WILD 1950's Stunt

[Paul B. Currier]

I do remember listening to the Fever stunt.  I was a radio junkie from the
git-go I guess (no surprise).  My parents were viewing me rather dubiously
wondering aloud why I'd listen to the same record over and over again.
Plain and simple: it was off the beaten path and it was fun!  I wish I could
recall the DJ's name....

Paul
Sandwich
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
To: "EW Forry" <eforry@bostonirish.com>; "Boston Radio Interest"
<boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 6:26 AM
Subject: Re: WILD 1950's Stunt


> I don't recall the stunt--but that doesn't mean it never happened. It
would
> most likely have happened when WILD was sold to Bartell Family Media
around
> 1958 or so--if memory serves. (This was decades before "Family" in the
name
> of a station owner implied a Christian format.) At the time, Bartell owned
> top-40 ratings powerhouses WOKY Milwaukee and KCBQ San Diego. I think the
> 1090 calls were WBMS until Bartell took over and flipped them to WILD.
>
> Some very ingeneous promotion preceded the Monday morning debut of the new
> calls and format. Saturation schedules of spots, allegedly placed under a
> false advertiser name, appeared over the weekend on MANY Boston AMs
> (including such biggies as WBZ and WHDH). The cryptic spots were voiced in
a
> sultry female voice that said simply, "Everyone in OLD Boston is going
> <whispered> wild,wild,wild,wild,wild... <fading out>." Monday morning,
those
> who figured that WILD might be a new radio station found it at the
excellent
> spot half way between WBZ and WCOP (at least I think 1150 was still WCOP
at
> the time). The dial position on the analog-tuned radios of the day was as
> good as it got in Boston back then, but, of course, the signal was a 1 kW
> daytimer.
>
> The tight top-40 format also made heavy use of sultry female voices,
which,
> at the time, were a brand new element in top-40 imaging. I don't think
that
> incarnation of WILD ever did terribly well in the Boston ratings and after
> (IIRC) less than two years, Bartell either sold or LMAed the station to
> someone named Nelson Noble, who brought in three of Boston's best known
> DJs--Bill Marlowe in AM Drive, Stan Richards in middays, and Joe Smith for
> after school (and PM drive during the summer months). I seem to recall
that
> a couple of years after that, Noble declared bankruptcy, and I think he
may
> ultimately even have committed suicide. I think that Nash acquired WILD
> after Noble's bankruptcy. If Noble was LMAing the station, perhaps Nash
> began by taking over the LMA.
>
> BTW, anyone who has a tape of that "wild,wild,wild,wild..." promo has got
a
> real Boston-radio collector's item.
>
> --
> Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
> eFax 707-215-6367
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "EW Forry" <eforry@bostonirish.com>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 9:43 PM
> Subject: WILD 1950's Stunt
>
>
> > Anyone else here recall the hijacking of the old 1090 am station
> > sometime in the 1950's-
> > I believe it was when WILD call sign went on air- Some DJ took over
> > the studio and played
> > Peggy Lee's "Fever" over and over and over for a week, maybe more.
> >
> > I remember seeing the story on page 1 of a Boston daily- the Globe?
> > The guy introduced
> > each song, then played "Fever." It drew an audience, and much
> > attention  to
> > the 1090 signal- which by the way, I believe was a daytimer- Not
> > quite sure what the DJ did
> > overnight.
> >
> >
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