Thank you to the outgoing WRKO team

[1sttimelongtime]

While many of us have fond memories of the Dean and Gene, I really have to commend the team that has run the Talk Station for the past few years. I believe they have really begun to turn things around.

I can't believe the griping I read about the mid-morning show. Didn't it replace Dr. Laura?? Or was it MacCathy and Vigue that we miss so much??

I also can't believe any of the complaints about any of the weekend shows. I actually enjoy Spencer's show very much. But, even if you don't, do you want to return to the Liberty Travel Show? Weekends now provide almost a record level of live & local shows compared to brokered time, reruns of Dr. Dean Edell or other shows it didn't run in their weekday slots and "Best of" shows of many of the years gone by. The immediate prior management seemed to just shut down on Saturdays and Sundays. This team brought us 3 local shows on Satuday mornings, a couple of money shows then more local talk into Saturday evening. Then a Sunday with a good portion of the programs being live. Thank you.

Thanks also for increasing the hours of live and local newscasts. This too is a vast improvement.

Thanks also for honoring the station's great heritage. Including the "Big 68's" link on the website was a nice touch. Also, bringing back Jerry, Claprood and Whitley and even Ted and Janet was appreciated by this long-time listener.

I can only hope the next team carries the station to the next level. I wish they'd start with the noon to three slot.

 

[parklane]

A Broader Assessment

All of what you say is true about the addtion of local programming and Mike Elder should be congratulated. Still, I wish there was some real diversity in the talk shows. They are basically all the same political bent and that makes them boring and predictable something "The Dean" and Gene never were.

I hope the new team will see that shelving someone like Jay Diamond who is the only unpredictable and non politically aligned talker to a sometime weekend (Saturday night) slot is not enough.

What I like about Jay Severin [ 96.9 WTKK 3-7] is just when you think you have figured him out he makes a statement that you would not have predicted. For example, his stand in support of Cyndy Sheehan when all the right wingers on WRKO read straight from Karl Rove's play book. Jay is not boring but 'RKO's locals: John DePetro, Howie Carr, Todd Feinberg, Moe Lausier, Peter Blute, Pat Whitley, Spencer Hughes are and that makes listening to them boring. You note I left out Scott Allen Miller who is the only REAL independent man at WRKO. One final thought, there are no women talkers on 'RKO. Margorie Clapprood left - didn't seem she was getting much support from the testosterone locker room.

So, Mike made a start but he got caught in either his own political bent or went with the lowest common demoninator -right wing shout fest and to a degree hate radio.

I think most of WRKO's talkers should listen to the poetry of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics in "You've Got To Be Taught" from South Pacific: " You've got to be carefully taught to hate all the people your relatives hate; you've got to be taught before you're six or seven or eight ...". Guess Boston hasn't changed much since 1949 when South Pacific was previewing in Boston. The famed theatre critic, Elliot Norton, suggested strongly that Rogers & Hammerstein take out that song. As he said, 'this is Boston' and he feared it would not be well received. Oscar Hammerstein resisted Norton's advise and "You've Got To Be Taught" became a classic, but Boston has not changed in 56 years. Just listen to people like Carr and DePetro and you will hear that they were "carefully taught".
===========================================================
> While many of us have fond memories of the Dean and Gene, I
> really have to commend the team that has run the Talk
> Station for the past few years. I believe they have really
> begun to turn things around.
>
> I can't believe the griping I read about the mid-morning
> show. Didn't it replace Dr. Laura?? Or was it MacCathy and
> Vigue that we miss so much??
>
> I also can't believe any of the complaints about any of the
> weekend shows. I actually enjoy Spencer's show very much.
> But, even if you don't, do you want to return to the Liberty
> Travel Show? Weekends now provide almost a record level of
> live & local shows compared to brokered time, reruns of Dr.
> Dean Edell or other shows it didn't run in their weekday
> slots and "Best of" shows of many of the years gone by. The
> immediate prior management seemed to just shut down on
> Saturdays and Sundays. This team brought us 3 local shows
> on Satuday mornings, a couple of money shows then more local
> talk into Saturday evening. Then a Sunday with a good
> portion of the programs being live. Thank you.
>
> Thanks also for increasing the hours of live and local
> newscasts. This too is a vast improvement.
>
> Thanks also for honoring the station's great heritage.
> Including the "Big 68's" link on the website was a nice
> touch. Also, bringing back Jerry, Claprood and Whitley and
> even Ted and Janet was appreciated by this long-time
> listener.
>
> I can only hope the next team carries the station to the
> next level. I wish they'd start with the noon to three
> slot.
>

 

[Shellanswerman]

Re: A Broader Assessment

>
> I think most of WRKO's talkers should listen to the poetry
> of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics in "You've Got To Be Taught"
> from South Pacific: " You've got to be carefully taught to
> hate all the people your relatives hate; you've got to be
> taught before you're six or seven or eight ...". Guess
> Boston hasn't changed much since 1949 when South Pacific was
> previewing in Boston. The famed theatre critic, Elliot
> Norton, suggested strongly that Rogers & Hammerstein take
> out that song. As he said, 'this is Boston' and he feared it
> would not be well received. Oscar Hammerstein resisted
> Norton's advise and "You've Got To Be Taught" became a
> classic, but Boston has not changed in 56 years. Just listen
> to people like Carr and DePetro and you will hear that they
> were "carefully taught".
> ===========================================================

Yikes...whatever you do, don't quote the lyrics to Cole Porter's "Love for Sale"!

 

[parklane]

Re: A Broader Assessment

> >Wasn't that Dick Syatt's Dating show theme?
> > I think most of WRKO's talkers should listen to the poetry
>
> > of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics in "You've Got To Be Taught"
>
> > from South Pacific: " You've got to be carefully taught to
>
> > hate all the people your relatives hate; you've got to be
> > taught before you're six or seven or eight ...". Guess
> > Boston hasn't changed much since 1949 when South Pacific
> was
> > previewing in Boston. The famed theatre critic, Elliot
> > Norton, suggested strongly that Rogers & Hammerstein take
> > out that song. As he said, 'this is Boston' and he feared
> it
> > would not be well received. Oscar Hammerstein resisted
> > Norton's advise and "You've Got To Be Taught" became a
> > classic, but Boston has not changed in 56 years. Just
> listen
> > to people like Carr and DePetro and you will hear that
> they
> > were "carefully taught".
> >
> ===========================================================
>
> Yikes...whatever you do, don't quote the lyrics to Cole
> Porter's "Love for Sale"!
>

 

[1sttimelongtime]

How Is That Broader?

I commented on expanded news, live and local programming and bowing to the heritage of the station. You ran through the roster and named the 2 hosts you liked and the lot you disliked. Am I missing something?

 

[parklane]

Re: How Is That Broader?

I think my post speaks for itself.


> I commented on expanded news, live and local programming and
> bowing to the heritage of the station. You ran through the
> roster and named the 2 hosts you liked and the lot you
> disliked. Am I missing something?
>

 

[Infidel]

> Thanks also for increasing the hours of live and local
> newscasts. This too is a vast improvement.

Surely you jest? I agree with most of what you said, but on this issue you must be kidding! In the morning especially, they are CONSTANTLY going to a news or traffic report. Nevermind that the traffic reports are awful and incomplete (don't get me started on how they ignore 495), but the morning show (Blute and Scotto in particular) are only talking for five to ten minutes per hour it seems. And going by that math, Peter Blute talks for two to three seconds per hour. Sometimes you have to listen for over an hour to hear Peter even speak! Not that I have to hear Blute, but Scotto has all but takn over the show. Is he just waiting for Blute to retire or quit? I get a laugh when someone calls in and Scotto gets angry, he says "don't call MY show .... uh, I mean, OUR show!"

If I'm listening to another station, and I turn to WRKO, nine times out of ten they are on news, traffic or commericals. It's gotten to the point where I can hardly listen to the morning show -- because of the lack of content. Why not go to an all-news format like WBZ, or else cut back on the "news on the hour, the half hour, and when it breaks" ?

 

[1sttimelongtime]

> > Thanks also for increasing the hours of live and local
> > newscasts. This too is a vast improvement.
>
> Surely you jest? I agree with most of what you said, but on
> this issue you must be kidding! In the morning especially,
> they are CONSTANTLY going to a news or traffic report.
> Nevermind that the traffic reports are awful and incomplete
> (don't get me started on how they ignore 495), but the
> morning show (Blute and Scotto in particular) are only
> talking for five to ten minutes per hour it seems. And
> going by that math, Peter Blute talks for two to three
> seconds per hour. Sometimes you have to listen for over an
> hour to hear Peter even speak! Not that I have to hear
> Blute, but Scotto has all but takn over the show. Is he
> just waiting for Blute to retire or quit? I get a laugh
> when someone calls in and Scotto gets angry, he says "don't
> call MY show .... uh, I mean, OUR show!"
>
> If I'm listening to another station, and I turn to WRKO,
> nine times out of ten they are on news, traffic or
> commericals. It's gotten to the point where I can hardly
> listen to the morning show -- because of the lack of
> content. Why not go to an all-news format like WBZ, or else
> cut back on the "news on the hour, the half hour, and when
> it breaks" ?

Actually I agree with you there. I have no need of the half hour news or so many of the interruptions in the morning show. What I'm commending is the source of the cast. I believe they used to go to the networks for news beginning around six PM in the no too distant past - and forget about local news on the weekend. The point of my post is these folks put a few bucks back into the station and it is noticable. For a while it was "is anyone home?" radio. You might have called it "MIKE AM".

By the way, Scotto also cracks me up when he starts the show like he's going into a monologue. Peter is forced to step on him just to make it known he's still on the show.
>

 

[1sttimelongtime]

Re: How Is That Broader?

> I think my post speaks for itself.


Indeed it does.
>
> > I commented on expanded news, live and local programming
> and
> > bowing to the heritage of the station. You ran through
> the
> > roster and named the 2 hosts you liked and the lot you
> > disliked. Am I missing something?
> >
>