The Night House Music Found Me: Jeff Romanowski's WQHT Legacy
Late Friday nights in the early 90s transformed my musical world. Thanks to a Dj named Jeff Romanowski.
Tuning into WQHT Hot 97's Friday Night Hotmix in the early 90s, I discovered the sonic landscapes crafted by Jeff Romanowski. His show, running from 1989 through 1993 and it became my weekly ritual.
Each Friday, as Romanowski took control of the airwaves, the soundtrack of my youth unfolded through my radio speakers. His 1992 sets stand vivid in my memory, especially the house music segments that opened my ears to entirely new sounds. The way he mixed tracks created stories through sound, keeping me glued to my radio deep into the night.
Those Hot 97 sessions shaped more than my weekend entertainment. Through Romanowski's carefully curated sets, I learned the subtle art of house music - how it could pulse with energy while touching the soul. His progressive approach to mixing demonstrated house music's depth, building emotions through carefully selected tracks and masterful transitions.
Oh man, I can't even tell you how excited I was when I stumbled across Jeff Romanowski's Mixcloud page! It's like finding a box of old mixtapes in your attic, except these are pristine digital copies of all those amazing radio moments we lived through. Every single mix takes me right back to those nights when the music was everything.

You know that feeling when you rediscover something you thought was lost forever? That's exactly what happened when I started scrolling through these Friday Night House sessions. There they all are, perfectly preserved, timestamped, and sounding just as incredible as when they first hit the airwaves. It's wild to see Jeff's journey as a DJ laid out like this - you can literally trace the evolution of his sound through the years.
And the guest DJs! I had almost forgotten about some of these incredible collaborations until I saw them here. Each one brings back memories of those special nights when you'd tune in, knowing something unique was about to happen. The energy of those live broadcasts just jumps right out at you - you can see it in those waveforms, peaking and flowing just like they did back then.
I keep finding myself clicking through different years, remembering where I was when I first heard these sets.
For anyone who spent their nights tuned in to these broadcasts, finding this archive is like getting a piece of your life back. Every track, every transition, every guest mix - it's all here, waiting to transport us back to those magical moments.
It's crazy how music can do that, right? Take you right back to specific moments in your life? Looking through this collection has been like flipping through a musical photo album of some of my favorite memories.
Looking back at those nights by the radio, I appreciate how Romanowski shaped my musical education. His mixes delivered masterclasses in house amd freestyle music straight through the Hot 97 airwaves, teaching us about a genre that defined our era.
The Friday Night Hotmix sessions live on as more than memories - they represent an age when radio DJs like Romanowski guided our musical journey. Before streaming and algorithms existed, his mixes sparked my lifelong appreciation for house and freestyle music.
Thank you for the music, Jeff 👏 and keep our sound alive! ❤️