Roger & JP Reach The Big 2-0
• On January, 4, 2020, Roger Luce and John “JP” Parise celebrated their 20th anniversary as hosts of the cleverly named Roger & JP morning show on Cox Media Group’s heritage Long Island Classic Rock station WBAB — a milestone that earned them a nice profile in Newsday… a.k.a. “a local newspaper.”
Both guys are native Long Islanders whose pairing seemed highly unlikely two decades ago — at the time, Luce (left) was already a veteran radio personality as well as the public-address announcer for the New York Islanders and Mets, while Parise (right), was slightly less experienced — he was the station’s van driver.
When asked the key their market longevity, Luce told Newsday, “We are real people, not goofy radio DJs. We’ve personally bonded with our listeners by talking about our lives, [and] I’ll always feel that bond with each and every one of these thousands of Long Islanders.” Queried about their similarities and differences, Parisi replied, “Roger is way more optimistic, and if it wasn’t for Roger, I don’t know if there’d be a 20th. He’s got the patience of a saint, and I’m crazy. He knows when to calm me down and when he needs to fight the battle with me. [Also], we never try to be friends. We don’t hang out together.”
Having hit that mythical 20-year milestone, Newsday asked the guys how much longer they feel the show could go on. Luce said, “It’s very rare in radio to get to speak to one audience for this long. If we get the chance to entertain the BAB audience for another 10 years, I probably wouldn’t press our luck after that. LOL. I would consider us both to be very lucky and fortunate if we were on BAB until 2030.”
