Something about WTJU appeals to the radio station’s DJs.
Really appeals to them. Such that some have spent decades hosting weekly shows on the station, licensed to the University of Virginia and on the air since 1957.
In October, the station’s longest-volunteering DJ hosted his last regular show. Dave Rogers, known through his WTJU show and across the regional music community as “Professor Bebop,” ended a run of nearly 50 years as leader of a jazz-centric weekly show.
His departure still leaves a full stable of continuing DJs who have hosted regular shows for equally improbable and impressive amounts of time. WTJU features more than a half-dozen current hosts who have been producing shows regularly for 25 or 30 or 40 years – and longer.
UVA Today published a feature about Professor Bebop a few years back, and with his retirement from a regular show, we checked in with a few other long-serving DJs to find out what keeps them excited about letting the music play on.
Here are sketches of a few of the long-serving WTJU hosts:
