(BUTTON) [1]News [2]Sports [3]Entertainment [4]Lifestyle [5]Opinion [6]USA TODAY [7]Obituaries [8]eNewspaper [9]Legals (BUTTON) [10]Subscribe Listening no more: The 'beautiful music' first played at Jones College in 1964 comes to an end [11]Matt Soergel Florida Times-Union [12]View Comments (BUTTON) View Comments (BUTTON) (BUTTON) Ed Oberle, known on the air as Ed Bell, is photographed at the Jones College radio station in 1980. He was a pioneer in the city's radio industry and was known for the daily commentaries he wrote and recorded at Jones College. He ended each one with, "That's our view, we welcome yours." He died in 2013 at 100 years old. For 58 years the easy-listening music station broadcast from Jacksonville, over the city and eventually over the world. Now Jones College Radio, known in recent years as [13]Riverton Tower Radio, has fallen silent. The music has been there since 1964 when an FM station was donated to the business school run by Jack Jones that bore his family's name. He knew what he wanted to hear, so he took his collection of albums -- from Mantovani,101 Strings Orchestra, the Jackie Gleason Orchestra and the like -- and headed to his new station. A Jones College Radio favorite: [14]Ed Oberle, 'smooth and mellow' Jacksonville radio pioneer, dies at age 100 From Jones College to local TV celebrity: [15]Ken Amaro on his 42 years on TV at First Coast News It's been that way ever since. Even after the station went internet-only. Even after Jones College closed and its high-rise building on the St. Johns River in Arlington was turned into a senior-living center named Riverton Tower. But in a Sept. 6 [16]post on the webpage for Riverton Tower Radio, Kenneth Jones, Jack Jones' son, addressed the station's listeners and supporters: "It is with sorrow that I inform you that our streaming service has ended. We have great appreciation for your love and support over the many decades of service to you, our listeners around the world." He wrote that he was "surprised and honored" that so many people tuned in from so far away, including places such as Japan, Africa and South and Central America. In 2009 Ken Jones, general manager of Jones College Radio, looks through some of the station's many thousands of old record albums. The first "beautiful music" played by the station in 1964 came straight from his father Jack's collection. On a Facebook page devoted to the station, fans thanked Kenneth Jones for keeping the music alive for so long and expressed sadness that it had come to an end. "Why????? JCR has been the backdrop for my life FOREVER!!!" wrote one. "This breaks my heart as well, to me this station is heavenly," wrote another. "Most soothing radio I've ever heard." A proud history of playing music for the masses When reached by the Times-Union, Jones had no comment. But in a 2009 story in the paper, he had told how the station came to be and vowed to keep the radio station his father founded playing for years to come -- something he managed to accomplish. The story noted how the late Jack Jones had shaped the easy-listening sound and personality of Jones College Radio since its founding: "FM radio wasn't that big a deal back then, and Jones had such a strong personality that he was instantly able to put his stamp on the new station. "He was particular: If a particular LP had a particular track he didn't particularly like, he'd put red nail polish between the grooves, rendering it unplayable. "And he was known to call DJs on his two-way radio in his car if he wasn't pleased with what he heard." At Jones College and elsewhere: [17]Battle rages on accreditation, college money Jones College Radio used to broadcast its easy-listening tunes (also known as "beautiful music") from WKTZ (90.9 FM) and WJAX (1220 AM). But [18]as noted in a Times-Union story from 2014, Jones College sold the frequencies to Educational Media Foundation for about $3.4 million, a move approved by the Federal Communications Commission." The new owners turned the channels into contemporary Christian music stations, while Jones College's easy listening went online only (it had already had an internet presence for years). The online station counted on contributions to offset operating expenses and had in recent years noted that [19]that balance had not been a favorable one. Jones College dated to 1918 when Annie Harper Jones founded the school in her home on what is now Prudential Drive. It began with fewer than 50 students and specialized in business training. It [20]closed its doors in 2017, just shy of its 100th birthday. Just before its closing, the school's website said the school offered bachelor's degrees in six disciplines, ranging from allied health management and business administration to elementary education. It also issued associate's degrees in four areas, including computer information systems and legal assistant. Online degrees were offered as well. [21]View Comments (BUTTON) View Comments (BUTTON) (BUTTON) [22]Careers [23]Staff Directory [24]Accessibility [25]Site Map [26]Legals [27]Public notice certification [28]Our Ethical Principles [29]Terms of Service [30]Privacy Policy [31]Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy (BUTTON) Do Not Sell My Info / Cookie Policy [32]Contact Us [33]Support Local Business [34]Advertise Your Business [35]Advertising Terms and Conditions [36]Buy and Sell [37]Licensing & Reprints [38]Legal Notices [39]Help Center [40]Subscriber Guide [41]My Account [42]Give Feedback [43]Subscribe Today [44]Newsletters [45]Facebook [46]Twitter [47]Instagram [48]eNewspaper [49]NIE [50]PR Link [51]Jobs [52]Cars [53]Homes [54]Classifieds [55]Pay Your Ad Bill [56]Reviewed.com [57]10Best [58]Reach Local [59]USA TODAY Sports+ © 2022 www.jacksonville.com. 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