Re: William Pierce of WCRB

["David W. Harris" <dwh@totalnetnh.net>]

Rob Landry wrote of WCRB:

> The AM switched to big bands sometime
> in the
> seventies and was sold to... damn, I can't remember his name,<snip>
> Anthony Martin-Tregona; I'm pretty sure that was the name of the
> buyer.
>
The Boston Radio Archives article on 1330 confirms Anthony
Martin-Trigona's Action Communications bought the station from Charles
River Broadcasting in March 1982.

The Archives article, in common with many of the posters on this thread,
is uncertain of exactly when 1330 dropped classical.  From the Boston
Herald American (8/23/75): "Two weeks ago, Ted Jones, the president of
WCRB, announced that on or about Sept. 29 the station will change its
call letters to WHET and begin broadcasting with a more or less 'middle
of the road' format."

Another Herald article (9/8/75) from music critic Ellen Pfeifer lists
September 29 as the intended change date with no "on or about"
qualification and says classical will be simulcast on 1330 and 102.5
weekdays 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m., with some additional simulcasting on
weekends which may or may not include BSO concerts.  Anyone remember
that?  I didn't live inside 1330's coverage area until the fall of 1976,
at which point I remember WHET as a big band station, not as MOR with
some blocks of classical.

Bob Nelson remembered:

> I remember WGBX (and maybe WGBH
> as well) used to run a tape when they signed off in
> which a song was played on a harpsichord (at least
> it sounded like it; melody sounded almost like "A
> Lover's Concerto" by the Toys). Pierce (or whomever
> it was) mentioned the different organizations that
> helped support WGBH/WGBX,
>
I remember the WGBH-TV version of that signoff.  I believe the tune was
based on Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, not his Minuet in G from the
Anna Magdalena Notebook (which was the basis for the Toys' hit
mentioned).  I remember not William Pierce but the distinct accent of
David Ives as announcer, and I especially remember the way he
overemphasized the "Y" when he said "in Springfield we operate
WGB*Y*-TV."  I'm not saying that Mr. Pierce never did the signoff, just
that I remember all the elements mentioned but with a different voice.