Sandy Beach-WDRC A/F Hartford @1965

Sandy Beach-WBEN Buffalo @2020

It couldn't last forever, but not for lack of trying. On July 30, 2020 radio legend Sandy Beach wrapped up a 60-year on-air career, doing his final broadcast on WBEN in Buffalo, NY. Sandy Beach first graced the Niagra Frontier airwaves in 1968 when he arrived at WKBW in Buffalo to host the night shift. But Connecticut and Massachusetts listeners knew him long before that. Before coming to Hartford, he was familiar to Springfield listeners as Jack Diamond on WSPR, where he worked alongside Dick Robinson and Long John Wade (as Johnny Midnight).

Sandy was one of WDRC's most popular personalities between January 1965 and June 1968. He originally hosted 1-4 p.m., sandwiched between Jim Nettleton and Long John Wade. In 1966 he relocated to noon-3 p.m. between Joel Cash and Dick Robinson. After Don Wade's departure in October 1967, Sandy inherited Big D's morning show from 5-9 a.m. These were WDRC's glory days and some of the most famous of its deejays worked there then. Two more are worth mentioning: Don Berns (with whom Sandy worked at WDRC and WKBW) and Joey Reynolds (with whom he worked with at WDRC and has been a lifelong friend). Elsewhere on this site there is a photo of Sandy and Joey before a grudge race at Connecticut Dragway.

You can't talk about Sandy's Hartford tenure without recalling his infamous laugh. One day he was reading the name of a contest winner and just couldn't pronounce it correctly. As an engineer astutely rolled tape, Sandy started laughing and couldn't stop. The clip has been played on the air many, many times over the years.

In 1967 and 1968 Hartford Courant readers frequently saw an image of Sandy and the late Bill Savitt, owner of a prominent downtown jewelry store. Bill knew the value of advertising and used the popularity of Sandy's show to promote a variety of products.