Jocks who made it to major markets from WB/Scranton?

[The Former Mac Austin]

May I represent San Francisco?

Mary Beth Rockwell here... my hubby Steve & I did mornings in NEPA in the early-mid 90's (WDLS, Oldies 92) and went on to work separately at Magic 93 (me) and WARM (Steve). We left NEPA in '96 when I was hired for middays at Planet Radio in Miami, while Steve worked for Shadow Traffic there. We then moved to SF in '97 when Uncle Mikey Edwards hired me for the midday gig at Z95.7 (my nom de aire changed to "Katie Mason"), and Steve made the move but stayed with Shadow. He's now with Traffic Pulse out here, and I'm at MOViN' 99.7 (KFRC), which is jockless for now but I'm anxiously awaiting the chance to go live once the station hires the rest of the airstaff.

I do love popping in on this board to reminisce every so often... we made some great friends while we were in NEPA!

MB

Hey MB! I used to work with you guys at DLS (I went by Rich Austin). Glad to hear you guys are still doing well on the West Coast! Tell Steve I say howdy!

 

[SharkeySharkDog]

Wow 2 former DLSers on one board. I'll make it 3. Hi guys...Shark Stevens.

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

Wow 2 former DLSers on one board. I'll make it 3. Hi guys...Shark Stevens.

SPARKY!!!

What's up, sir? Glad to hear you're still on the airwaves up there. It's been ages and ages since we've spoken, so I hope all is well with you.

 

[masterg]

Anyone care to give us the on-air staff for DLS in, say, 96/97? Who did what? And where was WDLS physically located? Thanks...

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

Was DLS still around in 96/97? I left in 92. I seem to remember Mike McCormack buying out Ron Shacht (sp?) but then skipping town when the station started dying due to Froggy taking away all of the country marketshare.

When I was there (90-92), our last lineup was:

Mornings: Jim Gannon
Middays: Me
Afternoons: Nancy Faye
Nights: Jack Pressley

After I left, I believe Shark Stevens took over either middays or afternoons (with Nancy taking middays).

I lost touch with Jim in 1997. Nancy passed away a few years ago from cancer. No idea about Jack, or anyone else from there for that matter.

DLS was located at the top of Plymouth Mountain in what was technically Dallas, PA. It was a pretty fun place to work, though the drive up the mountain in the winters was REALLY bad.

If anyone else knows of the whereabouts of some of the old DLS crew, give me a shout.

 

[masterg]

Hey, you get old, time frames get blurry, know what I mean? So, when I say 1996/97, I could easily be off by several years, Mac, and I probably am. Thanks for the info.

My original memories of what became WDLS were when it was WMJW, owned by Thunder Broadcasting. Do I have that right? WMJW was on Plymouth mountain, so I'm assuming that's it. Even back in the '70s, it was an automated operation for a time. Jim Gannon? Man, does anyone know where Jim is? I've asked before, seemingly no on knows. So sad to hear about Nancy Faye, I had no idea. I'm full of questions, sorry, but here's another one - was Nancy known by another name or names? And why do I want to say that Jenn Starr worked at WDLS for a time. One final question, for now at least - didn't you do some TV sports, Mac?

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

Hey, you get old, time frames get blurry, know what I mean? So, when I say 1996/97, I could easily be off by several years, Mac, and I probably am. Thanks for the info.

My original memories of what became WDLS were when it was WMJW, owned by Thunder Broadcasting. Do I have that right? WMJW was on Plymouth mountain, so I'm assuming that's it. Even back in the '70s, it was an automated operation for a time. Jim Gannon? Man, does anyone know where Jim is? I've asked before, seemingly no on knows. So sad to hear about Nancy Faye, I had no idea. I'm full of questions, sorry, but here's another one - was Nancy known by another name or names? And why do I want to say that Jenn Starr worked at WDLS for a time. One final question, for now at least - didn't you do some TV sports, Mac?

I never mind answering questions. It makes me nostalgic

Nancy Faye's real name was Nancy Place. I know she worked in Williamsport for a while between her two terms at DLS, but I'm not sure if she used a different name.

I believe Jennifer Starr worked EVERYWHERE in the SWB market, including a stint at DLS. I had been gone from there by that time, but she was brought in to try and help the station stay afloat before it finally went down the bowl.

Wow, someone remembers me from my time at WBRE? Amazing! Yes, actually I worked in the sports department under Jim Miller and Sid Michaels (under my real name, of course) back in 1990-91. I worked closely with Mike Remplewicz and Bill Dowdell as a shooter. I also did some high school football for WILK in 1989-90.

If you have any other questions, feel free to fire away!

 

[masterg]

Nancy Faye's real name was Nancy Place. I know she worked in Williamsport for a while...

I'd say you're very right. She worked at either WMPT or WLYC in Williamsport, maybe both. Gannon is the big mystery, no one knows if he's even still in the area. Come to think of it, Jim also worked in Williamsport. Jenn has worked at most stations here, and continues to survive and thrive, which is more than many of us can say. I thought you worked with Miller and Michaels. Did you know that Jim and Sid both quit on the very same day, within a half hour of one another, and neither knew the other was going to do it? They actually passed each other on the stairs coming/going to the GM's office. Jim's in Columbus, Ohio, and from what I hear, he's essentially retired. Sid works for the state.

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

Gannon is the big mystery, no one knows if he's even still in the area. Come to think of it, Jim also worked in Williamsport. Jenn has worked at most stations here, and continues to survive and thrive, which is more than many of us can say. I thought you worked with Miller and Michaels. Did you know that Jim and Sid both quit on the very same day, within a half hour of one another, and neither knew the other was going to do it? They actually passed each other on the stairs coming/going to the GM's office. Jim's in Columbus, Ohio, and from what I hear, he's essentially retired. Sid works for the state.

I didn't know that about Sid and Jim. That is one wild fact! I knew Sid was at WYOU until recently, glad he's doing well (a state job is good money). Didn't know about Jim, either. I miss the Oklahoma City accent! He was a great guy to be around and I learned a lot from him. Funny thing is that he taught part-time at King's College and I took his class while working with him! (Needless to say, I got an A - not that I wouldn't have anyway ... it was Sports Communications for crying out loud!)

When I lost contact with Jim Gannon he was working part time in Scranton but essentially retired. He was a funny guy off the air (a lot funnier than on the air, unfortunately) and we had a blast working together. Well, except for when I used to hide his keys (which became an at least twice-a-week thing), but he usually took it in the fun manor in which it was intended.

I'll be a gentleman and not make a "Jenn Starr's been around the block a few times" comment :-X

So, if you don't mind me asking, where did you do your time in SWB? Maybe we shared some foxholes along the way...

 

[Nairda]

If MasterG is who I think he is then one of the correct answers would be WARM

 

[ThomasCarten]

Funny thing is that he [Jim Miller] taught part-time at King's College.

Which presented some practical difficulties for the mail room. There was Jim Miller the sports guy; Jim Miller, the theater guy (Bro. Jim); and Jim Miller, a student.

 

[masterg]

Funny thing is that he [Jim Miller] taught part-time at King's College.

Which presented some practical difficulties for the mail room. There was Jim Miller the sports guy; Jim Miller, the theater guy (Bro. Jim); and Jim Miller, a student.

Sports guy Jim's actual name is Jerry. It was his brother who was Jim. It was an odd tradition in the Scranton area for younger brothers to somehow become known by their older brother's(or father's)names. And Jim/Jerry was indeed originally from Scranton, Keyser Valley I believe. The only people who called him Jerry were family members, his wife for instance, she always called him Jerry. Even close colleagues who worked with him for years called him Jim. A lot of us here are familiar with Andy Gavin's in Scranton. The founder/owner of the place was "Andy" Gavin, although he wasn't "Andy" at all, his brother was Andy. The realy "Andy" was a missionary priest who spent his life in Africa.

P.S. Nairda is Adrian spelled backwards. That narrows things considerably.

 

[ThomasCarten]

It was an odd tradition in the Scranton area for younger brothers to somehow become known by their older brother's (or father's) names.

It wasn't a tradition where I lived, but I am a product of that, too.


The Carten known as Tom

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

I came into the biz during the time of wacky air names - Joe Momma, Hollywood Haze, Spyder McGuire, Anita Life, etc. - so people adopting other names is not a shock to me. Adopting the name of someone who is a real person, though, gets tricky - especially if that person is related to you!

And, of course, I always referred to Jim/Jerry/whatever as "Mr. M." out of respect. That man could make an entire gymnasium crowd stop watching the game and applaud him just by walking in the door.

Thanks for the trivia, masterg!

 

[masterg]

That man could make an entire gymnasium crowd stop watching the game and applaud him just by walking in the door.

Jim busted his backside for local sports, especially high school kids. I mean the word "no" wasn't in his vocabulary when it came kids and athletics of any sort. I knew him to do 3 - 4 different banquets on the same day.

Jim came from a time when a select handful of local teevee personalities could get a standing ovation without much trouble, and he was indeed one of them.

FWIW, my beginnings in radio came during the day of the generic and never, EVER, ethnic-sounding air-name. It was pretty standard for jocks to have two first names; like Bob Roberts, Rich Edwards, Don Thomas, etc. If your origins were eastern European, forget it, no Slavic sounding name was going to make it to air. The one exception was a guy at WKBW in Buffalo who was Polish, and used his real name on the air. GOOD GOD! It was considered groundbreaking at the time. Sorry, I cannot recall his name, but somewhere here might.

 

[warmland]

The one exception was a guy at WKBW in Buffalo who was Polish, and used his real name on the air. GOOD GOD! It was considered groundbreaking at the time. Sorry, I cannot recall his name, but somewhere here might.

Hi MasterG,

Are you think of Casey Patrowski? He worked at KB.

 

[masterg]

Thanks, warmland! That's it. Both you and another genuine radio-head, and dear friend, knew right away that it was Casey Petrowski.

 

[AMMcKenna]

If your origins were eastern European, forget it, no Slavic sounding name was going to make it to air. The one exception was a guy at WKBW in Buffalo who was Polish, and used his real name on the air. GOOD GOD! It was considered groundbreaking at the time. Sorry, I cannot recall his name, but somewhere here might.

I'm not sure what time period you're talking about, but the same was pretty much true when I began in '76 at "Super BAX." However, this was pretty odd -- the morning drive guy there was named Bob Wollensek (not sure about the spelling), and the PD (Jeff Gerber) wanted his name to sound ethnic (specifically, Polish, to sound like he belonged in the valley), so he had him change it to Bob Wilensky! As if Wollensek wasn't ethnic enough.

Gerber also brought in a night DJ from Allentown (and I forget his real name) and had him change his name to Jack Trippi, to remind everyone of the famous football legend from the area.

(FYI, the rest of the on-air lineup from that time was Gerber-midday, Chris Starr-PM drive, Vince Webber-late night, and Bob Marino--another ethnic name--overnight. Dave Kush and Madeline Fitzgerald were full-time news; I was part-time news & sports and weekend and fill-in DJ.)

 

[warmland]

If your origins were eastern European, forget it, no Slavic sounding name was going to make it to air. The one exception was a guy at WKBW in Buffalo who was Polish, and used his real name on the air. GOOD GOD! It was considered groundbreaking at the time. Sorry, I cannot recall his name, but somewhere here might.

I'm not sure what time period you're talking about, but the same was pretty much true when I began in '76 at "Super BAX." However, this was pretty odd -- the morning drive guy there was named Bob Wollensek (not sure about the spelling), and the PD (Jeff Gerber) wanted his name to sound ethnic (specifically, Polish, to sound like he belonged in the valley), so he had him change it to Bob Wilensky! As if Wollensek wasn't ethnic enough.

Gerber also brought in a night DJ from Allentown (and I forget his real name) and had him change his name to Jack Trippi, to remind everyone of the famous football legend from the area.

(FYI, the rest of the on-air lineup from that time was Gerber-midday, Chris Starr-PM drive, Vince Webber-late night, and Bob Marino--another ethnic name--overnight. Dave Kush and Madeline Fitzgerald were full-time news; I was part-time news & sports and weekend and fill-in DJ.)

Actually, it was the manager at the time, Dick Booth who thought the name changes would be good for the valley.Booth was one of 4 managers in a 2 year period at BAX.

 

[yonkstur]

Actually, it was the manager at the time, Dick Booth who thought the name changes would be good for the valley.Booth was one of 4 managers in a 2 year period at BAX.

Booth was nuts. My very first day there on an internship from King's, they put me in this little office to catalogue carts when they found out I actually knew what a cart was. My job was to take the labels off them and bulk erase them. Rick Walker strolls into the office to shoot the breeze. Dick Booth walks by and makes a smart remark and the next thing I know, they're literally at each other's faces. Walker gets fired and that's that. I thought Gerber used his own name until he left later that summer and Bob Wolinsky was another guy. I could be wrong. The station was very formatted with news at twenty after and twenty before. The main drag was that nightime 250 watts though.
Dave Donlin succeeded Dick booth. Don't know the other two GMs.

Yonkstur