top radio personalities in Boston?

[Alan Tolz]

To answer Donna's question...

1. Charles Laquidara - He revolutionized morning radio in Boston, was the 
personality around whom his station's franchise was built and he still 
influences a generation of Boston broadcasters, like Matty Seigel, Carter 
Alan, etc...

2. Jerry Williams - Bigger than Boston, but did his most immportant work 
here.  By virture of timing and talent he filled the role of pioneer (WMEX) 
, standard-bearer (WBZ), and elder statesman, where at WRKO, that station's 
franchise was built aroud him.  Like Charles, he was important beyond 
enterrtainment value.

3. Jess Cain - Important as most beloved talent on Boston's airwaves for a 
long period of time.  His stations fortunes were also tied to him.

4. Arnie Ginsburg - Because of the time in which he performed and the 
lasting effect his popularity had (has) on Boston's  baby boom generation.

5. Gary LaPierre - Arguablly Boston's greatest radio news voice.  He became 
a personality by virtue of the huge WBZ signal and longevity there.

6. Glen Ordway - Of all the sports guys - PBP excluded - he fulfills the 
criteria of being the "franchise player" in a format that only recently has 
become one of the most important formats for radio's future survival.

Alan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2009 4:04 PM
Subject: top radio personalities in Boston?


> An editor friend of mine, who normally writes articles about popular 
> culture, asked me for my list of the most important radio personalities of 
> all time in Boston-- she's asking people in a number of other cities too. 
> She wanted to know about the radio people who are/were considered the 
> best-known, most popular, in other words, the people who made a major 
> impact in Boston, whether they got huge ratings or not.
>
> While it's hard to  name just a few (she suggested no more than 6 or 7), I 
> was thinking Arnie Ginsburg, David Brudnoy, Bob Clayton, Jerry Williams, 
> Dick Summer or perhaps Bruce Bradley, Carl deSuze or maybe Dave Maynard... 
> and I wanted to say somebody from sports-- like Curt Gowdy, who got 
> started in radio but later was identified with TV... wow, I could probably 
> name about 20, but who would you say fit her criteria-- best known, most 
> popular, somebody who made a major impact in some way (whether through 
> charitable work, getting quoted a lot, being identified with some major 
> area of broadcasting like sports or news or some niche format)...  What 
> would your list of Boston's top radio personalities be-- and why would you 
> choose the ones that you decided on?
>