He began his career at WBBN in Perry, Georgia, and progressed to WFEC in his Florida hometown and WVRM in Rochester, N.Y., before rocketing to rock radio stardom at WHK in Cleveland, WINS in New York City, KYA in San Francisco and WWDC in Washington, D.C.
Here's a nice three part aircheck of The Johnny Holliday Show on December 9, 1967.
[ PART ONE ] (54:51) [ PART TWO ] (54:31) [ PART THREE ] (40:22)
[ PART ONE ] (54:51) [ PART TWO ] (54:31) [ PART THREE ] (40:22)
Back row, left to right: Lou Galliani (record promotions man), Mike Cleary (noon to 3 p.m.), Don Delbon (Terranova High School basketball coach), Don Novitsky (Terranova High School basketball coach), Chuck Becker (record promotions man). Front row, left to right: Johnny Holliday (3 to 6 p.m.), Larry Mitchell (KYA program director), Ed Hider (9 a.m. to noon), Don Robbs (KYA newsman).
He segued into sportscasting fulltime while in the nation's capital, becoming the play-by-play voice of Navy and George Washington U. football.
"Good Morning World"
July 29, 1967: Billboard Magazine profiled Johnny's own changing approach to radio programming.
In addition, Johnny has covered the Olympics, the Masters Tournament, USFL football and countless other sporting events. His radio station celebrity basketball and softball teams — known widely as the "Oneders" (pronounced "Wonders") — have raised millions of dollars for charity in each of the major markets he has worked. He has served as television host for the Easter Seals, March of Dimes, Children's Hospital, Cerebral Palsy and Muscular Dystrophy telethons, and was honored by Washington Magazine as "Washingtonian of the Year."
Following WINS's shift from music to news, he accepted an offer to go west. The move proved fruitful for KYA and Johnny Holliday, as he was named America's Number One Top 40 Disc Jockey and the station found its greatest popularity during his time at the station.
While at KYA, he demonstrated versatility by broadcasting local college athletics on radio and television, and serving as a public address announcer for the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Warriors.
During his more than four years at KYA in San Francisco (1965-1969), Johnny was a fan favorite on the air and off, holding down an air shift as well as hosting record hops, concerts, other station events including co-hosting the final concert by the Beatles at Candlestick Park in 1966. He also anchored the KYA version of the Oneders, who featured future NBA Hall of Famer and Bay Area radio personality Rick Barry on their roster during one season.
After arriving in Washington, Holliday hosted the Washington Senators radio pre-game show with Ted Williams.
During his long sportscasting career Holliday has been affiliated with the San Francisco Warriors, Washington Bullets/Wizards, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco Giants, Washington Senators, Washington Federals, Washington Nationals, Stanford University, the University of California, the Naval Academy, and George Washington University. He has covered the Olympics, championship boxing, and The Masters for ABC Radio.
From 2007 to 2018, Holliday hosted the Washington Nationals baseball team pre- and post-game shows on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Holliday also contributed sports reports to the ABC Radio Network.
Holliday, with Stephen Moore, published his autobiography Johnny Holliday: From Rock to Jock in 2002, and in 2006, Hoop Tales about the University of Maryland men's basketball team.
In 2014, Holliday was inducted into the Washington, D.C., Sports Hall of Fame.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Internet Archive.
