
He left WPLJ in 1987, and returned to his rock roots on WNEW-FM, which had been WPLJ's rival during its AOR years. He became the station's program director in the early 1990s while continuing his mid-day show until being asked to do morning-drive (which he did from 1994 through 1996) and then moved to afternoons where then followedScott Muni who moved to mid-days). St. John remained with the station until it switched to ahot talk format in 1998.
After the demise of WNEW's rock format, St. John was one of the first programmers hired byCD Radio in October 1998 as the Director of classic Rock Programming). CD Radio would later change its name toSirius Satellite Radio, and then after acquiringXM Satellite Radio become known asSiriusXM, where he remains today as one of their most popular personalities. He also joined WCBS-FM in 2002, followed by moving to WAXQ in 2004 where he stayed until late 2006. In July 2007, he returned to the re-incarnated WCBS-FM following the station's short-lived detour to "Jack FM". In February 2008, St. John actually replacedHoward Cogan as the pre-recorded voice of theJack character onWCBS-FM-HD2 and its web stream atilikejack.com until it becameToNY (meaning "To New York" but pronounced "Tony" until later simulcasting WCBS News Radio 880 in December 2012. For the first decade of the new century he was the announcer forDick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. He continues to do voiceover work for radio and TV commercials as well as station imaging for radio and television as well as narration.
April 9, 2013 marked St. John's 40th anniversary on New York radio, making him New York's longest-running air personality.
In March 2015, St. John announced that he was leaving WCBS-FM and that he and his wife were moving to California to be closer to their grandson. He aired his final show on April 12, 2015.[3]
As of October 2023, he had already spent 25+ years working in satellite radio, starting with the CD Radio network in October 1998; that company later evolved intoSiriusXM after a merger with former rivalXM.[2] During those years, he has been heard on such channels as "60s Vibrations", "The Vault",Deep Tracks, and "Sirius Blues" (where he was also the channel's format manager and program director). In 2023, he can be heard regularly on'60s Gold (formerly'60s on 6)classic rock.[4]
He has also been the voice ofMetropolitan Opera Radio on the service, further showing his versatility. St. John was also chosen to announce system-wide thatHoward Stern would be joining Sirius.
St. John's association with classic rock has continued throughout the years as he has been asked for his input on several classic rock projects. He was thanked in the liner notes of albums by Marvin Gaye and Jr. Walker and The All-Stars, as well as the box-sets of Stevie Wonder and The Temptations. St. John is the narrator (along with Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie) of the two-CD set "The classic rock Story Volume 1: The 1960s". He can also be heard on classic rock's web site narrating several classic rock stories.
St. John was recognized byRock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland by being added to their permanent display of America's Greatest Classic Rock Air Personalities.[5]
St. John and his wife live in San Diego where he broadcasts his'60s Gold and rock'n roll shows from a customized studio in a barn on their property.[6]
The Pat St. John Collection is dated 1967 to 1971 and contains undated materials. The collection consists of a WNEW Christmas card, Pat St. John postcard, a CD Radio brochure, and radio play lists from 1967 to 1971.