True House Stories® Youtube & Spotify Video Podcast
TRUE HOUSE STORIES W/ JOE CAUSI # 083
Joe Causi interviewed by Lenny Fontana for True House Stories # 083
Part 1
“Brooklyn’s Own” Joe Causi is among New York’s legendary disc jockeys. He has been a staple in New York radio since the late 1970’s. Raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Causi can truly claim to be one of ‘Brooklyn’s Own. ‘ He takes what his hometown has given him from the street and shares it with his radio audience.
Come listen to how it all began for him on Disco 92 WKTU FM and the birth of disco. He is currently on the air on New York Radio in WCBS Fm 101.1 He will give you the ins and outs of what it takes to make it.
Part 2
Joe Causi talks about his time on the number one radio station in the number one market in the country. Disco 92 WKTU-FM with its big disco sound and stellar array of air personalities. As the momentum changes and the backlash to disco and the change to the format the station starts to slide down with its ratings forcing it to close. Joe takes us on the inside trek of the stations short life and what happened after it all ended.
Even the best artists and DJ’s in their career experience life changing moments and sometimes find themselves out of work and not by choice. Listen to Joe talk about what he needed to do to get himself back on the air waves and reinvent himself.
Today you can hear his golden voice on WCBS 101.1FM New York during the week in the evenings, and with over 40 years’ experience under his belt you will understand why he is one of the best in the radio business.
Joe Causi YouTube Video Part 1
Joe Causi YouTube Video Part 2
Biography Joe Causi
“Brooklyn’s Own” Joe Causi is among New York’s legendary disc jockeys. He has been a staple in New York radio since the early ’80’s.
Raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Causi can truly claim to be one of ‘Brooklyn’s Own.’ He takes what his hometown has given him from the street and shares it with his radio audience. Whether it is advertisers’ grand openings, dance clubs or concerts, Joe’s warm sense of humor and ability to relate to people has made him a favorite with his listeners.
Joe has been making people smile almost all his life. Always the class clown, he got his start by imitating people – teachers, movie stars and, ultimately, anything that made a sound! Impersonations developed into a natural talent and an effective entertaining tool coupled with his air personality.
A graduate of the College of Staten Island, where he majored in Electro-Mechanical Technology, Joe soon realized that music and performance were where his heart and talent were. After enrolling in the Announcer Training Broadcast Studios in New York City, Joe was selected from a group of 100 people to work as an in-store disc jockey at Jimmy’s Music World, a large record outlet in Manhattan.
In March 1978, Joe joined a radio station in Hibbing, Minnesota where he rounded out his talent and experience working in production, hosting live remotes, sports-casting and news. You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take the Brooklyn out of the boy, and soon Joe was back in the metro area in Plainfield, NJ, where he produced the station’s commercials utilizing his vivid imagination. He then moved to Elizabeth, NJ for a midday on-air position.
Joe’s dreams of making it big in New York City came true after only a three-month stint in New Jersey when he received a call to audition for the legendary Disco 92 in New York City. He signed on as their morning personality and soon Joe Causi was the most listened to radio personality in the United States.
Joe received the honor of Grand Marshall of the Christopher Columbus parade in Brooklyn from the Federation of Italian Americans as well as the Howard Beach Columbus Day Foundation and Grand Marshall of the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. As a Sicilian-American, Joe says, “It just doesn’t get any better than that!”
Weeknights from 7p-12mid on CBS-FM 101.1 and Coast to Coast on WCBSFM.COM