Janie Snyder

"Jane came to Tucson in 1970 and worked for 3 days in the Men's Dept. at Levy's. She's a grade school substitute teacher, Music Director at KWFM and the only full time woman jock in Arizona."

— from a full page print ad, circa 1974.

A native of Long Island, NY, Janie moved to Tucson after completing college. "I started in late 1971 as Traffic Manager and then did news and worked up to a few hours on air middays. By 1973 I was doing morning drive and was Music Director. They tell me I was the first full-time (English-speaking) female disc jockey in Arizona.

"Mark Young was my mentor. He believed in my love of the business and in my talent. One night while he was on the air and I was hanging around the station after work, he asked me if I would run the board for him while he went for a sandwich. Naturally, I said I would. I later discovered he had just gone down to his car, turned on the radio and left me alone for an HOUR!! After that, he gave me a little news show and it went on from there.

"One of my favorite memories of the period was the Kite Flying Contests. I think there were two or three of them. We all got together in one of Tucson's arroyos, everybody made kites and flew them. We had live music from local bands and prizes for the best kites. Good times."

In August 1974, Janie left Tucson for KYMS in Santa Ana. "I stayed for about a year until the format changed. Then I got into advertising (just like all good jocks)."

Janie joined the Film/TV/Video team at MGM Studios in 1980, where she met her husband. The two moved back east in 1984, settling in upstate New York where they lived for 18 years. "It was too damn cold, so we came back to California about a year ago and landed in Bakersfield, where it's too damn hot!"

I asked Janie if she was still doing radio work. "I did a lot of voiceover work while in New York, which kept me happy! I'm not in the business anymore — just a working stiff in Bakersfield — but I hope to get back into voiceover work here. I still love music and lead guitar players (some things never change)."

Janie tells us she has some goodies from the golden days. Can't wait to see / hear them!