RIP Al Perry - former GM of WBCN

[A Joseph Ross]

The name sounds familiar, but I'm trying to figure out the history of 
when WBUR would have been classical.  I think it may have been that it 
was classical as long as Silber was president of BU, but switched to 
public affairs afterwards.

When I first started listening to FM, in December 1958, WBUR and WERS 
sounded very much alike.  They were largely run by students studying 
broadcasting.  Both stations signed on around 2:00 PM during the school 
year and 5:00 PM in the summer, and classical music was most of what 
they played.

I guess at some point BU took over WBUR from the School of Public 
Communications, while students continued to run WERS, although 
eventually with more of a variety of music forms.  For awhile in the 
early 1970s, they had a Rock & Roll oldies program on Saturday nights, 
hosted by someone who called himself Al Payola.  At one ;point they had 
a phone-in trivia contest, and I called in and won some ice cream.  When 
I went to collect it at the Friendly's in Coolidge Corner, the man there 
told me Al Payola's real name, but I don't remember it.  Nor do I 
remember what the trivia questions were that I answered.


On 11/27/2021 6:11 AM, Bob Nelson wrote:
> >>the woman who ran the station, whose name I've
> momentarily forgotten, wanted to do a news-talk format.
>
> The name Jane Christo comes to mind but who knows,
> From MA Broadcasters Hall of Fame
> Visionary General Manager of WBUR from 1979–2004. One of the country’s 
> first female managers of a top 10 radio station in a major market; 
> Jane transformed a special-interest radio station with a polyglot 
> format in the 1970s into a competitive mainstream radio station by the 
> mid-1980s, and into one of Boston’s top 10 radio stations by the 
> mid-1990s. She demonstrated to her colleagues around the country that 
> the future of public radio was in news and information. She pioneered 
> new techniques in public radio fund-raising, and saw the potential of 
> the Internet far earlier than most. She took local productions “Car 
> Talk,” “Only A Game,” “Here and Now,” “The Connection,” and “On Point” 
> to a national audience.
>
> https://www.massbroadcastershof.org/hall-of-fame/hall-of-fame-2012/jane-christo/
>
> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 1:31 PM Rob Landry <011010001@interpring.com> 
> wrote:
>
>
>
>     On Thu, 25 Nov 2021, A Joseph Ross wrote:
>
>     > People seem to have forgotten that WBUR was a classical station
>     for awhile
>     > in the 1970s and 1980s, for most of the day until 4:00 PM, when
>     they carried
>     > all Things Considered.
>
>     What I heard was that then-B.U. President John Silber wanted itto
>     play
>     classical music, but the woman who ran the station, whose name I've
>     momentarily forgotten, wanted to do a news-talk format.
>
>
>     Rob
>

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
617.367.0468 · http://www.attorneyross.com