DICK FAY
prior to February, 1958 - prior to January 9, 1960

Prior to WDRC's pop music era, Dick Fay did an all-night music show in 1958, during which he offered listeners a list of gas stations and garages in Greater Hartford. He was half of the Bacon & Fay morning team (with Bob Bacon) from mid 1959 through January, 1960. During his time at WDRC Fay lived in Newington, and later, Windsor Locks. Dick has lived in Florida since 1966.

PRIOR: WONS New Britain/Hartford, CT

AFTER: WINF Manchester, CT; WMMB Melbourne, FL

TODAY: Dick was working as a supply expediter for InDyne, Inc., at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida when he died August 10, 2002 at the age of 75; see his note (3-9-02).

MIKE FELDMAN
prior to April 17, 1987 - ?

Mike is a Connecticut School of Broadcasting graduate. He attended UCONN and University of California in Los Angeles and won some AP awards for his journalism work, including at WDRC. He changed career direction and now works in public relations.

PRIOR: WLIS Old Saybrook, CT

AFTER: several technology and public relations firms in New York, NY

TODAY: Geltzer & Company, New York, NY (e-mail).

BRADLEY FIELD
August, 1967 - June 18, 1969

In 1967, the FCC required AM/FM stations to stop simulcasting a certain percentage of time based on market size. In WDRC's case, its 20-hour broadcast day needed to separate half the time. Bradley Field was one of the first announcers hired specifically to do an FM shift (7AM-noon). Referred to on-air by Sandy Beach as "Andy Panda," listeners might remember him as "Bradley Bucket." He laughed readily and always presented a fun program. In 1968 he took over afternoon drive on AM. During winter months, WDRC changed from day to night pattern during his shift. He delighted in concocting elaborate build-ups to the moment of silence which occurred when the antenna was switched. He later went into station management, owning nine stations in Colorado. And, no, that's not his real name.

PRIOR:

AFTER: WCCC Hartford, CT; WHB Kansas City, MO; WFAA Dallas, TX; WXYZ Detroit, MI; KGFT/KBIQ Colorado Springs, CO; WWL New Orleans, LA; KING Seattle, WA; KAUM & KZFX, both Houston, TX; KOA Denver, CO

TODAY: Ken Sasso passed away March 24, 2004 at the age of 57 from congestive heart failure; click to see a tribute from the station where he was emplored, KOA Denver, CO (3-26-04).

AL FLETCHER
1961 - 1963

A Worcester native, and graduate of Leland Powers School of Radio and Theatre in Boston, Alan was a news anchor during his time at Radio Fun.

PRIOR: WSYB Rutland, VT; WNHC AM/TV New Haven, CT; WSAI Cincinnati, OH; WADS Ansonia, CT; WHIM Providence, RI

AFTER: Channel 13, Baltimore, MD

TODAY: Al is retired from The Traveler's Insurance Company; see his note (10-6-03) (e-mail)

ED FLYNN
July, 1969

Summer months are notoriously tough to staff at radio stations due to staff vacations. Charlie Parker borrowed this seasoned pro for several Sunday morning shifts. Ed was also an instructor at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

PRIOR: WAVZ & WELI, both New Haven, CT

AFTER: WAVZ New Haven, CT; WWCO Waterbury, CT; WELI New Haven, CT; WTIC Hartford, CT

TODAY: WATR Waterbury, CT; 2008 is Ed's 53rd year in broadcasting and 17th year as host of Talk of the Town. (4-21-08)

TOM FORD
prior to August 28, 1999 - spring 2002

Tom was a news fixture for many years at Channel 30. Today he owns a photo store in Cromwell, CT and fills in on news and music shifts at WDRC AM.

PRIOR: Armed Forces Radio, Fort Huachuca, AZ; WHNB TV West Hartford, CT (e-mail); see his note (1-9-00).

TODAY: Tom is retired and living in Connecticut (e-mail)(4-30-07).

ALICE FRASER
June 1943 - ?

Alice was the daughter of Thomas G. Fraser, the chairman of the Hartford War Council. She was hired to replace announcer Russ Naughton and trained to take over his morning program when he joined the Army. She also served as part-time arranger of musical programs at WDRC. The Hartford resident also sang outside of the station.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: ?

GEORGE FREEMAN
December, 1959 - 1960 & 1961-1967

A native of Youngstown, OH, and speech major at Heidelberg College, George's on-air career at Big D only spanned a year (as news director), though he also worked there as an account executive from 1963-67. George bought the first of several radio stations in 1969, selling his last property (on the Kentucky/Indiana border) in 1999.

PRIOR: WKST AM/TV New Castle, PA; WHOT and WBBW, both Youngstown, OH; WNHC New Haven, CT; WNBF AM/TV Binghampton, NY

AFTER: WNEW TV New York; WHCT TV Hartford, CT; WCCC A/F Hartford, CT; owned WGON AM/WQXO FM Munising, MI; KGRI A/F Henderson, TX; WDGS New Albany, IN; and WIKI FM Carrollton, KY

TODAY: George is retired from radio in Madison, IN but continues his lifelong interest in the industry. He is vice president of the Indiana Historical Radio Society and a frequent contributor to early radio publications (5-31-07) (e-mail).

JOHNNY GARDNER
September 1990-September, 1992

PRIOR: WIOF Waterbury, CT; WCCC Hartford, CT; WWCO Waterbury, CT

AFTER: WWYZ Waterbury, CT; WAXB Danbury,CT/Patterson, NY

TODAY: Today Johnny is a letter carrier who lives in West Hartford and does occasional fill in radio work; see his note (7-23-05) (e-mail).

DAVE GAREY
March - September 15, 1980

Dave worked the 7PM-midnight shift on WDRC FM, replacing Charlie Daniels.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: ?

JAMES F. GARRETT
prior to July 15, 1944 - 1946

Jim grew up in Columbus Grove, Ohio and graduated from what is now the University of New Mexico. His radio career started there and brought him to Minneapolis before joining WDRC as a staff announcer in the mid 1940s. In May 1945 Jim made a series of bedside broadcasts while a patient at St. Francis Hospital. He later spent 40 years as a booth announcer at Detroit's 50,000 watt WJR, retiring in 1986.

PRIOR: New Mexico; Minneapolis

AFTER: WJR Detroit, MI

TODAY: Jim passed away September 26, 2000 at the age of 82.

JOHN GARRY
spring, 1981 - December, 1982

PRIOR: WNLC New London, CT; WVVE Stonington, CT

AFTER: WHTX Pittsburgh, PA

TODAY: WMXP Pittsburgh, PA (11-91).

AL GATES
June 2, 1969 - January 17, 1970

A native of Hamburg, NY, Al did a tour of duty around the world as a NATO photojournalist. He was obviously a creative guy, working for a time as a commercial artist. His short stay at Big D was entirely spent simulcasting morning drive, replacing Jim Jeffrey. It's not exactly accurate to say he did a team show, but he did have frequent company from his duck, Feathers, Akbar Mytie, Mary Margaret, Readings With Charles (and announcer, Dwayne). After his departure from WDRC, the entourage moved over to talk-formatted WINF. Incidentally, Gatesy's on-air work at WPOP was only in the form of spots--he was an account executive there before seeking his fortune in freelance voice work.

PRIOR: WHYN Springfield, MA; WPRO Providence, RI; WIXY Cleveland, OH; WRKO Boston, MA

AFTER: WINF Manchester, CT; WPOP Hartford, CT

TODAY: Al is a very successful national freelance voice talent living in Wilton, CT; see his note (4-6-02) (e-mail).

KEN GILBERT
late 1980 - May 14, 1990

Prior to Big D he worked in Vermont and was program director and afternoon driver at Springfield's WACKY 102. During his lengthy stay at WDRC FM, Ken was host of Jukebox Saturday Night. In fact he was the first personality on the air when DRC switched from Top 40 to oldies.

PRIOR: WFAD & WCVM Middlebury, VT; WAQY Springfield, MA

AFTER: WHYN FM Springfield, MA; Angelsea Productions, Hartford CT; WMNW Port Henry, NY; WLVB Morrisville, VT

TODAY: Today Ken works for Ken Squier of NASCAR fame; the company owns radio properties in Waterbury, Stowe and Burlington, VT and race tracks in Barre, VT and Plattsburg, NY; see his note (1-9-00) (e-mail).

MIKE GRADY
prior to May 26, 1979 - September, 1981

Mike served as a program assistant to Charlie Parker and did various fill-in shifts on both stations.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: Stop 'N Shop, Southington, CT.

BARRY GRANT
July 3, 1972 - August 24, 1975 and mid 1977 - 1978

This Manchester native and UCONN graduate was the overnight man on WDRC AM/FM during his first stay. "Grant's Tomb" had a heavy rock feel and Barry was the exact opposite of the hype-oriented deejay. Since Barry had a First Class ticket and could monitor the transmitters overnight he worked from the FM studio, hence requests during his show were phoned in to 278-8310. In 1984 he won a Billboard magazine Personality of the Year Award. He earned the same award at WPLR and WMAD, where he was program director, and both stations also were chosen Billboard Stations of the Year. He also won an award in the Drake-Chenault national Talent Search. Barry's return to WDRC involved shifts exclusively on D103 and a stint as program director. Barry spent 26 years doing play-by-play for the N.Y. Islanders Hockey team and other professional franchises.

PRIOR: WEMJ Laconia, NH; WAAB FM Worcester, MA

AFTER: WPLR New Haven, CT; Pittsburgh, PA; WMAD Madison, WI; WRCN Riverhead, NY; WLNG Long Island

TODAY: Today Barry is in the banking industry in Manchester, CT; see his note (5-16-08)(e-mail).

LAUREN GREY
January, 1994 - after May 15, 1995

Lauren was the morning news anchor for Brad Davis on AM and Jerry Kristafer on FM.

PRIOR: WHYN Springfield, MA

AFTER:

TODAY: WGBB TV Springfield, MA (9-7-96).

KEN GRIFFIN
October, 1966 - April 17, 1970 and July-September, 1977

Ken was already very well-known in the Hartford/Springfield market so when Dick Robinson was ready to move into a daytime sales position, Charlie Parker pulled off a brilliant strategic move by replacing him with his primary competitor. Ken's regular complement of characters moved with him from WPOP: Phats Phontoon (the one and only, lovable weather balloon) and her boyfriend, Rocky Hill. Most listeners never realized their lengthy dialogues were all voiced, live, by Ken. He was a hit with teenagers - Ken once accompanied a contest winner to Hollywood to meet the Monkees. Most of his time at Big D was from 8PM-1AM on AM and FM, but for a time in early 1968 he did afternoon drive on AM. Eager to take a stab at show business on the west coast, Ken quietly slipped over to the midday slot on WDRC FM for his last few weeks in Hartford. In Los Angeles, he spent several years working for Buckley's KGIL. Ken returned to Hartford seven years later and found the market--and radio--quite different. He did numerous fill-in shifts and helped Charlie Parker in programming before leaving Big D again. One of WDRC's most popular personalities, Ken always had a special rapport with the kids who listened to him every night.

PRIOR: WBRY, WATR & WWCO all Waterbury, CT; WBUR FM & WBOS Boston, MA; WBRY Waterbury, CT; WHYN Springfield, MA; WPOP Hartford, CT

AFTER: KGOE Thousand Oaks, CA; KGIL San Fernando, CA; KIIS Los Angeles, CA; WRCQ Farmington, CT; WMAS Springfield, MA; WIOF Waterbury, CT; WRCQ Farmington, CT; WWYZ/WATR Waterbury, CT; publishing business in Boston; WCCF Punta Gorda, WENG Englewood & WAMR Venice, FL

TODAY: Ken hosts a weekly auction show on WKII Punta Gorda, FL; the station is owned by former WDRC engineer Hal Kneller (3-15-03) (e-mail).