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Paul Sidney Passes
- Thread starter wgliradio
- Start date
When you work in corporate radio on a daily basis, you often forget your intended target. A big radio station reaches so many different and diverse communities, more than likely the programming is so focused that you're not even trying to serve all these people.
Radio used to be different and one of the last remnants of that is WLNG and Paul Sidney. Sadly, as of this morning, only WLNG remains.
Paul arrived at WLNG a very short time after it signed on in 1963. His philosophy was simple... superserve the local community with news and information, grow clients businesses by bring consumer and shop owner together via the many remotes and slip in a favorite record now and then.
Paul also had an excellent ear for talent. Besides LI radio legends Gary Sapien and Rusty Pots, WLNG was home to Don Cannon, Jack Kratoville, Ed Newlands, John Spata, Bruce Tria, Jim McGahan, Bob Aldrich and more recently the throwback sounds of Brian Bannon and a home to Bob Shannon during the two "dark years" of WCBS FM.
I worked for WLNG from 1992-1994. I appreciated my time at WLNG after I left. I knew something was intimate there between the station an the community while I was there, but it wasn't until after I left and entered the cold world that corporate radio can be that I realized the special bond radio SHOULD have with community. That was the bond Paul established with WLNG.
Over the year, the push for FM, the cable TV simulcasts and then the internet all helped make WLNG a household name.
The station was very visible, won many awards, and did the most for not only its advertiseres, but for the community. Whenever Paul was on, he was always campaigning, kissing the babies on their heads and talking to anyone and everyone within range. The office he was running for was always WLNG.
The local news content helped win the station numerous awards and is the model for local radio coverage.
WLNG was magic... and the legacy will continue with Gary and Rusty and everyone else on Redwood Causeway. And while Paul may not be physically there anymore, he will be in spirit... with every newscast, remote and record and jock.
It was made for all and it was perfected by Paul.
Radio used to be different and one of the last remnants of that is WLNG and Paul Sidney. Sadly, as of this morning, only WLNG remains.
Paul arrived at WLNG a very short time after it signed on in 1963. His philosophy was simple... superserve the local community with news and information, grow clients businesses by bring consumer and shop owner together via the many remotes and slip in a favorite record now and then.
Paul also had an excellent ear for talent. Besides LI radio legends Gary Sapien and Rusty Pots, WLNG was home to Don Cannon, Jack Kratoville, Ed Newlands, John Spata, Bruce Tria, Jim McGahan, Bob Aldrich and more recently the throwback sounds of Brian Bannon and a home to Bob Shannon during the two "dark years" of WCBS FM.
I worked for WLNG from 1992-1994. I appreciated my time at WLNG after I left. I knew something was intimate there between the station an the community while I was there, but it wasn't until after I left and entered the cold world that corporate radio can be that I realized the special bond radio SHOULD have with community. That was the bond Paul established with WLNG.
Over the year, the push for FM, the cable TV simulcasts and then the internet all helped make WLNG a household name.
The station was very visible, won many awards, and did the most for not only its advertiseres, but for the community. Whenever Paul was on, he was always campaigning, kissing the babies on their heads and talking to anyone and everyone within range. The office he was running for was always WLNG.
The local news content helped win the station numerous awards and is the model for local radio coverage.
WLNG was magic... and the legacy will continue with Gary and Rusty and everyone else on Redwood Causeway. And while Paul may not be physically there anymore, he will be in spirit... with every newscast, remote and record and jock.
It was made for all and it was perfected by Paul.
How did he die, I had no idea he was ill, I dont live out there, but used to enjoy hearing him when I was on the east end. Who owns WLNG now, does he have family?
Words are always inadequate at times like this, even more so now with the passing of Paul Sidney. I first met Paul in 2004 when I went over to Sag Harbor to discuss bringing my show over to WLNG from Connecticut's "Why I Can't Communicate". What a great experience. He went out of his way to make me feel at ease and we spent more time discussing old radio stories than business details. I had no idea that Paul, Gary and a couple other LNG staffers were listening to my show while I was still going in CT. It was a great move to hop across the water to WLNG, and be part of such a great team and a legendary station. And that legendary status is a part of Paul that will always live on. You will always hear Paul's influence in every that WLNG puts on the air.
Paul left such a great impression with anyone he met, myself included. Had it not been for his intervention my show would have died back in 2003. How coincidental it is that he passed on the exact 15th anniversary of my program.
My condolences go out to all my extended family at WLNG and anyone whose life was touched by this gentle man.
Paul....I will miss you.
Mark Edwards
Sock Hop Saturday Night
Paul left such a great impression with anyone he met, myself included. Had it not been for his intervention my show would have died back in 2003. How coincidental it is that he passed on the exact 15th anniversary of my program.
My condolences go out to all my extended family at WLNG and anyone whose life was touched by this gentle man.
Paul....I will miss you.
Mark Edwards
Sock Hop Saturday Night
Scott Fybush said:
Paul knew how to communicate to everyone and make each caller or remote guest feel like the star.
THE JINGLES and reverb was what first attracted me to WLNG! He also loved to talk about radio off AND on the air. There will never be another.
Those who have swallowed the Kool Aid will never understand WLNG. It's not something you research or a result you see in a rating book or two. It's 45 years in the making and still going.
WLNG 92.1FM Station Release
Thursday, April 2, 2009
WLNG RADIO sadly reports the passing early this morning of Eastern Long Island’s most well known broadcaster, the legendary Paul Sidney, a personality who almost monopolized the airwaves out here for 4 and a half decades.
Loving the East End and every facet of broadcasting, particularly his air time, audiences and callers, Paul could hardly be kept from a remote broadcast. By the time he’d been on the air at WLNG for a decade or two, he had built an immense local following
We don’t know just how he got the bug, but by the time he was 8 he had mikes and a whole studio in his room in Brooklyn. Undeterred by his youth, by 11 he had hung around the DuMont TV studios in New York so often that they finally gave him some commercials to read. From that point on, his every breath became radio. His first full time air shift was at WBRY in Waterbury Connecticut followed by several years at WLIS Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Lured away from Saybrook by WLNG’s founder Fitgerald Smith and WLNG’s first General Manager James Talcott, Paul descended on Sag Harbor when WLNG was but a 500 watt AM at 1600 on the top of the dial. What followed through the years was more power for the station, the addition of an FM and ultimately the development of a great team of inspired local talents.
What also followed were a string of national awards for the station. For Paul himself there’s now a whole hallway at the station of commendations capped by several life time achievement awards and a recent New York State Broadcaster’s Induction into the Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.
Although Paul never had much of a financial interest in WLNG and hasn’t been a shareholder for some years now, for decades our principal shareholder Robert King and several other caring long time shareholders have partnered with Paul in running the company. Shareholder Gary Sapiane for instance has been aboard and into community concerns with Paul for 38 years, Shareholder Rusty Potz for 33 years, and Shareholder Ann Buckhout for 30 years. Although not owners, there are two full timers now at the station, Brian Bannon and Chris Buckhout, who were following Paul around in LNG’s studios 30 years ago when they were but 4 or 5 years old.
As a family station we couldn’t be more proud of our oldest DJ, our former General Manager and President Emeritus Paul Sidney.
As will all of his listeners on Eastern Long Island and the whole world of small market radio, the airwaves will truly miss the boundless vibrancy of Paul Sidney.
A gathering at the Yardley Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor at 2 PM tomorrow, Friday, will precede a prayer service followed by a procession for the internment at the Chevra Kodeta Cemetery also on RTE 114 in Sag Harbor. All are welcome.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
WLNG RADIO sadly reports the passing early this morning of Eastern Long Island’s most well known broadcaster, the legendary Paul Sidney, a personality who almost monopolized the airwaves out here for 4 and a half decades.
Loving the East End and every facet of broadcasting, particularly his air time, audiences and callers, Paul could hardly be kept from a remote broadcast. By the time he’d been on the air at WLNG for a decade or two, he had built an immense local following
We don’t know just how he got the bug, but by the time he was 8 he had mikes and a whole studio in his room in Brooklyn. Undeterred by his youth, by 11 he had hung around the DuMont TV studios in New York so often that they finally gave him some commercials to read. From that point on, his every breath became radio. His first full time air shift was at WBRY in Waterbury Connecticut followed by several years at WLIS Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Lured away from Saybrook by WLNG’s founder Fitgerald Smith and WLNG’s first General Manager James Talcott, Paul descended on Sag Harbor when WLNG was but a 500 watt AM at 1600 on the top of the dial. What followed through the years was more power for the station, the addition of an FM and ultimately the development of a great team of inspired local talents.
What also followed were a string of national awards for the station. For Paul himself there’s now a whole hallway at the station of commendations capped by several life time achievement awards and a recent New York State Broadcaster’s Induction into the Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.
Although Paul never had much of a financial interest in WLNG and hasn’t been a shareholder for some years now, for decades our principal shareholder Robert King and several other caring long time shareholders have partnered with Paul in running the company. Shareholder Gary Sapiane for instance has been aboard and into community concerns with Paul for 38 years, Shareholder Rusty Potz for 33 years, and Shareholder Ann Buckhout for 30 years. Although not owners, there are two full timers now at the station, Brian Bannon and Chris Buckhout, who were following Paul around in LNG’s studios 30 years ago when they were but 4 or 5 years old.
As a family station we couldn’t be more proud of our oldest DJ, our former General Manager and President Emeritus Paul Sidney.
As will all of his listeners on Eastern Long Island and the whole world of small market radio, the airwaves will truly miss the boundless vibrancy of Paul Sidney.
A gathering at the Yardley Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor at 2 PM tomorrow, Friday, will precede a prayer service followed by a procession for the internment at the Chevra Kodeta Cemetery also on RTE 114 in Sag Harbor. All are welcome.
I first discovered WLNG during an East End vacation in 1989. I spent half my vacation taping it, so astounded was I that a station like this existed! Spent much time in the Hamptons the following year (my last summer in NY before moving to the West Coast) and fell in love with the station. The first thing I did when I returned to NY for a visit a few years later was to head east to hear WLNG.
I was thrilled to rediscover them on the internet more recently; I listen several afternoons a week while I work. Nothing on SF radio can hold a candle to Rusty Potz and Brian "The Cannon" Bannon, and I never fail to hear an obscurity I haven't heard in 30 years -- or sometimes ever. RIP Mr Sidney, your legend lives on.
I was thrilled to rediscover them on the internet more recently; I listen several afternoons a week while I work. Nothing on SF radio can hold a candle to Rusty Potz and Brian "The Cannon" Bannon, and I never fail to hear an obscurity I haven't heard in 30 years -- or sometimes ever. RIP Mr Sidney, your legend lives on.
M
matt99x
Guest
Just wanted to pass along my thoughts on Paul Sidney. I worked on LI at both WWHB and WRCN, and though Paul was "the competition," he always made me feel like we were all part of one big "radio family." His love for what he was doing came pouring out of the speakers every single day. He always encouraged me, let me know when I did something well..and when he thought I sucked. Great guy, and radio will never be the same. Best wishes to Gary S., Rusty P. and the crew at WLNG.
Matt Mangas
Matt Mangas
Paul Sidney truly understood the FCC mandate to serve "the public interest, convenience and necessity."
Hurricanes and tropical storms found him in those studios helping to hold the hands of his listeners...assuring them they'd be ok...and providing vital, literally life saving information.
I worked for another "full service" radio station on Long Island...I can tell you in all candor that NO ONE ever provided more service in the listener's time of need...than Paul and WLNG did.
I was always a fan and I called him a friend...one I will miss.
Hurricanes and tropical storms found him in those studios helping to hold the hands of his listeners...assuring them they'd be ok...and providing vital, literally life saving information.
I worked for another "full service" radio station on Long Island...I can tell you in all candor that NO ONE ever provided more service in the listener's time of need...than Paul and WLNG did.
I was always a fan and I called him a friend...one I will miss.
It is with great sadness that I learned of Paul's passing. A ture "Local Radio Icon" in the corporate radio world.
Having worked as Paul's remote engineer in the early nineties, I saw first hand his ability to communicate with his listners. Truly a community oriented broadcaster.
Radio will never be that same !
My sympathy to his extened family at WLNG.
Frankie C
Having worked as Paul's remote engineer in the early nineties, I saw first hand his ability to communicate with his listners. Truly a community oriented broadcaster.
Radio will never be that same !
My sympathy to his extened family at WLNG.
Frankie C
L
larnov
Guest
Sad to see this. I just saw this from the Facebook page of Liz Litterello of WIXC 1060 of Titusville/Melbourne via Kevin M. Fennessy GM Vice President of WIXC. I always listened to him from 1970 till I moved away in 1978 and would listen in when I visited the Eastern L I area throughout the years. Radio has lost a true giant.
I only met Paul a few times when I went out to WLNG with Big Ed to do a show. He once offered me a part time job there, but I politely turned it down for I could not justify the 120 mile round trip from West Islip to Sag Harbor and back. He was a very nice man who loved radio with a passion that could not be beat :'( I could just see it now. Here's the deal, Paul Sidneys live on location at the pearly gates of Heaven with the tireless wireless interviewing everyone who goes in. One could only imagine what kind of jingles he could get now.
A
andreajesus
Guest
exactly...LI (and NYC) radio is a little bit sadder and a little bit emptier tonight... 
There is an article in today's Daily News includes comments from Bob Shannon:
"It still hasn't sunk in that he's actually gone..."
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...longtime_li_radio_voice_paul_sidney_died.html
While sources including the Daily News only reported he had suffered "a long illness," WLNG's co-owner tells 27east.com that he "had been battling leukemia":
http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=203422
And a local newspaper reported Sidney actually had to be taken out on a stretcher on Wednesday:
http://sagharborexpress.sagharborpu...-says-goodbye-to-wlng-legend-paul-sidney-2616
"It still hasn't sunk in that he's actually gone..."
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...longtime_li_radio_voice_paul_sidney_died.html
starcastle said:
While sources including the Daily News only reported he had suffered "a long illness," WLNG's co-owner tells 27east.com that he "had been battling leukemia":
http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=203422
And a local newspaper reported Sidney actually had to be taken out on a stretcher on Wednesday:
http://sagharborexpress.sagharborpu...-says-goodbye-to-wlng-legend-paul-sidney-2616
B
bub
Guest
wgliradio: I echo Scott Fybush on your tribute to Paul Sidney. Very nice! Very classy!wgliradio said:
You both are correct in that "It's a WLNG thing. You just wouldn't understand."
RIP Paul Sidney.
A genuinely nice man, and a true radio original. He will be missed.
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