Re: Boston Network Radio Affiliations: 1950's and 1960's.

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 01:27 PM 6/12/99 PDT, you wrote:

For several years after I arrived in Boston (summer '56), WORL was an
independent and the studios were in Kenmore Sq, in a building that was
demolished to make way for the Mass Turnpike Extension. I can't recall
whether the address was 719 Boylston St or 719 Beacon St, but the street
number was definitely 719. When the building was demolished (as far as I
know, the station was the only occupant), the station moved downtown to an
office building at 330 Stuart St. Interestingly, addresses that begin with
719 seem to have had a special attraction for Boston AM stations. WILD's
studios were or are at a location that has the street number 719.

The lineup I remember best at WORL had Gregg Finn in the AM drive (6:00 to
9:00) interrupted at either 6:15 or 6:30 by the Rosary recited by Cardinal
Cushing. I believe that Finn went on to become an official of the Mass
Lottery as did another Boston AM-drive personality, Tom Russell of WEEI. I
could be wrong about Finn and the Lottery; maybe he went to the Mass. Farm
Bureau Federation. 9:00 to noon was handled by Stan Richards and noon to
2:00 PM by Norm Tulin (later known as Norm Stevens at WHN New York--now
WEVD). 2:00 to signoff or 6:00 PM (whichever was later) was handled at first
by Dave Maynard, who was already doing Community Auditions on Channel 4 and
not very long afterward left for WBZ Radio. I don't recall who took over the
PM drive shift after Maynard left.

I am curious to know when this music-and-news format ended and what replaced
it. I know that Stan Richards was on WILD (along with Bill Marlowe and Joe
Smith--from WEZE) after someone named Nelson Noble purchased or leased the
station from Bartell Media (of Milwaukee and San Diego), which bought the
station and tried a top-40 format for a short while.

The AM news guy was Len Libman who was a BU student. Len later did stints at
WMEX (as Michael J Rhodes Jr) and WTAO before landing at WEEI when it became
an all-news station. As far as I know, Len long ago left radio. After 9:00
AM, when Libman went off to classes down the street at BU, the news duties
at WORL were handled by another big-voiced guy Hank Elliot. Elliot also did
the music shift from 6:00 PM to signoff during the summer. I never heard of
Elliot again after he left WORL.

I don't know whether Carter Broadcasting acquired WORL directly from Pilgrim
Broadcasting, which was the owner in 1956. There may have been an owner in
between. I believe, however, that the ownership had changed when the
call-sign changed to WRYT. I think the mostly religious brokered-time
programming began when the call-sign changed. I think that WRYT was meant to
stand for "right", which seems appropriate for a station with a religious
format. It wasn't _all_ religious, though. I believe that Gus Saunders'
cooking show began while the calls were WRYT, as did the Irish music on
weekend afternoons.


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Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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