Jimmy Roach

Jimmy Roach spent 45-plus years in Pittsburgh as a radio disc jockey for both rock and country, entertaining fans and innovating the craft. After leaving his first job at a Christian station turned rock n’ roll in his native Columbus, Ohio, Roach, moved to the Steel City in 1972 and quickly made his mark with his deep resonating radio voice that inspired many up-and-coming DJs. Together with Steve Hanson, a longtime friend, Jimmy developed a huge following and helped lay the groundwork for the introduction of computers in the radio industry as they used a voice-synthesized computer generated program to read the news in the early 1980s. Many of Hanson and Roach’s skits and personalities were legendary across Western PA and helped propel the duo to the top of the ratings charts. But, despite this success, radio management changed direction in 1986, and the pair did not receive a new contract, so they pursued a gig WSHE-FM in Miami. Though only lasting a mere six months, they were able to land extra roles on the hit show Miami Vice. Later that year, they returned to Pittsburgh to work for Magic 97. In 1991, however, Hanson and Roach split and Jimmy turned from rock to country as the latter began to take hold among young listeners. Jimmy Roach was a fixture in the Pittsburgh radio industry until retiring in 2015 from WDSY-FM (Y-108). Over his 45-year on-air career, Jimmy helped launch the careers of local musicians such as Donnie, Iris, The Granati Brothers, B.E. Taylor, The Jaggerz and many more.