Joe Montione, commonly referred to as Banana Joe, (born in

Hartford, CT Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded County (United States), county government in 19 ...

, January 21, 1954 – died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Sept.11, 2021) was a well-known a

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

Early career

Banana Joe grew up in

Pittston, PA Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th an ...

, about 100 miles north of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Joe first worked as a DJ at King's College station WRKC-FM. He then began his commercial DJ career at WILK-AM Wilkes-Barre, eventually being hired at Philadelphia's

WFIL WFIL (560 AM) is a radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Christian radio format consisting of teaching and talk programs. Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNTP ...

. He also worked at other stations, including Y100/Miami, CHUM/Toronto, WLOF/Orlando and in 1979 moving to Los Angeles to work at KHJ radio.

Later career

Montione later returned to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

WILK Wilk is a surname of English and Polish-language origin. In Poland, the surname means wolf and is pronounced . It has 35,000 bearers in Poland and ranks about 60th on the list of the most popular Polish surnames (fifth in Podkarpackie Voivodeship ...

radio/

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

as Program Director/Afternoon Drive personality. It was there he formed an investment group, and in 1983 purchased WHTF-FM York, PA, and in 1984 bought

WTLQ-FM WTLQ-FM (97.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station located in Punta Rassa, Florida, broadcasting to the Fort Myers area. WTLQ-FM airs a hispanic urban music format branded as "Latino 97.7". On October 5, 2022, after being off the air due to Hurr ...

Scranton, PA Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Vall ...

. After selling his interest in both stations in 1988, Montione moved back to Los Angeles. In 1991 he premiered the Banana Joe Flashback show on

KIIS-FM KIIS-FM (102.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a top 40 format. Owned by iHeartMedia, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglomer ...

. Montione also became National Programming/Marketing Director for

Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

and launched a station in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and later at WUSA

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

and KTXQ in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Joe returned to Los Angeles in 2003, forming the Banana Joe Radio Group launching Internet station Flashbacktop40.com in 2005. In addition to FT40, Montione is Senior VP for satellite replacement company Synchronicity.co, featuring new platforms and automation systems for radio. The 70s, 80s, 90s Hits format that make up Flashback Top-40, is now in syndication to terrestrial radio in addition to the online version. Banana Joe is heard weekly live from Hollywood to a worldwide audience on Flashbacktop40.com radio.

References

'Banana' Joe Goes To Bat For Local Radio With Hillary Clinton , AllAccess.com

'Banana' Joe, Rick Dees Team For Flashback Show , AllAccess.com

External links

FlashbackTop40 Radio LIVE

Banana Joe Radio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banana Joe Montione 1954 births Living people People from Pittston, Pennsylvania American radio personalities People from Hartford, Connecticut