Re: a quarter century ago-WPRO-FM
> You asked for it, you got it. It’s making me feel awfully
> old at 46, also. This pretty much only goes through the
> period that WPJB was around. I’ll have to work on the rest.
> Any corrections or additions are welcome.
Here is an updated version of WPRO-FM's history through most of the 90's and some other things added that came to mind from earlier years.
WPRO-FM made the switch from beautiful music to Top 40 in the spring of 1974 with Gary Berkowitz moving from WPRO-AM to become PD. As the only Providence Top 40 station on FM, WPRO-FM capitalized on the fact that their hits were played in stereo. They seemed to focus on teenage listeners in the early days. As far as I can remember, the summer 1974 lineup of “Rock 92” consisted of the following: Mornings – WPRO-AM simulcast of Salty Brine, Late Mornings- Gary Berkowitz, Early Afternoon – Chuck Bennett, Late Afternoon/Early Evening – Robert J. Boogie (The Boogie Man- often impersonated Wolfman Jack), Evenings – Mighty Mike Osbourne. Other personalities in 1974 included Big John Bina and Giovanni.
In 1975, WPRO-FM billed itself as “The Superock” and added jingles and reverb. As one of the posters mentioned, they talked into songs as “FM, WPRO-FM”. They were heavily into promotions and giveaways. The lineup in the fall of 1975 consisted of: Gary Berkowitz (6am-9am), Chuck Bennett (9am-2pm), The Boogie Man (2pm-6pm), Mighty Mike Osbourne (6pm-10pm), Big John Bina (10pm-2am) and Giovanni (2am-6am). Weekenders included Brother Bob and John Kosian. The station added Pams “Energy One” jingles near the end of 1975 and combined with the reverb, gave the station an awesome sound. New jingles included the hour ID (FM is, WPRO-FM Providence) and the Boogie Man jingle (Hey now, let’s boogie, let’s boogie, let’s Boogie Man…). Speaking of the Boogie Man, he was also production director, and his booming voice was heard on many of the local spots and station promos. Also, Mighty Mike Osbourne was involved with the station’s School Scope program, along with Sunday Soaps, according to a poster. The station was now being identified as “FM92 WPRO-FM”.
The Superock promotions continued in 1976 with the Superock card. The lineup remained intact for most of the year with Berkowitz and Bennett flip-flopping in the fall. New Part-timers heard were Terry O’Brien (aka Bruce Newberry) and Stacy.
1977 saw some changes as the station was now known as “92 PRO-FM” (continues to this day). Howard Hoffman arrived from WPIX in New York and brought nighttime radio energy and excitement to a new level. Other changes saw Big John Bina move to mornings and Terry O’Brien take over late nights. The “Where Do You PRO-FM” contest began in the fall of 1977 with listeners winning $25 for calling the station after hearing their taped voices played on the radio.
Heading into 1978, drive-time jock The Boogie Man had headed slightly west to "Hot Hits" WTIC Hartford. 1978 also saw the arrival of 20 year old radio phenom Don Geronimo from WXLO, New York for the 10am-3pm shift. Gary Berkowitz moved to 3pm-6pm and Giovanni moved up to the 10pm-2am shift, although Alan Edwards also handled the shift later in the year. Weekenders included David Allan (aka David Allan Boucher), Gerry Moon Audette, and a teenager named Tony Bristol. Jack Diamond was also heard later in the year. The station began airing new jingles from Jam Productions in 1978, similar to those heard on legendary stations WABC and WLS. Many of these jingles would become synonymous with PRO-FM over the next several years. PRO-FM also began billing itself as “Southern New England’s Most Listened to FM Station”. 1978 ended on a bit of a bleak note for the station as the popular Howard Hoffman left for Houston and then WABC, New York.
Many more changes came in 1979. In early January, John Bina moved upstairs in the Salty Brine Broadcast Center to become nighttime jock at WPRO-AM. He was replaced by Alan Edwards. In February, Tyler came in to replace Hoffman on the 6pm-10pm shift. Geronimo left the station in late March to be replaced a few weeks later by Big Jim Roberts. Giovanni moved back to 10am-2pm and Bristol took over the overnight shift, although there was a great deal of shifting around due to all of the staff changes. Fill-in personalities such as Al DeStefano (sometimes going by “Scott Desmond”), Mitch Crane, and Cooper were also heard at times. The long-running “Cash Call” promotion began in 1979. There was also a new, but short-lived Sunday Night Disco program, hoted by “Dr. Disco”. The syndicated Wolfman Jack show was added to Saturday nights and American Top 40 was added to Sunday mornings. In August, longtime WPRO-AM midday host Jimmy Gray took over morning drive. Shortly after, the only PD the station ever had, Gary Berkowitz, left for WROR in Boston. He was not replaced for 2-3 months, leaving the station lineup as follows: Jimmy Gray (530am-10am), Big Jim Roberts (10am-3pm), Tyler (3pm-7pm), Giovanni (7pm-12mid) and Tony Bristol (12mid-530am). In November, a new PD finally arrived. His name was Jack O’Brien. O’Brien also took over afternoon drive, moving Tyler back to nights and Giovanni back to late nights. Roberts left to join Berkowitz at WROR at about this time and was replaced in middays by Bristol. Also in 1979, the station became known as “Musicradio 92 PRO-FM”.
In 1980, O’Brien moved the station slightly into more of an adult direction and refrained from playing some dance records. Most noteworthy was the number-one smash “Funkytown”. After the station was soundly beaten in the spring books by competitor JB-105, Gary Berkowitz was re-hired in August as consultant/OM for WPRO-FM and AM while remaining at WROR. Berkowitz instantly added “Funkytown” and steered the station back on the top-40 track, although as with many top-40’s at this time, it lacked the high energy sound and reverb that it had displayed during the mid to late 70’s. The station then began its climb to regain its position as the number one top-40 station in Providence. Other personalities heard in 1980 included Mike D’Mambro and Vinny “Jim” Raposa.
O’Brien remained as the drive-time host until the following January. He was replaced by WPRO-AM nighttime host David Simpson in February, 1981. Jim Halfyard took over the graveyard shift. Part-timers heard included Rick Davis and Woody Flo. The weekday lineup remained intact for the remainder of the year. A Friday night request show hosted by Tyler (6-10) and Giovanni (10-12) began in the spring of 1981.
In January of 1982, Tyler left to rejoin PD Jack O’Brien at WBOS in Boston, although he remained with the station with a Sunday afternoon shift for the next two years. He was replaced by the returning Big John Bina. Tom Cuddy from WPRO-AM appeared on the air around this time and would also become involved in station management. The slogans at this time included “Here’s Another Three Great Songs In A Row” and “There’s always a better song on PRO-FM”. With JB-105 moving to an adult contemporary format in late 1982, PRO-FM was now the lone top-40 station in Providence. In early 1983, Giovanni left his 10am-1pm slot to become production director and was replaced by weekender Tony “TM in the PM” Mascaro, who had joined the station late in 1980. Mascaro was a fixture on the station until 1997. The lineup was now as follows: Jimmy Gray (5:30am-10am), Tony Bristol (10am-2pm), David Simpson (2pm-6pm), Big John Bina (6pm-10pm), Tony Mascaro (10pm-1am) and Smilin’ Jim Halfyard (1am-530am). Rhode Islanders like familiarity in their radio and television personalities and they certainly got it with this group. This lineup would remain intact for an incredible eight years (until the arrival of Magic Mark Anthony for nights in January, 1991)! If my memory serves me right, Mighty Mike Osbourne returned to PRO-FM in the mid -80’s as PD and had the station playing more current music than it had been in the early 80’s. Beginning in 1984, in addition to the “Top 9 at 9” countdowns heard each evening with Big John, Tony Mascaro counted down the hits with the “Top 30 Hitlist” on Friday Nights. The station also began distributing a printed copy of its music survey at local record stores and would do so for the almost ten years. This was unusual at this time, because most stations had or were beginning to phase out surveys by this time. The survey consisted of the Top 35 songs, new adds, and several “extras”, sometimes as many as fifteen. PRO-FM also began to promote that it played “10 songs in a row every hour”. This would continue for the rest of the decade. The station received some competition in 1984 and 1985 from WPJB, which moved back to an adult-leaning top-40, and from WERI (RI104) with its four songs in a row without talk. These stations had both changed formats by 1987 as PRO-FM remained the number one hit music station in Providence.
Even the weekenders did not change too much during this decade as Joe Cortez, Nance Grimes and Dave Stewart worked at the station for several years, as did Vic Michaels, who came aboard in 1988. One part-timer who did not stay for too long in 1984-85 was David Jones. Jones, who was the afternoon host at WPRO-AM in the early 70’s, moved to WZOU in Boston and then on to WSNE in 1986, where he was co-host of the popular “Jones & Joan” show for the next 16 ½ years and now handles morning drive at WWLI. Other weekenders in the 1986-87 timeframe included Bob Smead and Neil Sullivan.
In July 1989, Paul “Boom” Cannon was hired as PD and shortened the playlist to about 2-3 “extras”. In 1990, the station was playing a lot of rhythmic hits as they were targeting the female audience. Songs hung around in the rotation a little longer than usual, most notably Phil Collins’ Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, which was played in heavy rotation long after it had left the charts. This is common practice in 2006, but was unusual in 1990. Also notable was that a low-charting hit by Maxi Priest (Just A Little Bit Longer) received a ton of airplay while a number one song from Nelson (Love & Affection) hardly got any. Weekenders at this time besides Vic Michaels, included T.J Napp (aka Tony Banks), and Ali Knight. The catch-phrase being used on-air and in promotions was “The station you listen to most, 92 PRO-FM”. The station in 1991 saw the first weekday lineup change in eight years. “Magic” Marc Anthony arrived and brought a new level of energy to the night show. Bina moved to late nights and Mascaro moved to overnights replacing Halfyard, who was let go. Another major change took place in August as Rocky Allen from WPLJ in New York took over the morning drive slot with his “Rocky Allen Showgram”. Allen’s unpredictible and outrageous style would soon return PRO-FM to the top of the morning ratings. The lineup was now as follows: Rocky Allen (530am-9am), Jimmy Gray (9am-12noon), Tony Bristol (12noon-3pm), David Simpson (3pm-6pm), Magic Mark Anthony (6pm-10pm), Big John Bina (10pm-2am) and Tony “TM in the AM?” Mascaro (2am-530am). As 1992 rolled around, Magic Marc Anthony had moved on and was replaced by T.J. Napp. 15-year station vet Bina was also gone and Simpson was moved out of afternoons. As least for a time in the summer of 1992, the lineup was as follows: Rocky Allen (530am-10am), Jimmy Gray (10pm-2pm), Tony Bristol (2pm-6pm), T.J. Napp (6pm-10pm), David Simpson (10pm-1am), and Tony Mascaro (1am-530am). Patty Harrison was a weekend host at this time.
By early 1993, another station vet was gone, to be replaced by yet another one, as Giovanni returned to the airwaves on a regular basis for the first time in ten years, replacing Jimmy Gray for middays. 1993 also got off to a “rocky”start as Rocky Allen returned to WPLJ. He would not be missed for long, however, as Mike Butts soon took over mornings and began a successful six-year run. Also in 1993, the station was purchased by Tele-Media Corp. Several employees decided to leave the station at that time, including Tony Bristol, who eventually would become PD of WKCI. (KC101).. David Simpson took over as PD and returned to the afternoon shift. The station moniker was “Today’s Best Music”.
By 1995, in a trend shared by many other CHR stations nationally, the station had been moving slightly into an “alternative” direction. Personalities now on the air included nighttime jock Brian B. Wilde, Chris Tyler and Davey Morris. In October 1995, Chris Shebel was hired as PD. As Gary Berkowitz did 15 years earlier, Shebel would steer the station back to the “middle”, with both dance and pop/rock songs sharing the spotlight.
More changes would be on the horizon in 1997. Tony Mascaro, now the afternoon drive-time host, left for the MD position at WPLJ New York. The station would be acquired from Tele-Media by Citadel Communications, along with WPRO-AM, WWLI and WLKW, in 1997. The summer 1997 lineup was as follows: Mike and Lisa Butts (530am-10am), Giovanni (10am-1pm), Chris Hamilton (Chris Shebel) (1pm-3pm), Rob Hayes (3pm-7pm), Danny Wright (7pm-12mid) and the station’s first full-time female DJ, Tanya Cruise (12mid-530am). Finally, in November the “little fella (as Jimmy Gray nicknamed him)” came home as Tony Bristol returned to PRO-FM as the new PD.
As the new milleneum approached for the station playing “Today’s Hit Music”, 25-year station vet Giovanni was named the new morning-drive host (Giovanni & Kim show) replacing Mike Butts in April, 1999. Other personalities at this time included Tanya Cruise, Davey Morris, PD Tony Bristol, and Rob Tyler (nights).
