DICK PACE
August, 1963 - December, 1964

A graduate of Fordham University with a marketing degree, Dick once sold cough drops as a traveling salesman for Vicks. He also spent two years in the Army, making a number of parachute jumps. Charlie Parker heard Dick on the air in New London and brought him to Hartford to replace Jerry Bishop as one of The Swinging Six, hosting 10AM-1PM. His shift included an early-morning news component; he alternated with Joe Barbarette delivering news on the Ron Landry show. After Hartford he was a mainstay for 15 years at WBZ.

PRIOR: WFUV FM Fordham University; WBRY Waterbury, CT; WNLC New London, CT

AFTER: WJAR Providence, RI; WBZ Boston, MA; WHDH Boston, MA

TODAY: Dick is a lawyer in Rhode Island; he has no e-mail access (8/4/00).

GEORGE V. PARISH
1940s

Hartford natives, George and his brother, John, were known as The Harmony Brothers on WDRC during the 1940s.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: George died October 17, 1970, at the age of 60.

JOHN PARISH
1940s

Hartford natives, John and his brother, George, were known as The Harmony Brothers on WDRC during the 1940s.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: ?

PHYLLIS PARIZEK
November, 1981 - ?

Phyllis worked for a few months in the WDRC news department.

PRIOR: WAVZ & WKCI, both New Haven, CT

AFTER: WHCN Hartford, CT; WVIT TV West Hartford, CT; WPOP & WKSS, both Hartford, CT

TODAY: Phyllis now lives in the U.S. Virgin Islands; see her note (7-8-04) (e-mail)

CHARLES R. PARKER
March, 1944 - August, 1983

Without question, Charlie Parker was the brains behind WDRC's success for many, many years. WDRC was essentially the only job Charlie ever had and he lived and breathed Big D 24 hours a day. He was born in Hartford and his love affair with WDRC began at the age of 15 when he was interviewed by Harvey Olson in a man-on-the-street spot. Olson hired Charlie two years later as a production engineer, running network programs from CBS. He met his wife (see Patty Parker) at WDRC; she was also an engineer. As program director, and later vice president of programming, Charlie had a keen ear for hit music and was a talented writer. His trademark rhyming promotional copy gave the station a distinctive sound. In later years Charlie voiced many station promos and special features, and enjoyed his annual duties as Jolly Old St. Nick for the American Radio Relay League. Billboard Magazine named him 1975 Program Director of the Year. The next year he founded the Greater Hartford Emergency Food Bank. He is largely credited with devising the formatic elements which launched Radio Fun in August, 1960.

In June, 1983, after a period of ill health, he was replaced as program director by Ken Trimble. Charlie was out all summer and returned for just a few weeks in August. His genius at spotting trends allowed Big D to capitalize on many crazes including the wave of Beatles popularity. Charlie was a superb motivator of talent and had a wonderful sense of humor. Many broadcasters credit him with giving their careers direction; read what others had to say.

TODAY: Charlie passed away March 14, 1993 at the age of 68.

PATTY PARKER
prior to March, 1944 - after August 6, 1945

Anne M. "Patty" Welch did clerical work at Pratt & Whitney before joining WDRC in a similar capacity. The Hartford resident also did part-time announcing. As the receptionist at WDRC, she gave a young man a studio tour one day. He came to work at the station and became her husband (see Charles R. Parker).

TODAY: Patty passed away February 19, 1964 at the age of 43. She and Charlie left two children: Kathy and Steve (who has his own successful broadcast career).

PAUL PAYTON
July, 1977 - March, 1980

An alumni of Brown University, Class of 1969, Paul was active in the student radio station where he experimented with progressive rock music. Country Paul was the afternoon drive voice on WDRC FM during the height of its album rock focus.

PRIOR: WFAS White Plains, NY; WLNA Peekskill, NY; WBRU, WHIM, WICE, all Providence, RI; WSVP West Warwick, RI; WHCN Hartford, CT; KBPI and KFML, both Denver, CO; WHCN Hartford, CT

AFTER: WCCC A/F Hartford, CT; WPLR New Haven, CT; WWYZ Waterbury, CT

TODAY: For several years Paul has pursued a fulltime freelance voice career in Chatham, NJ; see his note (11/24/03). (e-mail)

BILL PEARSON
May, 1979 - April, 1981

Bill worked nights on WDRC AM, 7PM-midnight. He was replaced by Chip Donavon, who left the afternoon shift to make way for Sebastian. He later ran the Atlanta branch of Dick Robinson's Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

PRIOR: WRCQ Farmington, CT

AFTER: WTIC Hartford, CT

TODAY: Sadly, Bill passed away in October, 2000 while living in Georgia. Read a touching tribute from his friend, Bill Stephens.

JIM PETERS
August, 1967 - February, 1968

A native of Chicago, Jim started at WDRC FM during the summer of 1967. He soon moved to the AM side hosting a 9AM-2PM request show. He finished his brief stay at WDRC doing middays on FM.

PRIOR: WLAN Lancaster, PA

AFTER: KPOI, KKUA, KORL, KIKI, KMAI all Honolulu, HI; KULA Waipahu, HI

TODAY: Jim left radio in 1987. He is now a board-certified hearing aid specialist in Orlando, FL; see his note (2-22-02) (e-mail).

BRAD PIERCE
prior to July 7, 1989 - July, 1991 ?

Brad was one of the voices on WDRC AM during a period of satellite-assisted programming. The slogan of The Oldies Channel format was "Your Station for the best oldies from the fifties, sixties and seventies." Thus, he didn't actually work at WDRC but was heard on it and other stations around the country affiliated with the service.

PRIOR: WPJB and WPRO FM, both Providence, RI

AFTER:

TODAY: Brad is still with The Oldies Channel and does professional voice work; Big D 103 is one of his clients; see his note (1-7-00) (e-mail).

WALT PINTO
October 12, 1998 - April, 2002

Walt has had a long association with WDRC, starting on the air in 1967 as "Kent Clark." He returned to WDRC AM as program director in October, 1998 and left in April, 2002 shortly after music was dropped in favor of talk.

PRIOR: WGUY Bangor, ME; WBBX Portsmouth, NH; WICC Bridgeport, CT; WAVZ New Haven, CT

AFTER: WCCC Hartford, CT; WRCQ Farmington, CT; WELI New Haven, CT; WHYN Springfield, MA; WLIS Old Saybrook, CT

TODAY: Walt can be heard middays on Oldies WMEX in Farmington, NH. See his note (2-21-00) (e-mail).

JEROME PIVEN
February 10, 1941 - October 8, 1942

A Pennsylvania native, Jerry's duties including announcing and program arranging, for which he earned $35 a week in May, 1941. He was the fifth WDRC staff announcer to answer the challenge when the U.S. entered World War II. He resigned to join the Army.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: Staff Sgt. Jerome Piven was killed in the line of duty on December 6, 1944 while assigned to the 378th Infantry 95th Division. He was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He is buried in Luxembourg.

ROBERT M. PROVAN, JR.
April, 1935 - September 1942

Robert Martin Provan, Jr. was born in Paterson, New Jersey on October 24, 1888. He worked for Pratt & Whitney aircraft company before becoming one of WDRC's early staff announcers. He also served as a Hartford alderman. Provan was in charge of promotion and production for W1XPW, Franklin Doolittle's first FM station which went on the air May 13, 1939. Robert left Hartford for an advertising job in New York City. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11, 1942 at the age of 53.

PRIOR:

AFTER: Standard Brands, Inc., Madison Avenue, New York, NY

TODAY: Robert died in Middletown, CT in July 1972; he was 84.