Terry James Lubinsky is an American television, radio and digital media host known for his association with oldies and Motown music. He is also creator, executive producer and director of
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...
pledge-drive programs. He presents oldies-format music programs airing on PBS to tell the stories behind the "songs of yesteryear".
Background
Lubinsky was born in
Bradley Beach, New Jersey
Bradley Beach is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,282, a decrease of 16 (−0.4%) from the 2010 ...
and grew up in nearby
Ocean Grove. His grandfather,
Herman Lubinsky, Sr., founded
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music.
In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music.
...
in
Newark, and introduced acts that would be influential in modern popular music (Doo-Wop, Motown, disco and Top 40). Lubinsky, Sr. founded and operated
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
's first radio station WNJ.
His uncle, "Buzzy", was also a well-known club disc jockey in New Jersey.
Production career
At 16, Lubinsky obtained his
General Equivalency Diploma
The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four academic subject tests in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories certifying academic knowledge equivalent to a high school diploma. This certifi ...
and accepted his first television job at Monmouth Cable TV-34 in New Jersey, where he learned television production. He worked on different news, studio, and sport remotes that served 31 towns, boroughs and municipalities along the Jersey Shore.
When he turned 22, Lubinsky was offered a job to work for PBS in
South Florida
South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
. Later he was promoted and relocated to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
. In 1999, Lubinsky blended his passion for Doo-Wop, Motown, classic Philly Soul, and '60s Rock and Roll oldies into one of PBS's most successful fundraisers, "Doo-Wop '50".
He would go on to produce over 75 national television specials from PBS which archive America's soundtrack from the '50s, '60s and '70s through his "My Music" series.
Doctor Who
He helped bring several episodes of ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' to the United States which had not been shown in the country before. In 2003-2005, he also archived and restored several introductions made for the American broadcast of ''Doctor Who'' episodes from the
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
era, with voice-overs by
Howard Da Silva. These were included on the BBC DVD releases.
Later career
Lubinsky spent four years as host and DJ on the
WJRZ-FM
WJRZ-FM (100.1 MHz, "100.1 WJRZ") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Manahawkin, New Jersey. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts a classic hits format. The sta ...
Sunday Night Request Show, where he hosted five live hours by request through 2009, when the station flipped formats to Adult Contemporary. In July 2013, Lubinsky returned to a weekly Sunday night program on WJRZ.
Lubinsky ended his WJRZ radio program in 2014 to help care for his father, Herman Lubinsky, Jr. prior to his passing.
In 2015, Lubinsky produced a rerelease of
''Motown 25'', a 1983 program for public television. In April 2016, Lubinsky returned to radio for New Jersey station Oldies 1079, WOLD-LP and online and around the world at woldradio.com. Lubinsky can now be found most Wednesday and Friday nights from 9 PM to 12 AM EST at https://www.mixcloud.com/live/tjlradio/
TJ Lubinsky PBS television productions
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubinsky, TJ
American radio personalities
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Living people
People from Bradley Beach, New Jersey
Radio personalities from Pittsburgh
American entertainers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Television producers from New Jersey