Parenteau, who claimed he did not know the boy he was charged with molesting was under age, agreed to plead guilty to one count of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to three years in prison. OEDIPUSAt WBCN:DJ and program director,19772004. Former WBCN disc jockey Mark Parenteau, who was a force on the Boston airwaves for more than 20 years but saw his career and life go off the rails after he was arrested for having sex with a 14-year-old boy, died early this morning after a long illness. Now its just the luck of the draw. But we were also out in public. Profil: WBCN was an over-the-air radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The station had unlikely roots as a classical music outlet (its call letters standing for Boston Concert Network), but on the Ides of March, 1968, disc jockey Joe Rogers fired the first rock salvoCreams I Feel Free. From that moment, BCN became one of a handful of FM radio stations seeking to supplant AMs supremacy with freeform programming that captured the cacophonous sound of the counterculture. In May 1958, 104.1 FM officially signed on as WBCN, airing classical music. This is noise! As program director, I made sure we always had at least one local band in rotation. In time, WBCNs free-spirited beginnings would retrench as the station moved to the top of the Prudential Tower with its higher overhead (pun intended), and new owners with higher financial expectations arrived along with radio competition. ; Best QB's vs. the spread; Debating Derrick Henry. So he persuaded station owner T. Mitchell Hastings to give DJs free rein to play album cuts on an overnight graveyard shift to determine if there was an audience and ad dollars to float the new format. WBCN also launched The Toucher and Rich Show, a new locally produced comedy-based afternoon drive time show starring Fred Toettcher and Rich Shertenlieb. When several large advertisers pulled spots, and the union filed a challenge to Hemisphere's license (pointing out that by forcing the staff out on strike, Hemisphere had created a situation where it could not provide the public service it was required to), Hemisphere relented, the fired staffers were rehired and the DJs went back on the air. Real human personalities owned the music as much as the bands that wrote it; they frequented clubs, knew personally the pulse of local talent, and knew the goings-on of a community or city. For the radio station in Bangor, Maine, that used the WWBX call sign from 1995 to 2008, see, For the history of the "Mix" branding in Boston prior to its move to the 104.1 frequency, see, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "WBMX (Mix 104.1)/Boston Morphs Into WWBX", "Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood 100.7 WZLX", "Rock of Boston to cease rocking on the FM dial: WBCN goes digital-only in August", "Jay Talking 2013 Abstract Foliage Photo Number 1", "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom", "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations", "WEEI parent company buys CBS' Sports Hub, WBZ in massive merger", "Entercom Narrows Down 16 Stations To Be Divested To Complete CBS Radio Merger", "Entercom to Divest 13 Stations in Exchange for Justice Department's Approval of CBS Radio Acquisition", "Entercom Swaps 98.5 The Sports Hub Boston To Beasley For Magic 106.7", "Entercom Trades Boston & Seattle Spin-Offs To iHeartMedia For Richmond & Chattanooga", "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio", "Robservations: Bruce Dumont retiring broadcast museum", "RIP Danny Schechter: Media Pioneer Who Covered Apartheid South Africa, Occupy & Kissinger", "Entercom Sells WAAF Boston To Educational Media Foundation", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WWBX&oldid=1141734739, Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States, Articles needing cleanup from December 2022, Cleanup tagged articles with a reason field from December 2022, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from December 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from August 2009, All articles needing additional references, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. She also hosted pre-recorded broadcasts for the Armed Forces Radio Network in the 1970s and 1980s. The 104.1MHz facility went on the air in 1958 as WBCN. Between late 1968 and early 1971, as program director, Kopper sought out and hired Norm Winer, recently graduated from Brandeis; Andy Beaubien, recently graduated from URI; and Maxanne Sartori, who came in from her DJ position at KOL-FM in Seattle. tried to bring back freeform rock radio spirit for 21st Century. WBCN's first rock program director, Sam Kopper, was Program Director of WBCN Free Form Rock until the channel was discontinued on January 29, 2016. You could start in downtown Boston and walk to Cambridge, to Harvard Square. I remember the owners telling me, Youre gonna make mistakes, and youre gonna learn from your mistakes. The Crypto Zoo August 14th There was a time when you could hear BCN without a radio. Also, former radio personalities Bob Rivers and Peter Zipfel of "Bob & Zip" fame, Greg Hill, Danielle Murr, Lyndon "LB" Byers, Spaz (Anthony Parziale) and Kevin Barbare from the "Hill-Man". We always tried for an element of humor and drama. NAME Years of Service Current Status, Bill Abbate 1988-Present Air Talent,midnight - 6AM Katy Abel 1982-88 Education Reporter WHDH-TV7(CBS) Producer for The Learning Channel Carter Alan 1979-Present Music Director Lorraine Ballard 1978-80 Living in Philadelphia Andy Beaubien 1969-77 PD at DC-101,Washington Tony Berardini 1978-Present General Manager John Brodey 1969-1979 GM for Giant Records in LA Judy "Scooter" Carlough 1982-87 Senior Acct. WBCN DJ Maxanne Sartori and Charles "Master. This audio stream includes the archives shared for The American Revolution documentary film, coming . People really related to that. / photograph courtesy of the david bieber archives. "Free Form BCN" began airing live freeform shows in September 2009 on WZLX-HD3 and at wbcn.com. 2 While San Francisco was celebrating a psychedelic Summer of Love in 1967, Boston stayed buttoned up and battened down. [20][21] Shortly after the transfer to Beasley was completed, WBCN was replaced with "Hubcast," a replay of segments and podcasts from air personalities from "The Sports Hub. In 1965, Nathaniel Johnson was appointed Music Director of WBCN by station program director Don Otto. Since then:DJ at WZLX; inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2009; retired and living in Maui, currently working on an autobiography titled Daze in the Life. But I remember my parents changing the station. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's college station WTBS (today WMBR ). I was only there for a short time. Literally. LISA TRAXLERAt WBCN:DJ, 198490. In that way, WBCN was the Facebook of its era. Bill would see benefits restored by Seth Moulton bill, Denver gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, In 4 years, Lori Lightfoot went from breakout political star to divisive mayor of a Chicago beset by pandemic and crime, Florida lawmakers to consider expansion of so-called dont say gay law, Drone crashes at Disneyland after hovering over visitors heads See video, Rapper Travis Scott wanted for assaulting Manhattan club sound engineer, destroying $12K in equipment. 3. Here is a list of over 90 former and current full-time WBCN personalities. I can trace my success to BCN. The station brought former disc jockeys into its studios to say goodbye. You have a world with just the Eagles. Are you playing with a full deck? It looks like nothing was found at this location. In December 1968, Peter Wolf left to take the J. Geils Band full-time and, introduced to the station by Jim Parry, Charles Laquidara was hired to take over the 10:00p.m. to 2:00a.m. air shift. He hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast .more #46 of 164 The Best Talk Show Hosts Of Daytime, Late Night, and All Time #37 of 61 The gala celebration will featu They were just business guys who only looked at numbers. On July 14, 2009, CBS Radio announced that WBCN would sign off the 104.1MHz frequency the following month.[9][10][11]. . That, for me, was the best thing about working at WBCN: He took a liking to me. B96 - WBBM 96.3 FM. But the call-letters of WBCN, through its 40+ years of rich history, will remain a legendary part of Americas radio story forever. A bunch of us were sitting around, possibly experimenting with drugs. People are losing interest in radio, Im talking twentysomethings, because theres nothing compelling there. This is awful! Over the years he interviewed major rock and comedy legends including John Lennon, Frank Zappa, Little Richard and comedian/Blues Brother John Belushi and Jerry Seinfeld. It was not just your talentyou had to be able to hang with the boys and you had to take a certain number of lumps that the boys didnt have to. Exec at RAB in NYC Tom Couch 1976-82 Production Manager at WXRT,Chicago Peter Choyce 1978-88 Air Talent,Las Vegas Carolyn Fox 1991-93 Air Talent,Providence RI Jerry "The Duke of Madness" Goodwin 1977-81 Air Talent,WCGY,Lawrence MA Eddie Gordetsky 1978-82 Comedy Writer in NYC and LA Kenny Greenblatt 1968-1979 deceased Tommy Hadges 1968-78 President of Pollack Media Group in LA Tami Heidi 1977-79 1984-91 Air Talent,KROQ in LA John "Hoch" Hoccheimer 1972 Professor at Ithaca College in Itaca,NY Kate Ingram 1979-81 Harmonic Converge,San Francisco Eric Jackson 1973-75 Air Talent,WGBH-FM Boston J.J. Jackson 1968-71 Radio Consultant,LA Bradley Jay 1984-Present Air Talent Madge Kaplan 1986-1988 News,WGBH-FM Boston Lisa Carlin 1980-82 TV commentator in NYC Charlie Kendall 1978-79 Radio Station Owner in Mississippi Sam Kooper 1968-73 National Media Relations 1987-90 Spokeperson in Boston, Bob Kranes 1982-86 A&R,Polygram in NYC Charles Laquidara 1969-76 1977-Present Air Talent,6-10am Kathryn Lauren 1985-87 Air Talent,WHFS,Annapolis,MD Maurice Lewis 1989-91 Boston Food Bank Larry "Cha-Chi" Loprete 1982-Present Air Talent,Host of WBCN's "Get Back to The Beatles" heard on Sundays. [4], On April 10, 2003, Martinie was diagnosed with cancer. After arriving in the city he began performing horoscope readings to employees of the state welfare department in exchange for them keeping him on the welfare rolls. When I came back in 78, I didnt want to come back, because I still wanted to continue being able to do cocaine. Oh, the stories you heard. The old Boylston Street studios were all beat up. at WRRM,CincinnatiMaxanna Sartori 1970-77 Promotions and Marketing,NJMatt Schaffer 1981-89 News&features at WXKS-FM,BostonDanny "The News Dissector" Schechter 1970-1979 TV Producer in NYCSteve "Clean" Segal 1968-69,1976-77 Air Talent,MilwaukeeBob Shannon 1976-77 V.P.,TM Productions,DallasKen Shelton 1980-Present Air Talent,10-3pmEli Sherer 1978-1989 Traffic Reporter/Consultant inCambridge,MAMatt Siegal 1976-80 Air Talent at WXKS-FM,BostonBob Slavin 1975-77 Music Producer in Boston,MASusan Sprecher 1976-80 TV producer,NJSteve Strick 1978-82 1986-Present Air Talent and Asst. So we said, How about the car we give away, its suspended from a crane tied into the Strawberries Records on Memorial Drive and hanging over the Charles River? Darrell Blair-Edward Martinie[1] a.k.a. The station lost some of its longtime listeners (who migrated to the now co-owned WZLX, where former WBCN DJs Laquidara and Carter Alan had gone), but quickly gained credibility among many younger people. The protest got local media coverage and the attention of several well-known Boston-based music acts, including The Cars, Aerosmith, and Boston, who got behind the protest. The jocks now are continually selling you something. J.J. Jackson 1968-71 Radio Consultant,LA Bradley Jay 1984-Present Air Talent Madge Kaplan 1986-1988 News,WGBH-FM Boston . He had been ailing in recent years, suffering from a number of conditions including spinal stenosis that made it difficult for him to walk. In spring of 05 we moved from Boylston Street to Brighton. And he screwed up all the time! Parenteau was red. All the records are still in there, a lot of the old reel-to-reel machines, a lot of the old tapes and commercials and their reel-to-reel boxes. Known as ' The Rock Of Boston ', its two main Boston - area competitors are Album Oriented Rock / Active rock WAAF and alternative music WFNX. Uploaded by The station survived and prospered through generations in spite of tumultuous turnover, not to mention a 1979 strike by its DJs and staff. I was competing against him. web pages WBCN wasnt just the jocks and engineers and sales and support staff. Chicago Radio Personalities - Where are they now, 8. Because the station got involved in giving these bands a higher profile, people could see them in clubs. Also,acting Promotions Director at WBCN.Steve Lushbaugh 1978-79 Production Director atWMMR,Phila.Bob Machsond 1977-79 Lawyer in NYC.Jimmy Mack 1977-81 deceasedKevin Malvey 1992 Air Talent,WBOS-FM BostonPhil Marlowe 1989 Air Talent,WCCC-FM HartfordDaryl "Cosmic Muffin" Martini 1977-82 1985-present Astrological ReporterDanny McCloskey 1977-82,1987 Student in S.F.Metal Mike 1986-Present Air Talent,Host of "Heavy Metal From Hell" on Saturday nites.Marc Miller 1978-83 MUSE,Brooklyn NYPatrick Murray 1991-Present News Director,Air TalentHarold "Mississippi Fats" Wilson 1968-77 Restaurant equip. Parenteau died at around 1 this morning at Mass. We did incredible events. classic rock. WBCN was a top station in the country. He reminds me, every time I see him, that Id be nowhere without him. Jackson first gained prominence while working at WBCN in Boston in the late 1960s, then at KLOS in Los Angeles for ten years. The Patriots on the weekend: Is it a football station? But then, if it was kind of vicious out, you could play Riders on the Storm by the Doors. He was the oldest of five children. "Indie 104.1" on 104.1 HD-3 ceased operations. Bob Machsond 1977-79 Lawyer in NYC. That same year he moved to Boston, as he believed it was the most astrologically perfect place for him. [2] Although he initially believed astrology to be "stupid" and asinine", he later became hooked. Is it a music station? Charles deserves every bit of respect he gets in the radio community. 1. The first DJs operated out of studios at 171 Newbury Street and included Peter Wolf in his pre-stardom days, Jim Parry, Al Perry, Tommy Hadges, Sam Kopper and Steve Segal. 104.1 WBCN - WBCN 104.1 FM ("104.1 WBCN") is a radio station licensed to Boston, MA. (#921058) WIVY Jacksonville, "Y103" AC Early 1991 35 min. 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