Garabedian Signs Off, The Dream Lives On
A remarkable 30-year chapter of radio history came to an end at 11:50pm ET on Saturday night in the small New England town of Southboro, MA, as radio legend John Garabedian hosted his final Open House Party. Garabedian famously created and launched OHP on WXKS (Kiss 108)/Boston on September 5, 1987, and the show has endured and grown since that time. Garabedian sold Open House Party to United Stations in 2012 on the condition that he continues to host for four more years, and that term just expired.
A who’s-who of Garabedian’s longtime friends and colleagues made the pilgrimage to his famous home studio to help celebrate his landmark final OHP broadcast. Among those who jammed the joint — Garabedian’s heir apparent, Mike Kannon (upper left, who also shot this video of Garabedian’s final break and sign-off), PRO-FM/Providence PD Davey Morris and morning legend Giovanni, Kiss 108’s Mikey V, Superadio’s Rich O’Brien, WMJX (Magic 106.7)/Boston morning co-host David O’Leary, Joe Bermudez of AMP Radio/Boston, CodComm VP/Station Manager Steve McVie Solomon, Jeff Berlin, Brian Interland, Chris Shebel, who flew in Portland, OR just for this very special occasion. Also in the house was Doug MacAskill, Creative Services Director for WBQT (Hot 96.9)/Boston, who was OHP‘s Production Director from 1988-1994. MacAskill related to RAMP, “John is one of the most influential people I’ve ever met in radio. He took me under his wing 28 years ago and taught me all the important things about radio and life. It was very sad to see him sign off for the final time on OHP — but knowing John, he’s not done yet. I’m sure we’ll be hearing about his next epic adventure very soon.”
Yesterday, RAMP caught up with an emotional Garabedian, who told us, “With so many radio people here, and being my final Open House Party, I was apprehensive all day, like going on the air on a new station for the first time. But the show came off perfectly and I was so proud. There were some very emotional moments from callers thanking me, including several radio people who said they were inspired to get into radio after hearing Open House Party. The show has been telescoped and will be posted on YouTube later today. He added, “The whole evening was filmed by a crew from Orlando for a full-length documentary on Open House Party, which should be released by the end of this year.”
• Kannon will be taking over the show next Saturday. Garabedian explained that Kannon decided on a radio career after hearing Open House Party for the first time on G105/Raleigh when he was 15. Kannon is shown here on his first OHP visit in 1993, when he was 16. Now that Open House Party is in the rearview mirror, Garabedian continues to look ahead, as he told us, “Aside from the four [CodComm] FM stations I own on Cape Cod, I’m planning a move to develop the new 21st century dimension of digital audio presentation.” In other words — stay tuned.
