‘It Was 50 Years Ago Today…’
• Last week we joined the legions of fans of the late, great WBCN/Boston as we all marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of that seminal Rock station. Last Wednesday evening, ‘BCN’s former longtime morning personality Charles Laquidara flew in from his home on Maui and held court at Boston’s iconic Paradise Rock Club to greet his many friends and fans and promote his forthcoming project — a “multimedia memoir” he calls Daze in the Life. The following evening, Thursday, March 15 — exactly 50 years to the night that WBCN signed on as a Rock station — many of its original staffers gathered at the fabulous Novara Restaurant (a longtime supporter of WBCN) in Milton, MA to hug, reminisce and celebrate the half-century anniversary of the birth of this legendary radio station.
RAMP had the privilege of conversing with Sam Kopper, WBCN’s inaugural PD and first morning talent, who sent us this photo, helpfully provided background on everyone and explained the importance of this milestone reunion, as he told us, “The whole idea was to bring together a small number of we who made FM radio a viable business by bringing Rock ‘n’ Roll and all its siblings to the FM airwaves. It was a warm family dinner celebrating the best radio ever and took place 50 years to the day that we began…”
Back row, (l-r): Norm Winer, a.k.a. “Ol’ Saxophone Joe,” WBCN’s first News Director and PD from 1971-77; Boston radio icon Ron Della Chiesa, documentarian Bill Lichtenstein, DJ Bob Slavin, Newsperson Susan Sprecher, Producer Tom Couch, Deborah Ullman (BCN’s first female DJ in 1969), DJ Jim Parry, DJ/former PD Tommy Hadges, DJ John Brody, DJ Eric Jackson (now in his 40th year as “Eric In The Evening” on WGBH/Boston), Charles Laquidara and DJ Andy Beaubien.
Down in front, (l-r): Branka Starr and her husband, Joe Rogers, a.k.a. “Mississippi Harold Wilson,” who launched WBCN at 10pm on March 15, 1968 with Cream’s “I Feel Free;” Carter Alan, now doing middays on WZLX/Boston. Alan joined WBCN in 1980 and later wrote the book — literally — Radio Free Boston – The Rise and Fall of WBCN. On the floor down in front is Al Perry, who did sales for Classical WBCN (pre-3/15/68), and continued on Rock ‘BCN as a part-time DJ, salesman and eventually, GM.
Dead center is Sam Kopper and Ms. Maxanne Sartori (‘BCN’s first fulltime female DJ), and who, according to Kopper, “is credited with ‘discovering’ — or at very least aiding and abetting — the launch of Aerosmith, The Cars and Boston.” [Photo credit: Mark Kruger]
