Honest Dick Smith Dies

[Doug Drown]

Thanks for sharing this.  I vaguely remember WORC being influential beyond 
its size because it was a venue for breakout hits.

The station was long owned by a guy named Bob Bryar, who, IIRC, shared the 
9-to-noon gig with other DJs (John H. among them, when he called himself 
Johnny Gardner; Joel Cash as well).   I heard or read somewhere once that 
WORC was the Worcester counterpart of WMEX --- cramped quarters, antiquated 
equipment (I very well remember how often WORC was off the air because of 
equipment failure of one sort or another), and a sometimes frustratingly 
narrow signal range.  But all of that having been said, it was a great 
station with a great sound, and we Worcester County kids absolutely loved 
it.  WAAB gave it a run for its money in the mid- to late '60s, and was 
equally good.  The two had a heated ratings war for several years.

Worcester had some very well-run, first-rate radio stations "back in the 
day."   -Doug








----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: "Larry Weil" <kc1ih@mac.com>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 9:33 PM
Subject: Re: Honest Dick Smith Dies


> On 5/20/2011 6:34 PM, Larry Weil wrote:
>> Maybe the question should be if any of us have ever heard of him! :-)
>
> If you were here during the height of AM top-40, you recall that there 
> were the medium-market stations, in secondary markets, that could really 
> drive a hit and bring it to the attention of the bigger stations in Boston 
> and Providence.  In the 60s and early 70s, WORC was one of those key 
> medium-market stations.  I have some top-40 surveys from the station, and 
> it was considered fairly important for record promoters.  Honest Dick 
> Smith was the guy who was the music director of WORC and without his 
> airplay, songs often did not make the leap to Boston radio.  I was music 
> directing in college radio during 1968-1970, and I absolutely remember 
> keeping an eye on what stations like WORC were playing.
>