Jim began his radio career at 15 in Lawrence, Kansas. "It was a small operation out in the middle of a cow pasture. I had to water the cows before signing on the station each morning".

He first came to the Washington area in 1969 while stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital. While an announcer with the Armed Forces Network, he also did weekends & swing as "Mark West" at WPGC, a name he shed by the time he joined the station full time for afternoons in late 1972. Early in 1975 he became Program Director, a position he held until the 'Great Strike That Struck Out' in May of 1977.

Following the strike, Jim became Vice President of Pop Promotion for Polydor Records in New York.  He returned to radio in the early '80's as Asst. PD of 66 WNBC, which was then the most listened to station in the nation.  There he also produced the weekly 'Music Magazine' feature and was the regular fill in host for the 'Imus in the Morning' program.

 

 

Dedication
If you would like to add your memories,
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Dino DelGallo writes:

Jim was an amazing individual who was keenly aware of the nuances of
radio; the right sound, personalities, and music selection. He was never
the same after the breakup of his marriage. We would converse at least
twice a year. I always remember our Christmas time phone calls and could
detect a bit of sadness in his voice.

We all have to deal with our own demons. I cannot find fault in how Jim
chose to deal with his. Whenever I think about Washington radio, I can't
help but think of the greatness of this facility, broadcasting from the
Parkway Building in Bladensburg, and how many lives it
ultimately touched.

And yes, Jim Collins was directly responsible for that success.

 

Alexander Goodfellow writes:

Jimbo was probably my best friend. I introduced him to his first wife and he introduced me to mine. We saw each other or spoke almost daily for over 20 years; I spoke to him the day he killed himself (he was in Kansas, I was in NYC; he gave no indication anything was wrong) and have been to the Collinson family plot in Kansas to visit his grave (his ashes were buried with a copy of The Eagles' Greatest Hits, his favorite album) with his Mother. I still think of Jim and am still angry at him for not toughing it out against his inner demons. But then, maybe if I had been him I wouldn't have either. There's no way to know such a thing.

Jim was unusually talented and unusually sensitive to those around him, although he was never really comfortable with people. He was more comfortable with things, and a website (like a radio station) is a thing. He would have loved this site and would no doubt have been a vigorous contributor.

Those who were around at the time know what an amazing job Jim did as 'PGC's PD; he really made "The Pig" sing and it wasn't just us radio people who thought so. Now, thanks to this great website, Jim and his achievements live on!

 

I remember when he first came to the station to apply for a job, in uniform, shy, insecure, sincere. We knew immediately he was a "winner". He spent many a night at the Jones household early in his partime career, eating homecooked meals, and relaxing. He was one really nice guy. I miss him terribly.

The last time I spoke with him he was back in Kansas, and he sounded really sad, and confused. He was programming some station in the market, can't remember which. He was really surprised that I called him. God Bless him.    

 

I remember the night Jim Collins came in to Dino Del Gallo, holding a stack of albums. He asked Dino to check thru 'em and try to find a single for this group that just couldn't seem to buy a top 40 hit, but was doing fine in concert. So Dino went thru the albums, and went back to Jim with his pick the next day. When Collins realized what the selection was he told Dino, hey, they already released that and it died. Dino came right back saying, no they didn't, they released the studio version and it died... they need to release the live version. So Collins took the recommendation back to the record company. They released the live version... "Rock & Roll All Night", and Kiss finally got their top 40 start.

The NAB Convention was in DC that year. Jim went, and met up with an old friend (who's name I won't mention). Anyway this old friend was back in town for the convention and had called a very pretty and somewhat notorious radio groupie to be his date. Collins didn't know her, but assumed she must work in radio... so sometime during the evening he gave her an invite for a tour of the station.

Surprise, surprise the following Monday she shows up for the tour. So Jim gives her the quick once around, but has to go on the air as it's 2:00pm. Well, she asks to 'borrow the phone' in his office. So Jim tells her to dial 9 to get an outside line and heads to the control room. Five minutes goes by and Jim gets a call on the inside studio line. She can't get her call to go thru, and wants his help. Jim has a long record on, so he heads for his office to fix the problem. Just outside the control room he runs into Glenn Potter and Bill Prettyman.

A brief conversation ensues, and Jim explains the problem as he's walking down the hall to his office... with the Potter and Prettyman a few steps behind ready to help. Jim opens the door and there she is ... NAKED on his desk... legs spread wide... and she says "Just wanted to give you a preview of what you can have later". Jim never missing a beat, pulls the door mostly closed, leaving his head inside just long enough to whisper loudly... "get the @#$# out of here"... and then loudly says... "Yes, it's '9' you need to press then wait for the dial tone". He then has to almost push Potter and Prettyman back into the hall...."No problem" "Phone is fine" "She wasn't dialing 9" or some such.

Well no one would ever have known about this.... except that when he got back to the control room, he realized some naked crazy woman was in HIS office, and might not leave. So he called Carla who was working on public service stuff, told her what happened, and asked her to go throw this woman out. Of course before she went to Jim's office she called and told Dino and a few others. By the time Carla got around to it the woman was gone!

 

Jim was a colleague, a mentor and a friend.  Certainly he was one of the biggest influences in my decision to get into radio.  I remember vividly my first night on the air at 66 WNBC / New York where, as Asst. PD he was instrumental in my hiring.  As I cracked the mic for the first time, he was standing several feet away, behind the glass with the board engineer on the other side, staring down at me.  I was much more nervous about performing before one of my radio heroes than I was being watched by the NBC tour or being heard by 3.5 million listeners in the greater NY area!

 

Early '70's

With contest winner in 1973

With another winner in 1973

W / yet another winner in 73

Wearing Music Troll T-shirt	Publicity Shot in 1973	W/ Harv Moore, ? & Columbus	w /Harv Moore & Bob Raleigh (Bill Miller) in 1974
Early 1976	With Helen Reddy in 1976	September 1976	Pre-strike in 1977

 

2/17/73

5/19/73

6/9/73

7/7/73	8/18/73	11/3/73	2/9/74
4/13/74	9/14/74	1/10/76	2/14/76
5/15/76	1/8/77	2/5/77	4/2/77