Roby Yonge was a 1960s radio DJ who was best known for being fired from New York station WABC-AM on October 21, 1969 when their phone lines were flooded after he reported the rumor that Paul McCartney was dead. Born in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Roby grew up in Ocala, Florida and got his first radio job when he was 15 years old. Roby's first Miami Florida job was as a newsman at WIOD, which was then WCKR. Roby moved to Miami's WQAM and became a disc jockey. He moved to New York and WABC in December, 1968. Roby went on the air with the Paul McCartney "death" rumor on October 21, 1969 which he received from WKNR-FM Detroit personality Chris Randall. Stating that he had already been fired (given 2 weeks notice) and that at 12:39 AM, he would not be cut because there was nobody around to cut the switch, Yonge began to speculate on the rumors that were circulating about the possible death of McCartney. The switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree, and Roby enjoyed his "15 minutes of fame." It was actually an hour and a half before program director Rick Sklar got Les Marshak in to relieve Yonge. Marshak continued to do Yonge's show until a replacement was hired. [1] Shortly thereafter, Roby re-emerged on WCBS-FM where he helped introduce the oldies format to that station. Roby stayed at WCBS-FM for a few years before returning to Florida where he was hired as the original morning personality on Y100 WHYI in Fort Lauderdale/Miami but was terminated after the first day on the air, August 3, 1973. Roby was next heard in mornings on competitor WMYQ-FM. In 1987, he did a morning show at WKAT/Miami, then returned to Miami in 1993 to do a music/talk show on 790 WMRZ. Roby died on July 18, 1997 of an apparent heart attack at age 54.
External links
- The Roby Yonge Home Page
- Musicradio77.com scoped aircheck from Yonge's final WABC show
