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Harry Nelson's main chore was afternoon drive at the
Big 68. He was one of the crew hired to shake up the station after
its 1972-1973 foray into AOR, joining Jack O'Brien and J. J. Wright. He
began jocking at WRKO in October of 1973, following the format change from
hybrid-AOR to high-energy Top 40, where he followed Jack O'Brian doing 2
to 6 PM.
RKO General upped him to Program Director in 1978, a title Harry kept until
he left the station in October, 1979 to move to San Francisco's KFRC as
Assistant program Director.
Here's his "official" bio, sent to us by Harry,
himself:
Harry got into Radio in his home state of Mississippi. He started playing
the hits in High School, and his career led him to air personality stints
In Denver, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, and New York. As He puts it, "I
was just a kid that got a lucky break by having a hot tape."
Harry hosted Afternoon Drive at 50,000-watt WRKO in Boston from 1973 to
1977 He was recommended for the programming job at WRKO by departing Program
Director Les Garland (one of the founders of MTV) in 1977.
Many successful years of ratings battles started at WRKO, from where Harry
moved to the legendary KFRC/San Francisco, WAPP/New York, and then back
to Boston, programming WZOU, WODS, WKLB, and WROR. Harry currently is an
Air Personality at CBS outlet Oldies 103.3 in Boston and has also appeared
on WCBS-FM in New York.
Nelson re-entered the world of Country Radio in the early 90s with a consultancy
at The Big Dog 92.5FM in Denver, then successfully programming WKLB in Boston.
Harry is totally involved in the world of Country music from Radio to Promotion.
He helped Country Artist Steve Azar score a Top 5 hit with I Don't Have
to Be Me Until Monday and has acted as Sr. Program consultant for Music
Match Radios on-line Country channels.
Harry's philosophy of life and work is simple. Lift everyone around you
up, and you will lift yourself in the process. Harry resides in Southern
Maine, just North of Boston, with his beloved Mirabelle the Cat. Life is
Good!!
As one can see by his timeline below, Harry's had a full and varied career,
qualifying him as the Radio consultant he is today. Interestingly,
he has always used the name "Harry Nelson" on the air. After all, it is
his real name!
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