As promised, here's the article on Little Walter. It should be appearing in a number of papers this week.
I'm creating a new thread for it as it is an exclusive preview. If Radio-Info board managers want to move it to the Walter thread later on, that's cool.
Copyright (C)2006 Varulven
All Rights Reserved.
Little Walter's Time Machine Comes Back To The Future
By Joe Viglione
For many years Little Walter DeVenne - legendary
Boston disc jockey who has broadcast on WBCN, WROR,
WFNX, WMEX, Medford's Kiss AM 1430 and Oldies 103.3 -
did his mastering from a studio outside of Medford
Square.
Today you can hear Walter on North Shore 104.9 FM WBOQ
- from 8 PM - 12 AM Sunday nights -
http://www.wbach.com/on-air.php
the same station the Red Sox are on. "Little Walter's
Time Machine" is syndicated on national radio - with
information available on http://www.littlewalter.com
Check that site for online streaming to hear the show
at a time comfortable for you.
(newspaper name ) spoke with DeVenne last week
about his radio show, his mastering work for a variety
of record labels, and his recent (and successful)
battle against throat cancer.
"We're on in Chicago, we're on in Cincinnati, we're on
in Hawaii, we're all over the place" the Boston area
icon noted. Equally exciting for his fans is his
return to the club scene this Friday and Saturday
night at the Terra Marra, near the Outback Steakhouse,
off of Route 93 (at exit 47) in Methuen,
Massachusetts.
"I worked on Route 1 for twenty years at a variety of
venues. I've been doing clubs for 40 years, starting
out at The Beach Ball in Revere, opening for
Aerosmith."
Walter's spinning creates an amazing vibe wherever he
brings his extensive collection of music. With
hip-hop and house music permeating the in-town clubs,
the members of the Masspool DJ Association, Disc
Jockeys Latinos Record Pool and other collaboratives
would be wise to study at the feet of the master.
Walter was mixing and scratching (well, literally
scratching a record that need not be played) before
most of the current jocks were even born.
WHERE HAS WALTER BEEN ON THE CLUB SCENE RECENTLY?
Though everpresent on radio, the man was conspicuous
in his absence on the club circuit. What happened?
"I noticed a couple of lumps in my neck and had my
first operation in October. Like Dion (DiMucci of
"The Wanderer" fame) said - if I didn't have a wife or
a mother I would never have sought medical advice
because it didn't hurt! It was just a couple of lumps
in my neck. You gotta have someone to care for you to
get these things looked at. It wasn't going away so
my (very worried) wife brought me over to the doctors.
I went through cat scans and pet scans - none of it
said it was cancer, it just said there were a couple
of lumps in my throat. They were going to stick a
needle in my neck so I told them to operate on me.
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY:
I started doing chemo and radiation. They make a
form-fitting face mask with netting so to see through,
(and) they screw it down. (That way I got) the
radiation treatment in the same place on my neck. The
chemo is what I really had a reaction to and that's
what put me in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I
begged them to let me out, so my wife learned how to
give me the IV. 9 AM I'd have to get up, take the IV
--- they left it in my arm for the 2 weeks with what
looked like an RCA plug (of course!)." Still able to
maintain his humor through what was a horrific
experience Walter declared " I only fell down a couple
of times."
"When they put that radiation on the throat it is
like getting a super duper sunburn. The definitive
sore throat, not being able to taste anything. It
took about 6 months after the radiation for me to get
my taste buds back and be able to swallow. (Though I
hear) it's different for different people.
NOW THAT HE'S BACK TO WORK:
"I did a Spike Jones package for Capitol Records which
was funny, but not my usual kind of thing. Today
(this interview was conducted on September 13) they
are going to reissue "The Knockouts meet the Genies".
"
On Saturday, September 17th, Walter worked on a Bobby
Darin "two album on one" CD piece, as well as a
similar Irma Thomas package for Liberty/Capitol.
Walter says "It'll be out soon. Irma features "Time
Is On My Side", she did the original that The Rolling
Stones ripped off from her. She was so mad at them
she didn't sing the song for years. Note for note
identical! She went on that soulful tour that Peter
Wolf m.c.'d 7 or 8 years ago with Chuck Jackson, Percy
Sledge, Ben E. King and others."
Obscure music from groups like "The Knockouts" and
"The Genies" are for collectors, for sure - and Walter
knows how to put the music back together so that it
sounds as authentic as it did when fans originally
bought the tunes on vinyl. "That was fun" he said in
his always uptempo and highly recognizable voice. "I
did that today - there was only about 14 tracks on the
CD. This was for Collectables."
Collectables Records is a respected label found at
http://www.oldies.com/ which reissues important music,
with Walter DeVenne usually overseeing that
reproduction work.
"I'm real proud of some work I did with Dion" he
understandably notes. "Collectables came out with
"Dion & Friends Live In New York" - this thing
could've been a one man Broadway show if he had
decided to perform more than just the two nights. The new
CD's got all his hits, all his new stuff, a couple of
Gospel tracks that are very palatable. It was an
asbolute magic night! You should see his face when
he sings Teenager in Love - I gave him the line "If I
live to be 200 I'm always going to be a teenager in
love." He uses that line in concert."
While at Walter's studio the phone always rings with
someone famous on the other line. Nino Tempo of the
song "Deep Purple" fame was on the phone when this
writer was there for an earlier interview. We don't
have enough space to list his tv appearances and
exhaustive radio work, not to mention the ridiculously
long resume of mastered recordings which you can find
on Allmusic.com - just put Walter DeVenne in the
search engine on that site.
The treasures in his archives include dozens of live
shows by Little Richard including the only known live tape
of Jimi Hendrix performing with Richard Penniman, Don
& Dewey and Maxine Brown (there is a 45 RPM of Jimi with Little Richard in the studio).
Recorded by Walter at the Back Bay Theater in Boston. Experience
Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix's family-owned company, heard
the tape with this writer as re-played from Walter's
original broadcast tape from WTBS (now WMBR) and it is
stunningly important --- and fun! To think that
something Hendrix fans have obsessed over for decades
was actually broadcast on M.I.T. radio first is pretty humorous!
Walter's work with the PBS Doo Wop shows and
the 4 CD sets of Doo Wop music on Rhino also need to
be mentioned.
When asked who got him back into circulation after the
hospitalization it turned out to be his old friend
Dion.
"He's the first one to get me out of my house last
month, he was over at the Mohegan Sun in August."
I'm creating a new thread for it as it is an exclusive preview. If Radio-Info board managers want to move it to the Walter thread later on, that's cool.
Copyright (C)2006 Varulven
All Rights Reserved.
Little Walter's Time Machine Comes Back To The Future
By Joe Viglione
For many years Little Walter DeVenne - legendary
Boston disc jockey who has broadcast on WBCN, WROR,
WFNX, WMEX, Medford's Kiss AM 1430 and Oldies 103.3 -
did his mastering from a studio outside of Medford
Square.
Today you can hear Walter on North Shore 104.9 FM WBOQ
- from 8 PM - 12 AM Sunday nights -
http://www.wbach.com/on-air.php
the same station the Red Sox are on. "Little Walter's
Time Machine" is syndicated on national radio - with
information available on http://www.littlewalter.com
Check that site for online streaming to hear the show
at a time comfortable for you.
(newspaper name ) spoke with DeVenne last week
about his radio show, his mastering work for a variety
of record labels, and his recent (and successful)
battle against throat cancer.
"We're on in Chicago, we're on in Cincinnati, we're on
in Hawaii, we're all over the place" the Boston area
icon noted. Equally exciting for his fans is his
return to the club scene this Friday and Saturday
night at the Terra Marra, near the Outback Steakhouse,
off of Route 93 (at exit 47) in Methuen,
Massachusetts.
"I worked on Route 1 for twenty years at a variety of
venues. I've been doing clubs for 40 years, starting
out at The Beach Ball in Revere, opening for
Aerosmith."
Walter's spinning creates an amazing vibe wherever he
brings his extensive collection of music. With
hip-hop and house music permeating the in-town clubs,
the members of the Masspool DJ Association, Disc
Jockeys Latinos Record Pool and other collaboratives
would be wise to study at the feet of the master.
Walter was mixing and scratching (well, literally
scratching a record that need not be played) before
most of the current jocks were even born.
WHERE HAS WALTER BEEN ON THE CLUB SCENE RECENTLY?
Though everpresent on radio, the man was conspicuous
in his absence on the club circuit. What happened?
"I noticed a couple of lumps in my neck and had my
first operation in October. Like Dion (DiMucci of
"The Wanderer" fame) said - if I didn't have a wife or
a mother I would never have sought medical advice
because it didn't hurt! It was just a couple of lumps
in my neck. You gotta have someone to care for you to
get these things looked at. It wasn't going away so
my (very worried) wife brought me over to the doctors.
I went through cat scans and pet scans - none of it
said it was cancer, it just said there were a couple
of lumps in my throat. They were going to stick a
needle in my neck so I told them to operate on me.
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY:
I started doing chemo and radiation. They make a
form-fitting face mask with netting so to see through,
(and) they screw it down. (That way I got) the
radiation treatment in the same place on my neck. The
chemo is what I really had a reaction to and that's
what put me in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I
begged them to let me out, so my wife learned how to
give me the IV. 9 AM I'd have to get up, take the IV
--- they left it in my arm for the 2 weeks with what
looked like an RCA plug (of course!)." Still able to
maintain his humor through what was a horrific
experience Walter declared " I only fell down a couple
of times."
"When they put that radiation on the throat it is
like getting a super duper sunburn. The definitive
sore throat, not being able to taste anything. It
took about 6 months after the radiation for me to get
my taste buds back and be able to swallow. (Though I
hear) it's different for different people.
NOW THAT HE'S BACK TO WORK:
"I did a Spike Jones package for Capitol Records which
was funny, but not my usual kind of thing. Today
(this interview was conducted on September 13) they
are going to reissue "The Knockouts meet the Genies".
"
On Saturday, September 17th, Walter worked on a Bobby
Darin "two album on one" CD piece, as well as a
similar Irma Thomas package for Liberty/Capitol.
Walter says "It'll be out soon. Irma features "Time
Is On My Side", she did the original that The Rolling
Stones ripped off from her. She was so mad at them
she didn't sing the song for years. Note for note
identical! She went on that soulful tour that Peter
Wolf m.c.'d 7 or 8 years ago with Chuck Jackson, Percy
Sledge, Ben E. King and others."
Obscure music from groups like "The Knockouts" and
"The Genies" are for collectors, for sure - and Walter
knows how to put the music back together so that it
sounds as authentic as it did when fans originally
bought the tunes on vinyl. "That was fun" he said in
his always uptempo and highly recognizable voice. "I
did that today - there was only about 14 tracks on the
CD. This was for Collectables."
Collectables Records is a respected label found at
http://www.oldies.com/ which reissues important music,
with Walter DeVenne usually overseeing that
reproduction work.
"I'm real proud of some work I did with Dion" he
understandably notes. "Collectables came out with
"Dion & Friends Live In New York" - this thing
could've been a one man Broadway show if he had
decided to perform more than just the two nights. The new
CD's got all his hits, all his new stuff, a couple of
Gospel tracks that are very palatable. It was an
asbolute magic night! You should see his face when
he sings Teenager in Love - I gave him the line "If I
live to be 200 I'm always going to be a teenager in
love." He uses that line in concert."
While at Walter's studio the phone always rings with
someone famous on the other line. Nino Tempo of the
song "Deep Purple" fame was on the phone when this
writer was there for an earlier interview. We don't
have enough space to list his tv appearances and
exhaustive radio work, not to mention the ridiculously
long resume of mastered recordings which you can find
on Allmusic.com - just put Walter DeVenne in the
search engine on that site.
The treasures in his archives include dozens of live
shows by Little Richard including the only known live tape
of Jimi Hendrix performing with Richard Penniman, Don
& Dewey and Maxine Brown (there is a 45 RPM of Jimi with Little Richard in the studio).
Recorded by Walter at the Back Bay Theater in Boston. Experience
Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix's family-owned company, heard
the tape with this writer as re-played from Walter's
original broadcast tape from WTBS (now WMBR) and it is
stunningly important --- and fun! To think that
something Hendrix fans have obsessed over for decades
was actually broadcast on M.I.T. radio first is pretty humorous!
Walter's work with the PBS Doo Wop shows and
the 4 CD sets of Doo Wop music on Rhino also need to
be mentioned.
When asked who got him back into circulation after the
hospitalization it turned out to be his old friend
Dion.
"He's the first one to get me out of my house last
month, he was over at the Mohegan Sun in August."