Ron Joseph
Ron Joseph (June 11, 1941, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - April 24, 2022) was an American television producer known for his dance shows. On his shows, he was usually referred to as RJ.
Early life
Ron Joseph began his broadcasting career in 1950 on Ghost Riders, a Philadelphia children's show on WCAU. Four years later, in 1954, Joseph was a panel member on Radio Rangers, a dramatic series on WCAU-AM. It aired on Sunday mornings and was hosted by Phil Sheridan.
In 1955, as a teenager, RJ published and edited a local newspaper, The Upper Darby Tower, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
TV and radio career
The next year (1956), Ron began as a regular teenage dancer on the locally-aired Bandstand, hosted by Bob Horn and carried over WFIL.
When Dick Clark took over the show, RJ stayed on as a regular. A year later, when Bandstand went national (as American Bandstand), Ron continued as a steady dancer and became the only regular to have a dance show of his own, like Clark.
Ron played Ramon Montenegro in an episode of Mama’s Family ~ they entered & won a dance contest.
In 1960, Ron Joseph graduated from Upper Darby High and it was about that time that he joined the staff of WEEZ Radio (then licensed to Chester, Pennsylvania). He did a nightly top 40 music show on the station. For a time, he was a paid staff member.
In the meantime, there was a new TV station in town, WPCA-TV, Channel 17 in Philadelphia. Station owner Rev.
RJ went to the same church as Philadelphia's legendary TV newsman,
By 1966, RJ opened an "under twenty-one"
That same year, Ron began his own TV dance party on Philadelphia's WIBF-TV, Channel 29, and
In 1982, Ron Joseph was broadcasting over XPRS, a Mexican radio station serving Los Angeles. The outlet had 50,000 watts and blanketed the sixteen western states, plus parts of Canada and a large part of Mexico.
Then RJ had another TV program, Teen Scene Magazine, which was carried in the Philadelphia area over WRBV-TV, Channel 65 (now
In 1985, RJ returned to radio on the Philadelphia Wireless Institute's station, WPWT-FM. At this same time, Ron created Beach Party USA which originated from Hunts Pier in Wildwood, NJ. The program aired over Wilmington's Channel 61, WTGI (now
The next year, RJ traveled to Europe for a new teenage motion picture, Gemini Twin Stars, starring Gene Patrick as McGinty, who was "discovered" by RJ at his teen club on South Street in Center City Philadelphia.
In 1990, RJ pioneered a new field,
In 1993, he opened low-power television station, W05AX-TV in Wildwood/Cape May and four years later, in 1997, WELL-TV, Channel 8 in Willow Grove.
In 1998, RJ began a disco "block party" Sunday afternoons on WNJC Radio and Friday evenings in 2000 at Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT. He has syndicated Disco USA to independent stations across the nation including KECG-FM in Oakland, California serving San Francisco, a city RJ has become obsessed with over the years. His TV dance show, The Nostalgia Dance Party, continues to air in that market.
Ron Joseph was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers in 2003.
RJ briefly hosted a Saturday-afternoon talk show on WNWR called Something To Say With RJ, from May 2006 to July 2007.
TV projects
In 2007, Ron Joseph appeared in the motion picture Fabulous, the life story of