Worcester personality and deejay LB Worm paid tribute on his . We needed someone who could do Bugs Bunny. On this, the five-year anniversary of BCNs demise, we tracked down key players from those halcyon daysdisc jockeys, news reporters, producers, and programmersto get a behind-the-scenes look at our fair city, back when Boston sat at the epicenter of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. Praesent varius consequat convallis. Eddie Gorodetsky, who went on to do The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, he was our head writer. WBCN Free Form Rock was advertised to be a replica of the original WBCN format circa 1968 to the early 1990s, playing any song it wants, including rock and relative genres. They are not radio, because there is not a human being there. On the night of March 15, 1968, Mississippi Harold Wilson (Joe Rogers) touched the needle to Creams I Feel Free, declaring FM independence and the beginning of Bostons underground radio experiment, dubbed The American Revolution. Boston Tea Party owner Ray Riepen saw that the stereo LPs being played in apartments and dorms werent getting radio airtime. Hes singing about a prostitute! The Ramones, they play them at football games now. Charles deserves every bit of respect he gets in the radio community. Is it possible that WBCN, the greatest rock n roll radio station in American history, died five years ago this month? B96 - WBBM 96.3 FM. I wasnt allowed to run the radio station the way I wanted to. Charles Laquidara Charles Laquidara (born November 24, 1938) is an American radio disc jockey whose show, The Big Mattress, was broadcast in the Boston, Massachusetts, area for nearly 30 years (1969-1996) on WBCN. Oh, the stories you heard. The additional aircheck is right. I loved this station (it's been gone for many years now). Search the history of over 797 billion While earning this degree, Martinie was first introduced to astrology when he attended a meeting of the school's astrology club. Youve seen the movie Almost Famous. The following Monday, my boss, Klee Dobra, called me in. Note that clicking the link below will block access to this site for 24 hours. Includes announcement that the format will shift from 97.3 to 106.9 FM. Please say a prayer for Mark.. Early jocks included J. J. Jackson, who later became one of the first MTV VJs, and Peter Wolf, the future leader of the J. Geils Band. That was part of its charm. BILL LICHTENSTEINAt WBCN:Newscaster and announcer,197078. You have to be exceeding your success. They had a studio upstairs, thats where the classical music station was, and thats where it started. Johnson remained with the station until 1967, just prior to the changeover from classical to easy-listening, and then to rock. Is it a talk station? Take the Clash. A weekly journey through the wild and twisted mind of Mikey Adams. The protest got local media coverage and the attention of several well-known Boston-based music acts, including The Cars, Aerosmith, and Boston, who got behind the protest. Literally. WBCN's programming in 1971-72 bore little relationship to the Billboard Hot 100 or any other conventional programming. I was only there for a short time. In 1976, he was featured in a voice-only performance as a DJ of the fictional KGYS radio in the movie Car Wash. Maxanne Sartori - WBCN DJ. It didnt have that cool radio vibe. ", On July 14, 2009, CBS Radio announced that WBMX would move from 98.5 FM to 104.1 FM, replacing WBCN; these moves were made to launch a sports talk station, WBZ-FM, at the 98.5 frequency. You could play anything. WBCN was always in a state of perpetual brokenness. Play anything you want, say what you want. The arrival of shock-jock Howard Sterns syndicated show to mornings that same year created a schizophrenic entity of WBCN, with community-based concern and music vs. callous commercialism and coarse talk. It began at WBCN in the late '70s, moved to WFNX (20092012), then onto RadioBDC, The Boston Globe's internet radio station (2013-2014) before moving to WGBH in 2015. Hes got a 13, the highest rating ever in the history of ratings. You have a world with just the Eagles. Profile: WBCN was an over-the-air radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. On March 15th the station celebrated 25 years on the air. If you were taking some bad acid and needed somebody to talk you down, call us. You didnt have someone playing Hank Williams then Muddy Waters then Van Morrison then Velvet Underground, in 15 minutes. You go to a station for a specific reason and its just the way things have gone. He was one of MTV's five original VJs (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn). At the time, they were all Top 40. same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts, "Darrell Martinie; with astrology, he was the 'Cosmic Muffin'; at 63", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darrell_Martinie&oldid=1131675986, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 07:02. In late summer of 1969, WBCN somehow obtained a reel-to-reel tape of a reference acetate of a potential album song lineup prepared by Beatles' engineer Glyn Johns on March 10, 1969. Not just because it played radically different music, which it did, or that it had a socially or politically aware newsroom, which it did. His reports were syndicated to stations nationwide. and Cooper. Mix 104.1 (and the previous Mix 98.5) is one of the most honored radio stations in the country, and has earned more major radio awards than any other hot AC station in history. A classical music station in its first ten years on the air, beginning in 1968, WBCN featured a rock format for 41 years. Former program director Greg Strassell was named "Hot AC Program Director of The Year" nine times. But that changed the following year, when a [8] During the following months, industry insiders, local media, and even WBCN's on air staff speculated that, in a matter of time, WBCN could see a format change, especially after the Boston Herald ran an article in the March 30, 2009, issue about WBCN's future, and the station airing a Top 40 format for a few hours the following day (April Fool's Day). They put us in the basement in a building with ZLX and Oldies, and then Mix 98.5 moved in there. The Crypto Zoo August 14th While San Francisco was celebrating a psychedelic Summer of Love in 1967, Boston stayed buttoned up and battened down. For a brief period during that transition, Charles Laquidara, who was acting program director hired Robert "Bo" Burlingham as news director. Jackson was one of the first DJs to introduce Americans to The Who and Led Zeppelin. Innovations at BCNlike the mix of music, talk, and humor that Charles Laquidara brought to his morning show The Big Mattresswere soon replicated across the country. Their reputation was extraordinary across the county. [3][4], In the late 1990s, Martinie began easing into retirement. Music DirectorTom "T" Semper 1981-83 Air Talent,WSHE in MiamiPaul "Tank" Sferruzza 1981-85 1986-Present Sports DirectorLisa Traxler 1983-89 Air Talent,WZLX-FM in BostonDebbie Ulman 1971 Air Talent,Olreans,MADina Vaprin 1971-73 1979-82 Asst. If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. There was the Rock n Roll Rumble. He was the oldest of five children. Peter Wolf aka The Woofa Goofa - WBCN Radio DJ. WBCN came along in Boston at a time when virtually every aspect of cultural, social, and political life was changing dramatically in this countrythe intersection of the womens movement, the gay and lesbian rights movement, basic rights, what it meant to be an American. The Rock of Boston. A really good rating in Boston at the time was a 3- or a 4-point average. We were thinking how great it would be to have a radio station. Boylston Street still had the old-school spirit. February 28th 5pm Hour: Packers ready to move on? So we said, How about the car we give away, its suspended from a crane tied into the Strawberries Records on Memorial Drive and hanging over the Charles River? It was also a groundbreaking station. We all wish we could have been around in the 70s and 80s. He was one of the few African Americans to DJ an "album rock" radio station. 2. You could start in downtown Boston and walk to Cambridge, to Harvard Square. WIVY Jacksonville "Y103 Top 40 1979 13 min. NAME Years of Service Current Status, Bill Abbate 1988-Present Air Talent,midnight - 6AM Katy Abel 1982-88 Education Reporter WHDH-TV7(CBS) Producer for The Learning Channel Carter Alan 1979-Present Music Director Lorraine Ballard 1978-80 Living in Philadelphia Andy Beaubien 1969-77 PD at DC-101,Washington Tony Berardini 1978-Present General Manager John Brodey 1969-1979 GM for Giant Records in LA Judy "Scooter" Carlough 1982-87 Senior Acct. The "album" had been compiled out of material the Beatles recorded in London in January 1969, the same sessions that would be used to create the Beatles' Let It Be album which was released in May 1970. Jimmy Mack 1977-81 deceased Kevin Malvey 1992 Air Talent,WBOS-FM Boston Phil Marlowe 1989 Air Talent,WCCC-FM Hartford Daryl "Cosmic Muffin" Martini 1977-82 1985-present Astrological Reporter Danny McCloskey 1977-82,1987 Student in S.F. Howie Carr: The kinked grocery cart under Biden's America, Hire at Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office loses job after old racist, sexist tweets emerge, Patriots slammed in NFLPA survey about team facilities, player working conditions, Boston Police seize 37 dirt bikes and mopeds, recover fentanyl and guns, and arrest 4 after 'illegal drag racing' investigation, 98.5 employees had their sensitivity training after Tony Massarotti suspension, Mike Felger rants about people getting fired over a 'bad comment', Student loan debt cancellation could be on thin ice as Supreme Court takes up case, Massachusetts lawmakers push for relief, Milton asks governor to stop demolition of broken MBTA station staircase, Black WWII vets denied G.I. In 2007, the station was nominated for the Top 25 Markets Alternative Station of the Year Award by Radio & Records magazine. But that changed the Thats how we found Billy West, from The Ren & Stimpy Show and Futurama. Suddenly all of my decisions were vetted. Luckily Im still alive. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. We're Back!!!! buss. The station was more commercial and "programmed" by this point, but still retained some of its progressive energy and edge. Everyone listened to WBCN, until it started to fall apart. WWBX-HD3 airs "Tomorrow's Hits Today," a CHR format that focuses on the very latest hits prior to their ascension to the top of the charts. Mark Parenteau, former WBCN DJ, dies at 66, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Malin Akerman is on a mommy mission in The Donor Party, Great masks to give your hair, face & skin a glow-up, Michael B. 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