Re: WHIL and country

["Dan Strassberg" <Dan.Strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

Well, Ruth and I moved to Arlington Heights in November of 1964. As you
know, the location is only a mile or so from what, at the time, were the
WCOP AM/FM studios and transmitter (now the WMGA transmitter) at 75 Concord
Ave in Lexington. I seem to remember that WCOP (AM) was doing country at the
time we moved here and that Jim Dixon (previously of WNAC (AM) 680) was one
of the personalities. Of course, I could be wrong.

I didn't think that WHIL-FM had signed on yet at that time. I recall one of
the first programs as a dreadful talk show hosted by a guy and his wife who
came from New Orleans or someplace along the Gulf. Damned if I can remember
their names. I think the guy's first name might have been Marvin. FM was
relatively new back then and very few people listened even to the stations
you could hear more than a few miles from the transmitter. WHIL-FM was
powerful enough (20 KW ERP) but the antenna was on the WHIL (AM) stick at 99
Revere Beach Pky and was only about 100' AAT. The coverage was lousy. There
was almost nobody listening and, needless to say, nobody called. Which left
"Marvin" and his wife to talk to each other. Problem was, they had nothing
to say, but since their only alternative was dead air (no commercials
either) they had to say it--and they did so--at _great_ length.

--

Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
Phone: 1-617-558-4205, eFax: 1-707-215-6367

-----Original Message-----
From: Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 9:47 PM
Subject: WHIL and country


>I was thumbing through an old (September 26, 1964) issue of Billboard and
>it had a story about WHIL-FM going country at night.  I was trying to
>remember which station in Boston was the first to do a country format-- I
>know that the old WBZ had country singer Bradley Kincaid doing mornings in
>the 40s and also had a female singer named "Georgia May" (or something like
>that), but was WHIL-FM's little venture into country a first for Boston?
>