What was your first radio gig in Massachusetts?

[fybush]

> What's your story?

First paid gig was Saturday morning news during the "Bill O'Neill Show" (and Wednesday night School Committee meetings) at WCAP in Lowell, up there in the Museum of Broadcasting and Heating/Cooling Technology, high atop Cappy's Copper Kettle.

Any pretensions of glamour in the business were shot out very effectively the first morning I had to step over the used needles and broken glass in the alleyway to get to the back door at 5 AM.

(And I loved every minute of it, until the next news director fired me a year later...)<P ID="signature">______________
Tower Site Calendar 2006 ON SALE! - <a target="_blank" href=http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html#calendar>www.fybush.com</a></P>

 

[Runrigger]

Took a sales job I knew I'd suck at in SE Mass so I'd be at the station when the next on-air slot came up. Luckily it didn't take too long for that to happen & by then the station knew how unsuccessful my sales career would be so I got the on-air slot. They probably knew I'd planned it that way, but were nice people & went along with it.

Didn't like the format so I weekended in central Mass working a better format while I held the full time job. Drove to the weekender Saturday afternoons, back home to RI at midnight, back up Sunday afternoons. When it snowed badly enough I just stayed overnight at the weekend job to make sure I'd get there the next day...and it ALWAYS snows badly enough in Central Mass.

I think through it all I probably earned enough to pay for the gas & cigarettes until I landed my first decent medium market job. It still all comes down to working to pay for gas & cigarettes. Some things never change.

 

[fallriveractive]

> I started doing overnights at WFGL Fitchburg in 1979. My
> shift was running board for Larry King who had an all night
> talk show on the Mutual Network (long before becoming a star
> at CNN.) When Larry's show ended at 5:30 AM I actually had
> a 30 minute airshift before the morning man took over. I
> think I could play maybe five or six records in that half
> hour block (let's see... Andy Gibb... Roger Miller... what a
> combination!) That and I got to babysit the FM automation
> which consisted of four reel to reel decks in a totally
> different part of the building. (The FM was mono!)
>
> What's your story?
>
I worked with Jordan Rich and Morgan White at WBZ late night.
Two of the best people in radio.
F.R.A.

 

[dhoule]

WAAB, 1440, News, Sports, and Information Station

Producer for talk shows in mid 70s (start voluntarily producing for John Gallagher (yes, of East/West mortgage fame. Later, got paid $2 bucks an hour. Wow!

 

[ChuckIgo]

> I started doing overnights at WFGL Fitchburg in 1979. (snip)
> What's your story?
>

not unlike Eli, unofficially on a North Cambridge neighborhood pirate in 1971. the big kids let me have a show as radio was all i really wanted to do.

officially, 1983 at WHDH doing weekends & fill-ins. Nick Seneca, with whom i worked at WGAN in Portland, had been doing weekends and said he was going to give it up. 7 days plus the driving was too much. i handed him one of my tapes & a resume and asked him to deliver it to the pd. nothing ventured, right? Seneca had barely gotten on Storrow Drive when the phone rang in Portland. Jim Murphy, the pd, called and asked me to come down the next morning for an interview. hired and made my first Cash Call the weekend after Nick finished. stayed for 5 years and had an awesome time.
met an incredible amount of extremely nice, professional people such as Jess Cain, Tom Kennedy, David Gregory Supple, Sean Casey, Paul Benzaquin, the amazing Morgan White, Jr., Mike Addams, Tom Doyle, the erstwhile Bill O'Neill, Uncle Paulie Perry, Pudge Flynn, Eddie-Mark-&-Jim, Brucie Cornblatt, Ed Bell, Bob ("shtocks!") Parlante, Bill Wayland, Carlo (yeah, i got it, when do you need it?) Largotaria (sp?), Jim Cutler (got a great story about my first ZOO shift relieving Jim one overnight), plus Uncle Al Carp (everybody's pal!!), Don Albanese, Rene Marchando, Bev Tilden, my current "personal" accuweather meteorologist up here in Maine, Elliot Abrams, and so many more. The Stuart Street studios were just an amazing place - people & technology wise.

 

[Oldbones]

Re: WAAB, 1440, News, Sports, and Information Station

> Producer for talk shows in mid 70s (start voluntarily
> producing for John Gallagher (yes, of East/West mortgage
> fame.

Whatever happened to John...there's some other guy (I'm blanking on his name) that does those spots now & has been for over a year.

 

[DavecCT]

I got my start at WFGL/WFMP also in 1981. By that time the FM was stereo. Started babysitting the FM automation and eventually got a weekend overnight shift on the AM and some weekend shifts on the FM when they went live. Check out the pic at the following URL for a real blast from the past. You'll remember it well.
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.softneasy.com/WFMPauto.jpg>http://www.softneasy.com/WFMPauto.jpg</a>

 

[MRadioDeeJay]

>
> What's your story?
>
Mine was Rock 93.7 WCGY... started in January of 1993 up till the end in 10/94. I got a gig after having a long discussion with then Program Director, "Stereo Steve Becker" about Pink Floyd (his and my fav band).

 

[Koreboomer]

> I started doing overnights at WFGL Fitchburg in 1979. My
> shift was running board for Larry King who had an all night
> talk show on the Mutual Network (long before becoming a star
> at CNN.) When Larry's show ended at 5:30 AM I actually had
> a 30 minute airshift before the morning man took over. I
> think I could play maybe five or six records in that half
> hour block (let's see... Andy Gibb... Roger Miller... what a
> combination!) That and I got to babysit the FM automation
> which consisted of four reel to reel decks in a totally
> different part of the building. (The FM was mono!)
>
> What's your story?
>
Worcester's News Center, WNCR. 1976-1977 RIP

 

[cheapman]

scary