WRKO’s 50,000-Watt Reunion
The 50th anniversary reunion of the legendary 68 WRKO/Boston reunion was a huge success this past weekend, as over 80 alumni and friends gathered in the Charles Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza in Newton on Friday evening for a big celebratory dinner, followed on Saturday by unforgettable broadcast from 7-11pm featuring five members of the original WRKO “Now Crowd” — Al Gates, Joel Cash, JJ Jeffrey, Chuck “The Knapper” Knapp and 91-year old Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsburg — playing the Top 100 of 1967 using the original WRKO jingles! Local voice talent Jordan Rich interviewed dozens of attendees at the dinner.
Naturally, “Radio’s Best Friend” Art Vuolo was on hand to chronicle this important milestone event on video, along with assistant Ray Glasser from WIXY 1260 online in Cleveland. As Art recounts to RAMP, “Nearly all of the original cast of WRKO with DJs from 1967 were on hand for an incredible re-creation of a truly fun time in radio. It was all brilliantly brought to fruition by Mel Phillips, George Capalbo and seemingly, a cast of thousands who put together an event we will never forget. It was all streamed live on Facebook, and by the end of the program, a staggering 69,000 people were watching around the world! Kudos to Entercom Boston Market Manager Phil Zachary who helped make this a reality.”
Art hopes to have the final video edited and complete before the end of the month, and a copy will be submitted to the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. Pictured, (l-r): JJ Jeffrey, Al Gates, Mel Phillips, Joel Cash, Chuck Knapp and Epic Records promo legend Arthur Katz.
