WMEX (was AM stereo WLYN)

[Dan Strassberg]

When I was an undergrad at RPI in Troy NY in the early 50s, a new announcer
by the name of Arnold Friedman one day appeared at WROW 590 in Albany. Good
voice, good delivery, very professional sounding for what I'd call a medium
market. After a month or six weeks, Friedman just as suddenly disappeared. I
decided that things just hadn't worked out for him at WROW. A month or so
later, though, another new announcer by the name of Mark Edwards appeared at
WROW. The funny thing was that he sounded EXACTLY like Friedman. A couple of
months later, a trip to visit WROW's studios (very cramped, cluttered, and
grungy--I was amazed at the professional sound that came out of that dump)
got me the story behind the story. As I suspected, Edwards and Friedman were
the same guy. WROW's (then) owner, Harry L Goldman, decided that the name
Arnold Friedman just sounded too Jewish for his station. I guess advertisers
could buy time without ever finding out that the station was owned by a guy
named Goldman but they had to know that one of the announcers was named
Friedman. I wonder whether there were any conversations between sales staff
and advertisers that went something like : "A Jew? at OUR station? Oh, you
must mean that guy Friedman. No, things just didn't work out with him. He's
gone."

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: "Glenn and Judy Spatola" <gjspatola@wavecable.com>;
<boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2006 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: WMEX (was AM stereo WLYN)


>
> >Glenn wrote--
> >
> >As a 13 or 14-year old, I wrote to Mel Miller, and actually received a
> >reply.  I had asked him if Mel Miller was his real name, and he said it
was.
> >Also, I think that he signed his letter: "Mel Miller, Program Director."
>
> That was my understanding too-- the name may have been ethnic many years
> ago, but a lot of immigrants got their names shortened at Ellis
> Island.  And some, like the late Bob Clayton (real name Klayman, I think?)
> got told they had to change their name because their real name sounded
> (gasp) "too Jewish."
>
> >Glenn also wrote--
> >Looking back, I think J. J. Jeffrey was Melvin X at that time, and Mel
> >Miller was definitely a different voice, not the same (Good) guy.
>
> Tom Shovan (may he rest in peace) was one of the Melvin X's, as he told an
> interviewer in a 1983 book called "The Program Director's Handbook."  Tom
> was a big guy-- sometimes weighed up to 400 lbs-- and he worked in New
> England radio under a number of names...
>