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The
following was sent to me in 1999 by Dennis: "My first day on WRKO was in
August of 1977, the 11th I think."
"Although it's true that the first time Harry Nelson heard me was at WJDX
in Jackson, that had happened about a year before. Between JDX and
RKO, I worked in Baton Rouge (WJBO) and Richmond (WLEE). My
car died in Richmond so I wound up taking a grueling 8-hour train ride to
Boston. Harry hired me over the phone, we had never met when he picked
me up at South Station. I was just 21 years old. Harry literally
plucked me from obscurity and dropped me into the control room of one of
the premiere American radio stations of its day."
"I started on all-nights (2am to 6am in those days) between J.J. Wright
and Dale Dorman. The news guys were required to work an 8 hour
day so Bill Rossi would do news starting at 2:45AM and work straight through
morning drive. Dale Dorman was very kind to me and I loved hanging
out with him, listening to radio stories and watching him work. It
was an incredible experience. My first Saturday shift (actually midnight
to 4am Sunday, then God) I followed Mike Addams. Outside the
building in Government Center that night, were about 50 young girls milling
around waiting for Addams. Screaming, screeching. Amazing."
"After a few months, I was moved to 10 PM to 2 AM, the worst shift ever,
from a personal standpoint. I was young, single, stupid and getting
union wages but I couldn't go out before I went on the air and by the time
I got off work all that was left was the Combat Zone and HoJo. Even
in a city the size of Boston, there were only a handful of all night TV
stations and all that was on was what they dumped there. Remember
that this was before HBO and only someone like Harry or Dale could afford
a VCR. In fact, the first VCR I ever saw was at Harry's house.
It was a beta format Sony about the size of a small refrigerator."
"Soon
after that, the changes came fast. The last few months of 1977
and early 78 were really the very last of the golden age of Top 40 on AM.
The onslaught of FM was just too much even by the end of 1978 for the station
to survive with that format. During my time at RKO, I was rated in
every daypart, including mornings (Oct/Nov 78). I spent my last year
at the station on afternoon drive. Among the guys I hung out with
were Scott Burns, Brian Phoenix and Tom Murphy. Especially Burns.
That guy can still make me laugh until I drool.
Among the astonishing
talent that I had the privilege of working with, aside from the folks already
mentioned, were: Ed Walsh, Tim Kelly, Big Ron O'Brian, Charlie Van Dyke,
Mark McKay, Sandy Weaver, Melody McShane, Bill Rossi, John Masters, Charlie
and Harrigan, Caroline Murdock, Roger Allen, Jordan Rich, Dude Walker, Joe
Morgan, and Ned Martin to name just those who come to mind after all these
years. There was also an incredible engineering staff and the
best promotions department I've seen to date."
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