People who were into the early 1980s local college/community radio and Boston punk/indie rock music scene may remember (Ann) Spencer Gates as half of the irreverent "Mystery Girls" show team on WMBR on Friday afternoons from 1981-1986.
Their show was on when I joined WMBR, and though I was viewed (correctly) as an anachronistic leftover hippie by those in the trendy scene at the time, Spencer was always nice to me, and always fun to be around. I also remember appreciating all the work she put in as promotions director, setting up and handling the stations on-air ticket giveaways for all the local rock shows that were happening at the time.
Spencer passed away yesterday, after a long battle with cancer. Here's a portion of the press release/obituary:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/homepage/x518433091/Obituary-Ann-Spencer-Gates
Ann Spencer Gates, of Cambridge, known to her friends as Spencer, died peacefully at home on July 6, 2008, after a courageous two-year battle with breast cancer.
Spencer moved to Boston in 1978 from her hometown of Buffalo to attend Boston University. She quickly fell in love with the Boston music scene, introduced by her brother Peter Gates, already established as a DJ at MIT’s WMBR. In 1981, she and her best friend Sheena (Lisa Buchholz) became hosts of the beloved show "The Mystery Girls" on WMBR, which ran Friday afternoons for 5 years, and was, by Spencer's own admission, "the most unprofessional thing ever on the radio."
The show featured many of the bands of the city's burgeoning punk rock scene, including Mission of Burma, Lemonheads, Nervous Eaters, Sorry, and Moving Targets, and was an irreverent Friday afternoon cocktail party on the air, signaling the start of the weekend. Every week they would assume different personas. They were the Mystery Girls, and had the power at will to become the characters they chose. It didn't matter if they couldn't quite agree on who they should be or remember who they decided to be.
Said Mission of Burma’s Clint Conley, “As a person Spencer was such a gas--so funny, and sassy and tuned in. I was a dedicated listener of her show in the 80s--total irreverence, anarchic fun, such a psych hearing them getting all jacked up over the music they'd be checking out that weekend. Thinking of Spencer, I am more convinced than ever that the most inspired part of any cool music scene usually has less to do with the musicians than the musicians would like to think.” It was perhaps the most memorable punk rock radio show of the era.
On most nights, Spencer and Sheena could be found, dressed to kill in cocktail garb, at a club like the late lamented Rat or Chet's Last Call hosting a party for a touring band who would soon be famous. The Mystery Girls loft in downtown Boston, hosted many legendary after-hours happenings of the time. According to former Lemonheads manager Joyce Linehan, “The paradox of the Mystery Girls was that they were finishing school girls who brought comic civility and good manners to punk rock by being unbelievably uncivil and ill-mannered. Yet it was never mean-spirited, and even the most outcast of the outcasts were a welcome part of the fun. “
After leaving Boston, Spencer moved to New York in 1988, and later took a job as a publicist at Matador Records, where she worked with Liz Phair, Pavement, Cat Power, Bettie Serveert, The Fall, Mark Eitzel, and Yo La Tengo. After leaving Matador, she was a publicist at Atlantic Records. Disillusioned by an increasingly corporate and less creative music business, Spencer moved to Rhinebeck in 2000, where she worked in retail. In 2005, she moved back to Boston, to the delight of many of her friends, and took a job in Harvard University's Division of Continuing Education, where she enjoyed working with new students to introduce them to her beloved adopted hometown. When she became too sick to work full time, she took a part time volunteer position in the marketing department at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.
Since her breast cancer diagnosis in April of 2006 until the final week of her life, Spencer took every opportunity presented to spend time with family and friends, and to go to plays, concerts, movies and other events. In addition to being a fan of music, photography and theater, she was an environmental activist and an animal lover.
Donation in Spencer’s memory can be made to Zumix, 202 Maverick St., E. Boston, MA 02128 or Future Chefs, c/o Third Sector New England, 89 South St., Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111-2680.
[ Link provided by Radio-Info. In the future, please provide a URL to the originating source as courtesy][color]
Their show was on when I joined WMBR, and though I was viewed (correctly) as an anachronistic leftover hippie by those in the trendy scene at the time, Spencer was always nice to me, and always fun to be around. I also remember appreciating all the work she put in as promotions director, setting up and handling the stations on-air ticket giveaways for all the local rock shows that were happening at the time.
Spencer passed away yesterday, after a long battle with cancer. Here's a portion of the press release/obituary:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/homepage/x518433091/Obituary-Ann-Spencer-Gates
Ann Spencer Gates, of Cambridge, known to her friends as Spencer, died peacefully at home on July 6, 2008, after a courageous two-year battle with breast cancer.
Spencer moved to Boston in 1978 from her hometown of Buffalo to attend Boston University. She quickly fell in love with the Boston music scene, introduced by her brother Peter Gates, already established as a DJ at MIT’s WMBR. In 1981, she and her best friend Sheena (Lisa Buchholz) became hosts of the beloved show "The Mystery Girls" on WMBR, which ran Friday afternoons for 5 years, and was, by Spencer's own admission, "the most unprofessional thing ever on the radio."
The show featured many of the bands of the city's burgeoning punk rock scene, including Mission of Burma, Lemonheads, Nervous Eaters, Sorry, and Moving Targets, and was an irreverent Friday afternoon cocktail party on the air, signaling the start of the weekend. Every week they would assume different personas. They were the Mystery Girls, and had the power at will to become the characters they chose. It didn't matter if they couldn't quite agree on who they should be or remember who they decided to be.
Said Mission of Burma’s Clint Conley, “As a person Spencer was such a gas--so funny, and sassy and tuned in. I was a dedicated listener of her show in the 80s--total irreverence, anarchic fun, such a psych hearing them getting all jacked up over the music they'd be checking out that weekend. Thinking of Spencer, I am more convinced than ever that the most inspired part of any cool music scene usually has less to do with the musicians than the musicians would like to think.” It was perhaps the most memorable punk rock radio show of the era.
On most nights, Spencer and Sheena could be found, dressed to kill in cocktail garb, at a club like the late lamented Rat or Chet's Last Call hosting a party for a touring band who would soon be famous. The Mystery Girls loft in downtown Boston, hosted many legendary after-hours happenings of the time. According to former Lemonheads manager Joyce Linehan, “The paradox of the Mystery Girls was that they were finishing school girls who brought comic civility and good manners to punk rock by being unbelievably uncivil and ill-mannered. Yet it was never mean-spirited, and even the most outcast of the outcasts were a welcome part of the fun. “
After leaving Boston, Spencer moved to New York in 1988, and later took a job as a publicist at Matador Records, where she worked with Liz Phair, Pavement, Cat Power, Bettie Serveert, The Fall, Mark Eitzel, and Yo La Tengo. After leaving Matador, she was a publicist at Atlantic Records. Disillusioned by an increasingly corporate and less creative music business, Spencer moved to Rhinebeck in 2000, where she worked in retail. In 2005, she moved back to Boston, to the delight of many of her friends, and took a job in Harvard University's Division of Continuing Education, where she enjoyed working with new students to introduce them to her beloved adopted hometown. When she became too sick to work full time, she took a part time volunteer position in the marketing department at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.
Since her breast cancer diagnosis in April of 2006 until the final week of her life, Spencer took every opportunity presented to spend time with family and friends, and to go to plays, concerts, movies and other events. In addition to being a fan of music, photography and theater, she was an environmental activist and an animal lover.
Donation in Spencer’s memory can be made to Zumix, 202 Maverick St., E. Boston, MA 02128 or Future Chefs, c/o Third Sector New England, 89 South St., Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111-2680.
[ Link provided by Radio-Info. In the future, please provide a URL to the originating source as courtesy][color]
