Jonathan Schwartz

Jonathan Schwartz (born June 28, 1938) is an American radio personality, known for his devotion to traditional pop standards. From the 1960s on, he has been a presence on radio stations in the New York radio market, until he was fired in December 2017. He then hosted an internet radio show on The Jonathan Station from 2018 until he retired in March 2021. Additionally, Schwartz sometimes performs as a singer and has recorded numerous selections from the collection of popular music from the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s known as the Great American Songbook. Schwartz has also written novels, short stories, and a memoir, All In Good Time (2004). Early life Schwartz was born in New York City, the son of composer Arthur Schwartz (1900–1984) and 1930s Broadway ingénue Kay Carrington. Though his memoirs describe an unhappy childhood, Schwartz grew up animated by a passionate interest in musical arts. His father was a composer of Broadway and film scores ("Dancing in the Dark", "That's Entertainment!" and "By Myself" are among his works), and from an early age Schwartz developed his interest through this family perspective. Jonathan's half-brother Paul Schwartz (born 1956) is a composer, conductor, pianist, and producer. Radio career Schwartz worked at New York's WNEW-FM from 1967 to 1976, followed by stints at WNEW, WQEW and, between 1999 and 2017, WNYC-FM. Schwartz also served as programming director for XM Satellite Radio Frank's Place, named in honor of Frank Sinatra. Following XM's merger with Sirius, the name was changed to High Standards channel from 2001 to 2008, and appeared on Sirius XM's Siriusly Sinatra and '40s on 4 channels from 2008 to 2013. Schwartz is best known for The Jonathan Schwartz Show, which aired Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons on WNYC-FM, and was about half talk and half an eclectic mix of music.