Jon Solomon is counting down the days until his annual Christmas marathon broadcast of music, comedy, and stories on Princeton University’s college radio station WPRB 103.3 FM (location of my 100th station tour). Celebrating his 30th year of Christmas Eve/Christmas Day specials, he’s marking the occasion by signing up for a 30-hour stint on the air. This year’s marathon will begin on Monday, December 24 at 3pm EST and will run until 9pm EST on Christmas Day (12/25/18). Listeners can tune in over FM in the New Jersey/New York/Philadelphia area and can listen and watch via webcam from all over the world.
Amazed by how he’s kept this tradition going over the years, I reached out to Solomon to learn more about the epic holiday show that began when he was a high school student.
Radio Survivor: So you are doing 30 hours for your 30th anniversary this year. Is this the longest marathon you’ve done?
Jon Solomon: It is the longest anything I’ve ever done! For the Holiday Radio Show’s 25th anniversary I bumped the program up an extra hour from the original 24 but this is a serious expansion to celebrate 30 years of my marathons on WPRB. One year early on I did have to engineer a pre-taped broadcast on reel-to-reel before I started my own program. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case a second time, but that was probably 27 hours all in all.
The last time I was on-air there was a very sudden realization that the next time I’d be on 103.3 fm WPRB would be for TEN TIMES LONGER than my regular Wednesday evening program‘s length.
Jon Solomon and daughter in WPRB studio in 2016. Photo courtesy Jon Solomon
Radio Survivor: Tell me about your first marathon. How long was it?
Jon Solomon: I actually don’t know how long it was! It is a rather simple origin story for something that has taken on such significance for me. There was a paper sign-up sheet in the lobby of WPRB back in 1988 and as a new DJ I decided I’d write my name down for the blocks covering Christmas Eve into Christmas morning and stay on the air playing Xmas records and long songs until the next person showed up.
I’d guess it was 10-12 hours in total, but I knew that the next year I wanted to try and do a full 24 – which I then did. Boy was it rough! I’d likely never been up all night before, let alone on a radio station for 24 hours in a row. More on that in a bit.
Radio Survivor: Is it true that you’ve done this every year and have only missed one year?
Jon Solomon: Absolutely. Every year since 1988 – save 1995 when I graduated college the week prior and then drove from Chicago to the West Coast (via Denver and Las Vegas) to see my alma mater play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in my lifetime (Go Wildcats!). Spent Christmas in snowy Kearney, Nebraska in a motel eating Chinese food and realizing that I should have been playing holiday music on the radio. If it wasn’t for that moment, I’m not sure the marathon would still be going 20+ years later!
Radio Survivor: How do you prepare?
Jon Solomon: Constant previewing from Thanksgiving on, and always keeping my eyes / ears open for recordings I haven’t heard prior. Even when I’m typing these words. Just finished a compilation of new Xmas mashups, and followed that with the first holiday song by the great Nina Nastasia. I want to keep the show fresh and interesting for my own sake, let alone what I feel like I owe listeners. So I need to make sure that in addition to old favorites each marathon has at least 25% previously un-aired material.
Radio Survivor: Are you alone in the studio?
Jon Solomon: For a bunch of it, yes. However, my folks usually come by very late (or very early if you prefer) and sit quietly in the back of the studio. I try and sneak a picture of them asleep on WPRB’s couch, but they’re on to my antics by now.
Jon Solomon’s parents asleep during his marathon Christmas show, 2015. Photo: Jon Solomon
Other DJs and some close friends will stop by throughout and my wife + daughter show up down the stretch. The years where beyond the above have come down to WPRB have been harder for me to handle. There was a documentary film crew *and* a news crew from Philadelphia in the studio at the same time in 2007 and I wanted to crawl under the board and hide.
Radio Survivor: I read that you proposed to your wife during the show and that you brought your infant child to the show. Are family participating this year?
Jon Solomon: It is true! I love the moment when Nicole and Maggie come by annually, not only because it means the show has made it into the final hours (which are always emotional to begin with) for another year but also because I enjoy talking with them on-air. With no new Star Wars movie this holiday season, I’ll have to come up with some new topics for my daughter and I to break down!
Radio Survivor: What will be different about this year’s show?
Jon Solomon: Hopefully, the right mix of old favorites and new discoveries. We’ll begin with a special two hour mix before the traditional 5:00 pm ET show open and close with a similar three hour mix following my usual 6:00 pm ET sign-off – with the option to improvise based on how I’m feeling at that point. I’ll be again debuting a new “Christmas story” from a different comedian / band / person every hour, as has been tradition since 2011.
Radio Survivor: How do you stay awake, engaged for that long?
Jon Solomon: The first key is over-preparation. I’ve got more than one spreadsheet with plans / lists to follow based on how past years have gone. That way you shouldn’t be scrambling to find anything in your library with seconds remaining on the record that’s currently playing. I also give up coffee and sweets the first Monday in December. That helps cut down on the roller coaster of highs and lows.
A steady diet of green tea and chai during the broadcast keeps my equilibrium steady and I eat a mushroom / sweet potato / ginger stew my wife makes that’s nourishing but not too messy when I am hungry. That’s the “taste” of Christmas for me.
Radio Survivor: Are you playing physical music for the entire time or do you prepare long digital sets for any of it?
Jon Solomon: It is a mix. Most deep finds are digital these days via Bandcamp / Soundcloud / etc., but I’m always picking up CDs, adding vinyl to my library and collecting the occasional holiday 45. A lot of listener requests come from the 7-8 plastic tubs in my collection I’ll lug to the station day of show – along with some seasonal decorations for the studio.
Radio Survivor: Any weird, favorite memories from doing the marathon?
Jon Solomon: Jeez. Where to start! The show is such a blur each year that I often have to be reminded of special moments down the line. Getting engaged during the show seems ridiculous to me now. Having a caller say some very unkind things to me one year, then calling to apologize a year later. Hearing from listeners I only talk to on Christmas. People who grew up with the marathon through their parents that now make the show an annual tradition of their own as adults, who haven’t known a time before this marathon existed!
A long-time regular WPRB caller I thought had passed away phoning to let me know how he was doing after years of silence. All the new traditions that have developed inside this tradition the past 30 years like the All-Ramones-inspired set, the All-Misfits-inspired sets, the All-Fall inspired set and Snaildartha: The Story of Jerry The Christmas Snail. Discovering listeners hang snail ornaments from their Xmas trees because of this piece was amazing to learn. Also, hallucinating due to sleep deprivation the first year I did a full 24. Oof.
Radio Survivor: Can folks listen to an archive if they miss it?
Jon Solomon: It is difficult to archive a 30 hour broadcast but all the “stories” each year are posted after the marathon on my site / Facebook / Twitter and usually some select moments from the show too. I have the past handful of shows archived in full at home, so if there’s ever a need to find something I can pull it up.
Radio Survivor: Anything else?
Jon Solomon: Thanks for the questions. I seriously can’t wait until Christmas Eve. This should be a lot of fun. Next song submission just arrived. Time to take a listen…
