the long post above by TS Bench, telling about his time at WEZE, is one of the best I've ever seen on this board
Regards
Al
Regards
Al
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WEZE Beautiful Music
- Thread starter Cosmopolite
- Start date
Speaking about "picture window" studios, I recall that when the old WJIB-96.9's studios were on Commercial Wharf on Boston's waterfront, the station's studios and offices were on the ground floor of what was then (1967) a newly-rehabbed building, and that the air studio faced south, towards a parking lot and the New England Aquarium.
The music then was on reel-to-reel tapes, but the station wasn't automated (at least by the mid-1970's). There were announcers who spoke every quarter-hour, but did not identify the selections played.
By contrast, during the second half of the 1960's into the very early 1970's, announcers at the old WEZE-1260 did mention what songs were played at the end of each 15-minute stretch of uninterrupted music ("In the last fifteen minutes on WEZE, we heard the John Doe Orchestra play 'The Shadow Of Your Smile', the Sam Smith Strings' rendition of 'Somewhere My Love', the Vic Vocal Chorus with 'Love Me Tender', and finally, Earl Easy doing the theme from 'The Sound Of Music'".
The music then was on reel-to-reel tapes, but the station wasn't automated (at least by the mid-1970's). There were announcers who spoke every quarter-hour, but did not identify the selections played.
By contrast, during the second half of the 1960's into the very early 1970's, announcers at the old WEZE-1260 did mention what songs were played at the end of each 15-minute stretch of uninterrupted music ("In the last fifteen minutes on WEZE, we heard the John Doe Orchestra play 'The Shadow Of Your Smile', the Sam Smith Strings' rendition of 'Somewhere My Love', the Vic Vocal Chorus with 'Love Me Tender', and finally, Earl Easy doing the theme from 'The Sound Of Music'".
O
Omnibus
Guest
Actually George Carlin got his start at WEZE in the 50's as a news man until he took the news car to New York for the weekend without permission. WEZE was in the point of the Statler Office Building in Park Square. WHDH Radio 850 AM was in the Paine Building next door on Arlington Street and St. James. Also, Channel 5 WHDH-TV started there until they moved to Morrissey Blvd in Dorchester.
Interesting that nobody in this thread (including me until now) has mentioned Boston's other beautiful music stations--WBOS AM 1600 and WBOS-FM 92.9. I believe that the WBOS stations (which were co-owned back then) were the first in Boston to broadcast the format. I don't have the dates when WBOS (AM or FM) began and ended beautiful music, but it had to be between 1956 and 1958 because those were the years when I was in grad school at MIT and I remember listening to beautiful music on (IIRC) both WBOS AM and FM in my dorm room at the MIT Graduate House at 305 Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The selection of music was excellent and the audio quality on both AM and FM was superb.
Last edited:
WBOS listing on bostonradio.org mentioned leased time ethnic in 40s and 50s on 92.9 and 1600. "During the 1960s, WBOS-FM broke from the AM sporadically to air beautiful music programming. In the mid-70s, WBOS(AM) changed calls to WUNR and the stations completely split their programming, with the FM side becoming Boston's first disco station in 1977-1978." (Maybe the person who wrote that remembers beautiful music in 60s but it could indeed have been earlier)
At one point maybe in the 70s there was a glut of beautiful music stations, though some changed to other formats:
WWEL 107.9/1430
WSSH 99.5 Lowell--1971 to mid 80s acc to bostonradio.org; evolved into soft Adult Contemp
(Was going to include WPLM but that was prob big band instead.)
WHUE 100.7/1150 "Beautiful music for YOU" was the slogan during their years owned by General Cinema
(bostonradio.org said WHUE was beautiful music from 1/1/79 until Dec of 84)
WHDH-FM 94.5 was BeautMusic for a time wasn't it, or maybe under the WCOZ calls? Later went rock
(bostonradio listing for WJMN: "In the early 1970s, WHDH-FM became WCOZ, first as a “Cozy” beautiful-music outlet, and soon thereafter as an album-rock competitor to WBCN.")
WJIB 96.9 of course (as mentioned in 60s for a time 740 was as well)
WEZE 1260 tho maybe it was soft AC for a time?
At one point maybe in the 70s there was a glut of beautiful music stations, though some changed to other formats:
WWEL 107.9/1430
WSSH 99.5 Lowell--1971 to mid 80s acc to bostonradio.org; evolved into soft Adult Contemp
(Was going to include WPLM but that was prob big band instead.)
WHUE 100.7/1150 "Beautiful music for YOU" was the slogan during their years owned by General Cinema
(bostonradio.org said WHUE was beautiful music from 1/1/79 until Dec of 84)
WHDH-FM 94.5 was BeautMusic for a time wasn't it, or maybe under the WCOZ calls? Later went rock
(bostonradio listing for WJMN: "In the early 1970s, WHDH-FM became WCOZ, first as a “Cozy” beautiful-music outlet, and soon thereafter as an album-rock competitor to WBCN.")
WJIB 96.9 of course (as mentioned in 60s for a time 740 was as well)
WEZE 1260 tho maybe it was soft AC for a time?
Last edited:
M
MickeyD
Guest
I think that the reason he was canned is there was a riot at Walpole that weekend.
There seem to be several stories about why George Carlin was fired by WEZE. I'm not sure which one is correct (or maybe it was a combination of offenses that led to the ultimate firing). The one I heard dates back to when WEZE broadcast "the Rosary" from the Cardinal's Residence (Cardinal Cushing if I recall). WEZE had NBC news at that point, and supposedly the Rosary program was running late and Carlin dumped it for the NBC news, which upset many vocal listeners.
It upset one person in particular - Cardinal Cushing who called Carlin within minutes. I believe the station was WVDA at that point.
I believe around 1965 that WEZE had become the most listened to station in the market. I know my Dad had switched from WHDH ( where he worked ).
The station on FM that first went after WEZE was WKOX-FM and within a year WJIB came along. WKOX-FM would switch to Top 40 in 1969 and then morphed into WVBF.
I actually enjoyed the 'Top 40' days of WEZE. They hired a couple of former WRKO jocks (Joel Cash and Gary Martin) and their playlist was looser than WRKO. WEZE really hurt WMEX which was floundering after Mac Richmond died.
WEZE's success prompted WHDH-850 to switch to the soft Top 40 format that WNBC adopted and on FM WVBF, WROR and WPJB were taking listeners away from AM.
By 1975 FM started taking hold and AM started to go downhill.
Great posts by TSB, I had long ago heard of a Salem exec walking in on a WEZE staffer who was not in the Salem Tradition and immediately instructing underlings that the young man involved did not quite have the love of Jesus desired.
"Smoldering heap of cigarette butts in the overflowing ashtray by my side next to an open beer can, and cursing on the phone" indeed. Some of us had to give that up after college radio.
I had never really connected Saunders buying the Statler-Hilton with cleaning up Park Square but the scenario makes sense, although the controversy over the proposed Park Plaza project (which eventually became the Transportation building) was a big part of it too. the Mouse Trap was the ultimate bucket of blood and the area was loaded with hookers as cars prowled the St James to Arlington loop.
"Smoldering heap of cigarette butts in the overflowing ashtray by my side next to an open beer can, and cursing on the phone" indeed. Some of us had to give that up after college radio.
I had never really connected Saunders buying the Statler-Hilton with cleaning up Park Square but the scenario makes sense, although the controversy over the proposed Park Plaza project (which eventually became the Transportation building) was a big part of it too. the Mouse Trap was the ultimate bucket of blood and the area was loaded with hookers as cars prowled the St James to Arlington loop.
Broadcast of the Rosary in Boston
When I moved to Cambridge (May 1956) the Rosary, recited by Cardinal Cushing, was heard on WORL 950 (now WROL) from 6:15 to 6:30 AM M-F. (Not sure about the weekend schedule). WORL had to break into the Gregg Finn AM-drive show so that the Cardinal could be heard. Christian broadcaster Salem Communications did not buy what is now WROL until quite a few years after 1956. I believe that the name of the company that owned what was then WORL was Pilgrim Broadcasting but I can't recall the names of any of the principal owners of Pilgrim.
The Rosary was also heard for quite a long period on WPLM-FM 99.1 in Plymouth. I don't know whether that was or wasn't a simulcast with WPLM (AM) 1390.
When I moved to Cambridge (May 1956) the Rosary, recited by Cardinal Cushing, was heard on WORL 950 (now WROL) from 6:15 to 6:30 AM M-F. (Not sure about the weekend schedule). WORL had to break into the Gregg Finn AM-drive show so that the Cardinal could be heard. Christian broadcaster Salem Communications did not buy what is now WROL until quite a few years after 1956. I believe that the name of the company that owned what was then WORL was Pilgrim Broadcasting but I can't recall the names of any of the principal owners of Pilgrim.
The Rosary was also heard for quite a long period on WPLM-FM 99.1 in Plymouth. I don't know whether that was or wasn't a simulcast with WPLM (AM) 1390.
Last edited:
I also seem to recall the Rosary being a fixture on WORL, right through its years as WRYT
The Catholic Church post WWII just had a huge hold on Boston.
The Red Sox would start games at home at 8:30 PM on Wednesdays to avoid conflict with the Mission Church broadcasts on WHDH.
Road games they would tape delay the church service.
The Red Sox would start games at home at 8:30 PM on Wednesdays to avoid conflict with the Mission Church broadcasts on WHDH.
Road games they would tape delay the church service.
- Status