Symphony Sid on WHEE and Ken Malden

[Russ Butler]

Dan is right, Sid was on WHEE as a jazz deejay from a hotel on 
Commonwealth Avenue studios (bay windows with long drapes [for 
soundproofing from traffic?] that overlooked Com Ave on the second 
floor) a bit ostentatious for a radio studio. 

The hotel was just down from Kenmore Square (forgot the name). The WHEE 
turntables and console were in the corner of the large hotel room with 
high ceilings, a bay window was behind the deejay's chair.  I can still 
picture the setting of my visit in the 1950's.   It almost exactly 
resembled the WRUL studios in the red brickstone building on Com Ave 
near the Boston Gardens (with the Swan Boats).

Sid used to ID the station as "We are - - -W-H-E-E-E-E-E in Boston" just 
for fun, of course.  He was a clerk at a symphony music record store in 
NYC where he introduced rock and roll records to customers - hence, the 
"Symphony Sid, Classy Kid" moniker for Sid Torin.  Wikipedia has this 
posted about Sid Torin (he didn't announce symphony broadcasts):  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_Sid

Ken Malden did follow Sid's shift on WHEE, as I remember, playing a 
popular music format on the daytime station. WBMS dropped classical 
music on April 27, 1950.  WHEE did not play classical music at 1090AM in 
the early-50's, that was the format exclusively for WCRB 1330AM  ("The 
Charles River Broadcasting Company") WBCN-FM (Boston's  Classical 
Network) until WGBH went on the air and WXHR-FM on Mt. Zion were added 
classical music to the dial.

Thanks for some great shows, Ken, our prayers are with you on your 
voyage.  =Russ Butler