Trevelise talks his way into unusual career path

Decades can pass before some people find their calling in life. Steve Trevelise is definitely not one of them.

He is the longtime weeknight host on Trenton-based WKXW-FM – branded as New Jersey 101.5 – the radio powerhouse whose signal covers a large swath of the Garden State, as well as most of Philadelphia and two of its neighboring counties, Montgomery and Bucks.

The station often sets its political agenda. But Trevelise is not new to the airwaves: He’s been speaking into a microphone since 1980, and knew he was destined to do so well before that.

“I grew up (in Union City) listening to (Don) ‘Imus in the Morning,'” he recalls, referring to the long-running program hosted by the incendiary “shock jock” on New York’s WNBC-AM. “And I loved the idea that I could play music and tell jokes and get paid for it.

“That’s the career I wanted.”

Trevelise’s journey toward that goal began at broadcasting school, then to a spot as the overnight host on Trenton top 40 station WPST-FM. He had climbed the ladder to the coveted morning drive-time shift there when, one day in 1982, he received a phone call at the station that sent his career into overdrive.

“I got a call from Steve Feinstein, the music director of (highly rated FM rock station) WYSP, who invited me to come to Philadelphia and be part of the station,” Trevelise recounts.

He would stay until 1996, and in that time, became part of radio history. In 1986, ‘YSP became the first outlet outside of New York’s WXRK-FM to carry Howard Stern’s culture-changing morning program.

“I went from being a rock jock to being the station’s news director and doing morning-show updates for the ‘Howard Stern Show,'” Trevelise remembers.

Despite the job, he was seldom part of Stern’s actual program because he was almost exclusively heard in the Philadelphia market and generally played it straight.

After changes were made at ‘YSP in ’96, Trevelise followed a typical career route. With wife Deneen and two sons Albert and Lennon (a testament to his father’s abiding love of the Beatles), he found work at various on-air outposts. But what was somewhat unusual was that all of his positions were either in the Philly market or nearby New Jersey, including a rock-DJ stint at WCHR-FM – The Hawk – in Toms River.

Trevelise wasn’t required, as is often the case, to traverse the country in order to make a living in his chosen field. Former Philadelphia talk-show host Rollye James, for one, used to brag about having worked for 32 stations from coast to coast.

Trevelise’s first stop was Shadow Traffic, where he was both on-air reporter on various morning shows and program director. That was followed in 2000 by a job that took him to the Philly stations owned by the Clear Channel (now IHeartMedia) broadcasting conglomerate. In that capacity, Trevelise was part of the morning team on WRFF-FM (a.k.a. Alice 104.5) as well as the traffic monitor on WDAS-AM and FM.

While Trevelise didn’t join New Jersey 101.5 until 2011, he had his sights set on a job at the station a lot earlier.

“I applied at New Jersey 101.5 in 2000,” he explains, “and I was told that I was ‘too friendly’ and not ready for talk radio. I needed to go rough myself up, so I went to Philadelphia. I’m the only guy,” he added with a chuckle, “to go to Philadelphia with the goal of working in New Jersey.”

Trevelise got a huge career boost in 2003 from Tom Bigby, the legendary programmer who molded WIP-FM into the Philly talk-radio institution it is today. Trevelise wanted to learn talk radio, while Bigby needed an update guy, so each party had something to offer the other. Bigby taught Trevelise well, and he soon enough assumed a Saturday morning shift that continues to this day from 2 to 5 a.m.

While Trevelise for many years has had a parallel career as a standup comedian and comedy club owner, he finally got the call from NJ 101.5 to do part-time work in 2010. A year later, he was full time.

While most of the station’s hosts tend to drill down on mostly conservative-leaning politics, Trevelise likes to lean into pop culture. He often welcomes comedy and musical acts to the studio for live performances, and when political topics are raised, prefers to inject some elements of levity whenever appropriate.

Trevelise credits Sam Gagliardi – who oversees on-air content for station owner Townsquare Media – for allowing him the freedom to conduct his show as he sees fit, rather than hew to a specific set of guidelines. And it’s clear that after all this time, Trevelise is still thrilled he set his sights on working at the station so many years ago.

“What makes New Jersey 101.5 unique is that we are totally Jersey,” he notes, “and Jersey’s all about attitude. Jersey oozes from the speakers. And radio’s all about relationships. And the relationship that (the station) has with its listeners is unlike any other. That’s what makes it work.

“I love this place.”