U
uncleDJ
Guest
Greetings,
A SE New England voice from the past has been quietly making noise in the Quiet Corner of northeastern CT with a 'truer than true' Oldies show Sunday mornings from 6-11am on WINY-1350AM/Putnam (Osbrey Broadcasting). Yep, this place is still doing LOCAL RADIO!!
It's me...Bill Alley...always somewhere in this business trying to bring back the good old days when radio was fun, the music was infectiously good and everyone felt better about tuning in.
A little history first, latest to earliest, on 'moi':
-2007, May: Gary & Karen Osbrey and I agreed to my hosting Juke Box Gold on WINY, a 5-hour Sunday morning adventure into the 50s and 60s quickly disappearing from other stations. This is PERSONALITY MUSIC RADIO like we used to do!!! Audiences listening in (including online at winyradio.com) instantly take to the show which replaced a nostalgia music program hosted by friend and UPBEAT DJ owner/operator Greg Bugbee. Goal here has always been to keep it fun, interesting, and packed with the doo-wap, oldies standards, early rock, soul, jazz & country crossovers we knew and still love today. It is truly radio we all remember from this era, not the typical 'hits' most oldies stations keep in rotation...(when was the last time you heard 'Roll With Me Henry' -Etta James on Oldies radio?) I for one am very grateful to Gary & Karen for keeping things local at their operation and having the foresight to do this oldies revival thing with me at the helm, they called this one right on the money!
-2003-04: WINY-1350AM/Putnam CT again, this time hosting PM Drive with newsman and good buddy John Ryan (retired). People still talk about this quirky duo and the stuff we'd yap about on air. Add the other news junkie on staff at the time (Josh Walsh, still with ESPN HQ and occasionally on traffic for WTNH9/New Haven CT) and you have probably one of the best teams I've ever worked with behind the mic over 30 years of dabbling in this biz.
-1993 to 2002: Working new formats, having reviews from stations and groups of potential investors (including PriceWaterhouse Coopers, an ABC/Cap City insider who shall remain en cognito) but sadly not getting much headway. The formats I've been told then were '10 years ahead of their time', a great pat on the back but didn't do squat to change the sound radio has desperately needed. Some of that formula had to do with format merging, or in some cases, 'smashing' formats together to make a wider base of music with great appeal (yeah, even my real estate agent has asked for a copy of the demos) but no 'buyer'.
-1992: WRIB-1220AM/Providence, a show called 'The Creation Station' which was all Contemporary Christian and featured interviews from up and coming artists plus news of the day. Part of the adoring fan base? The birthing rooms at Women & Infants' Hospital; they loved it!
-1989-92: More format work, formed some exploratory teams to find a station and financing. Was very serious about 1370/WKFD and knew of its plight, took a look at it with the broker at the time (Mike Rice) and saw the potential of reviving it, but alas, no money. Now Astro Tele-Communications has the license for sale and the new 'origin' at Narragansett. As long as that stick is right by the water, with its improved day/night strength (according to the stats I've obtained from the FCC files) it will kick out a mighty good and clean signal as it did in the old days with a paltry 500 watts. Anyone wanna do oldies with me owning that license? Let's talk...
-1989: Greater Media Cable/Worcester, your sales agent for Videopages TV40, all ads, all the time, with music underneath. Got there with the help of longtime friend and manager at the time Margaret Coward and brought in old friend Scott Singmaster.
-1983-88: Most of the time was spent doing broadcast engineering with Sister Mae Jeffers on Martha's Vineyard from my home studio in Oak Bluffs MA. The show was 'House of Prayer', and I traveled extensively with this incredible lady evangelist. Show heard regularly on WROL/Boston, WACE/Springfield MA and WWRL/NYC. When not recording, I was refining 'Real Life Media', my Real Life format merging Contemporary Christian music to popular music...again, getting attention but no takers.
-1982-83: WMVY 92.7FM/Martha's Vineyard, PD and managed with Carl Shmidt (yeah the old Manager at WEEI 103.3FM/Boston when they were a killer progressive music station) to move the station from canned to AOR-Adult (the format is still in place today).
-1982: WGFP 940AM/Webster-Dudley MA as PD. My 'Oh God' moment as the station was poorly managed during time time; we used to joke that the calls stood for 'We've Got Financial Problems' or 'We're Going For Poverty'. Actually had to hold down the electrical panel there one day while screaming at the old GM (who believe it or not moved on to WBZ...!!!) to get engineering in to fix this hazard or I'd walk. Loved the audience there, though, and still connect with them today on the oldies show at WINY.
-1981-82: Overnights, WSNE 93.3FM/Taunton-Providence. Under the PD-ship of the great Holland Cooke and with associates like the late great Mike Sands (who also lived in Swansea MA as did I), Charlie Jefferds (words fail to say enough wonderful things about this person and legend) and Bob Holland (Charlie & Bob were also friends of my aunt, so it kinda made things like an extended family!)
-1980-81: WARA 1320AM/Attleboro MA, under the PD-ship of the great Tom Cuddy (yeah, the WBZ dude). Tom, John 'Coach' Colletto and I made up the voices of WARA's music lineup (yeah, Colletto is WPRO sports legend). Of all the teams I've played with in this business the one photo I still cling to is the TOM/JOHN/SELF snapshot at a WARA event...proof positive of a team which is to this day one of the best I've ever had the privilege to join. Managed some ratings romp in the Providence book on my afternoon show too...good days!
-1979: WGNG/Pawtucket. That is when 550AM was Gold 'n Great, the days after their impressive books against powerhouses WPRO-AM/FM and WPJB-FM in the hits days of the 70s. Still, the format they ran is almost identical to the one I use today...and being around the likes of Chuck Stevens, Dave Grayson (another WINY/Putnam voice and one who always kept me in stitches!) and Vic Kovich (great voice, even greater personality and truly wonder what became of him) it was a time when the right people were there...but the wrong management was in place.
-1978: WBET-AM/WCAV-FM, Brockton MA. Brought in by fellow Curry College associate Dave Richards (aka Richard Perez) I had nights on AM and tended to the Harris automaton on FM when they were rock and disco. (And yes, everyone, I still love disco and always will.)
-1977-78: Where it all began, on the '50,000 WATT STATION WITH THE 1,000 WATT SOUND' as we called it...WRLM/Taunton (bought in the early 80s by Outlet to become WSNE). It was not the fault of the on-air and behind the scene folks (Al DeStafano, Gene Faltus aka Stevie Nicks's biggest fan as engineer and Coby Anderson, the office darling who was the reincarnation of Lonnie Anderson in the WKRP sitcom role). The RLM stood for co-owners Ronald and Lucy McCarthy, and the owners plus their station manager called the shots. They were elderly back then and not too trusting of change. Always a bad sign in this business when resistance comes from the top! At the same time I had stints at Curry College on WMLN-FM during their 10-watt days and still keep in touch with one of the greatest people connected with communications. Truly, George Wharton is, was, and always will be revered for being the perfect 'glue' to keep us broadcast wannabees sane, and is one of the most incredible people I've ever known; compassionate, loyal, trustworthy and resolute. Those were the days when Curry put out some great talent, and had the strength of professors like Roger Allen (WRKO fame) to get us fledglings in line. And, if you go way, way back to 1974, you'll find out that I really got my feet wet at RI School of Broadcasting (Salty Brine recommended I start there first) when it was in East Providence.
OK, so now you know and now I've realized that first book I'm working on has had some more documentation finished. Hope I didn't bore any of you and those of you who remember this stuff take some time to jot me a note, OK? If you're serious about kicking butt again on air find me sometime and we'll do some 'stragedy' as I like to say.
You can contact me here, by email ([email protected] and put 'FOR BILL ALLEY' in the subject line or direct: [email protected]) or by just listening in on Sunday mornings to WINY 1350 if west of Providence / east of Willimantic CT / south of Worcester MA / north of Norwich CT (or online at winyradio.com).
'Til next time...-Bill
A SE New England voice from the past has been quietly making noise in the Quiet Corner of northeastern CT with a 'truer than true' Oldies show Sunday mornings from 6-11am on WINY-1350AM/Putnam (Osbrey Broadcasting). Yep, this place is still doing LOCAL RADIO!!
It's me...Bill Alley...always somewhere in this business trying to bring back the good old days when radio was fun, the music was infectiously good and everyone felt better about tuning in.
A little history first, latest to earliest, on 'moi':
-2007, May: Gary & Karen Osbrey and I agreed to my hosting Juke Box Gold on WINY, a 5-hour Sunday morning adventure into the 50s and 60s quickly disappearing from other stations. This is PERSONALITY MUSIC RADIO like we used to do!!! Audiences listening in (including online at winyradio.com) instantly take to the show which replaced a nostalgia music program hosted by friend and UPBEAT DJ owner/operator Greg Bugbee. Goal here has always been to keep it fun, interesting, and packed with the doo-wap, oldies standards, early rock, soul, jazz & country crossovers we knew and still love today. It is truly radio we all remember from this era, not the typical 'hits' most oldies stations keep in rotation...(when was the last time you heard 'Roll With Me Henry' -Etta James on Oldies radio?) I for one am very grateful to Gary & Karen for keeping things local at their operation and having the foresight to do this oldies revival thing with me at the helm, they called this one right on the money!
-2003-04: WINY-1350AM/Putnam CT again, this time hosting PM Drive with newsman and good buddy John Ryan (retired). People still talk about this quirky duo and the stuff we'd yap about on air. Add the other news junkie on staff at the time (Josh Walsh, still with ESPN HQ and occasionally on traffic for WTNH9/New Haven CT) and you have probably one of the best teams I've ever worked with behind the mic over 30 years of dabbling in this biz.
-1993 to 2002: Working new formats, having reviews from stations and groups of potential investors (including PriceWaterhouse Coopers, an ABC/Cap City insider who shall remain en cognito) but sadly not getting much headway. The formats I've been told then were '10 years ahead of their time', a great pat on the back but didn't do squat to change the sound radio has desperately needed. Some of that formula had to do with format merging, or in some cases, 'smashing' formats together to make a wider base of music with great appeal (yeah, even my real estate agent has asked for a copy of the demos) but no 'buyer'.
-1992: WRIB-1220AM/Providence, a show called 'The Creation Station' which was all Contemporary Christian and featured interviews from up and coming artists plus news of the day. Part of the adoring fan base? The birthing rooms at Women & Infants' Hospital; they loved it!
-1989-92: More format work, formed some exploratory teams to find a station and financing. Was very serious about 1370/WKFD and knew of its plight, took a look at it with the broker at the time (Mike Rice) and saw the potential of reviving it, but alas, no money. Now Astro Tele-Communications has the license for sale and the new 'origin' at Narragansett. As long as that stick is right by the water, with its improved day/night strength (according to the stats I've obtained from the FCC files) it will kick out a mighty good and clean signal as it did in the old days with a paltry 500 watts. Anyone wanna do oldies with me owning that license? Let's talk...
-1989: Greater Media Cable/Worcester, your sales agent for Videopages TV40, all ads, all the time, with music underneath. Got there with the help of longtime friend and manager at the time Margaret Coward and brought in old friend Scott Singmaster.
-1983-88: Most of the time was spent doing broadcast engineering with Sister Mae Jeffers on Martha's Vineyard from my home studio in Oak Bluffs MA. The show was 'House of Prayer', and I traveled extensively with this incredible lady evangelist. Show heard regularly on WROL/Boston, WACE/Springfield MA and WWRL/NYC. When not recording, I was refining 'Real Life Media', my Real Life format merging Contemporary Christian music to popular music...again, getting attention but no takers.
-1982-83: WMVY 92.7FM/Martha's Vineyard, PD and managed with Carl Shmidt (yeah the old Manager at WEEI 103.3FM/Boston when they were a killer progressive music station) to move the station from canned to AOR-Adult (the format is still in place today).
-1982: WGFP 940AM/Webster-Dudley MA as PD. My 'Oh God' moment as the station was poorly managed during time time; we used to joke that the calls stood for 'We've Got Financial Problems' or 'We're Going For Poverty'. Actually had to hold down the electrical panel there one day while screaming at the old GM (who believe it or not moved on to WBZ...!!!) to get engineering in to fix this hazard or I'd walk. Loved the audience there, though, and still connect with them today on the oldies show at WINY.
-1981-82: Overnights, WSNE 93.3FM/Taunton-Providence. Under the PD-ship of the great Holland Cooke and with associates like the late great Mike Sands (who also lived in Swansea MA as did I), Charlie Jefferds (words fail to say enough wonderful things about this person and legend) and Bob Holland (Charlie & Bob were also friends of my aunt, so it kinda made things like an extended family!)
-1980-81: WARA 1320AM/Attleboro MA, under the PD-ship of the great Tom Cuddy (yeah, the WBZ dude). Tom, John 'Coach' Colletto and I made up the voices of WARA's music lineup (yeah, Colletto is WPRO sports legend). Of all the teams I've played with in this business the one photo I still cling to is the TOM/JOHN/SELF snapshot at a WARA event...proof positive of a team which is to this day one of the best I've ever had the privilege to join. Managed some ratings romp in the Providence book on my afternoon show too...good days!
-1979: WGNG/Pawtucket. That is when 550AM was Gold 'n Great, the days after their impressive books against powerhouses WPRO-AM/FM and WPJB-FM in the hits days of the 70s. Still, the format they ran is almost identical to the one I use today...and being around the likes of Chuck Stevens, Dave Grayson (another WINY/Putnam voice and one who always kept me in stitches!) and Vic Kovich (great voice, even greater personality and truly wonder what became of him) it was a time when the right people were there...but the wrong management was in place.
-1978: WBET-AM/WCAV-FM, Brockton MA. Brought in by fellow Curry College associate Dave Richards (aka Richard Perez) I had nights on AM and tended to the Harris automaton on FM when they were rock and disco. (And yes, everyone, I still love disco and always will.)
-1977-78: Where it all began, on the '50,000 WATT STATION WITH THE 1,000 WATT SOUND' as we called it...WRLM/Taunton (bought in the early 80s by Outlet to become WSNE). It was not the fault of the on-air and behind the scene folks (Al DeStafano, Gene Faltus aka Stevie Nicks's biggest fan as engineer and Coby Anderson, the office darling who was the reincarnation of Lonnie Anderson in the WKRP sitcom role). The RLM stood for co-owners Ronald and Lucy McCarthy, and the owners plus their station manager called the shots. They were elderly back then and not too trusting of change. Always a bad sign in this business when resistance comes from the top! At the same time I had stints at Curry College on WMLN-FM during their 10-watt days and still keep in touch with one of the greatest people connected with communications. Truly, George Wharton is, was, and always will be revered for being the perfect 'glue' to keep us broadcast wannabees sane, and is one of the most incredible people I've ever known; compassionate, loyal, trustworthy and resolute. Those were the days when Curry put out some great talent, and had the strength of professors like Roger Allen (WRKO fame) to get us fledglings in line. And, if you go way, way back to 1974, you'll find out that I really got my feet wet at RI School of Broadcasting (Salty Brine recommended I start there first) when it was in East Providence.
OK, so now you know and now I've realized that first book I'm working on has had some more documentation finished. Hope I didn't bore any of you and those of you who remember this stuff take some time to jot me a note, OK? If you're serious about kicking butt again on air find me sometime and we'll do some 'stragedy' as I like to say.
You can contact me here, by email ([email protected] and put 'FOR BILL ALLEY' in the subject line or direct: [email protected]) or by just listening in on Sunday mornings to WINY 1350 if west of Providence / east of Willimantic CT / south of Worcester MA / north of Norwich CT (or online at winyradio.com).
'Til next time...-Bill