DICK SANDHAUS
October 11-November, 1969

During the 1960s and 70s, regular WDRC listeners frequently heard the words, "A Dick Sandhaus Production." He was a young concert promoter who frequently organized shows at the Bushnell that were advertised on Big D. For a few weeks in 1969 he took over Ken Griffin's late Saturday night "Scene of the Unheard," featuring rock music and album cuts that weren't normally aired on WDRC.

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AFTER:

TODAY: ?

RIC SANTOS
1986-87

Ric spent his early years on the east coast listening to some of New York City's fabled deejays. He got into radio in 1978. Glenn Colligan hired him at WDRC to work weekends and fill-in. While there he did a retro feature called The Time Machine, produced by Dave Nagel. In January, 1986, WDRC AM affiliated with The Oldies Channel, a satellite-delivered format from the Transtar network. As a result Ric lost his job. But today the format is owned by another company and he is its national program director, based in Los Angeles. Ric is also an oldies consultant to WDRC FM.

PRIOR: WRCQ Farmington, CT

AFTER: WLAD/WDAQ Danbury, CT; KSDO FM San Diego, CA; KGGI Riverside, CA; KHYL Sacramento, CA

TODAY: Ric is program director of Westwood One's nationally syndicated format, The Oldies Channel; see his note (11-22-02) (e-mail)

JOHN SAVILLE
July 4, 2004 - approx. December 19, 2007

Well known in Connecticut for his many years spinning country hits on WWYZ, Cadillac John joined WDRC FM to host the Sunday afternoon shift from 1-6PM replacing Bruce Owens (who moved to Saturdays); later, John's hours changed to 3-7PM Sundays. In that capacity he was recognized as one of America's leading music directors by Billboard Magazine. He also runs John Saville Entertainment Company based in Guilford, CT. After Mike Stevens' departure, John joined Beth Bradley on the morning show on August 2, 2005.

In December 2007 John was let go and temporarily replaced on the morning shift by Mike Stevens. It was announced that effective January 15, 2008, former DRC FM morning man Jerry Kristafer would take over the shift.

PRIOR: WSCB Southern CT State University; WNHU New Haven, CT; WKCI Meriden, CT; WPLR New Haven, CT; WEZN Bridgeport, CT; WAVZ New Haven, CT; WELI New Haven, CT; WYNY New York, NY; WWYZ Waterbury, CT

AFTER: WWYZ Waterbury, CT

TODAY: John is back at WWYZ; see his note (4-18-06).

JIM SCOTT
February 21, 1972 - August 11, 1973

Jim's first show was filling in for Jim Harrington on Big D FM, 9AM-3PM. On Monday, February 28, 1972 he began presiding over WDRC FM's "Solid Gold" midday show, 10AM-3PM as Harrington moved to afternoon drive.

PRIOR: WMMM A/F Westport, CT; WWCO Waterbury, CT

AFTER: WPTR Albany, NY; WQQW Waterbury, CT; WICC Bridgeport, CT; WADS Ansonia, CT; WWCO Waterbury, CT; WIOF Waterbury, CT

TODAY: After his radio career, Jim worked at Bloomingdale's in Cheshire, Hartford Insurance Company in Southington, and a communications company in Watertown. He retired in 2005; see his note (3-25-06)(e-mail).

JOHN SCOTT
prior to May 15, 1968 - February, 1969

A Wethersfield native, Walter J. Huss attended Dartmouth College, and later the University of Hartford. He served as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy before launching his radio career. Known on-air as John Scott, he started on WDRC FM's midday show, 10AM-3PM, but later held the afternoon slot, 3-8PM.

PRIOR: WPAC Patchogue, NY; WALK A/F Patchogue, NY

AFTER: WPOP Hartford, CT; WNHC New Haven, CT; WTHE Mineola, NY; WSVP West Warwick, RI; CKLW Detroit, MI; WCBS FM New York, NY; WWYZ Waterbury, CT; KDES Palm Springs, CA; KHTX Riverside, CA; KDHI FM/KQYN AM Twentynine Palms, CA

TODAY: John moved to southern California, working as a digital editor, producer and voice talent at Cold Call Cowboy Productions. He later operated a photography business. On Christmas Eve 2004 he was diagnosed as having cancer of the liver. He died May 25, 2005 at the age of 62. (9-21-05)

SEBASTIAN
April, 1981 - February 23, 1982 and February, 1985 - November 18, 1986

Born Joseph Schlosser, he used the name "Lance Christian" from January-May, 1972 at WPOP. His first stint at WDRC AM was as a replacement for Chip Donavon from 2-7PM, where he was brash and controversial. Calling himself "Sickie Sebastian," a comment about local Jai Alai players cost the station $10,000 in advertising and, ultimately, his job. He was rehired three years later for essentially the same shift (2-6PM) and met the same fate after suggesting, on air, that general manager Dick Korsen be shipped to the Soviet Union in exchange for some of their prisoners. That firing also cost sidekick Diane Novak her job. The pair were known for a regular feature, "Berate the Brides," during which listeners called to comment on the photos of women who appeared in the wedding announcements of local newspapers.

PRIOR: WCCC Hartford, CT; WPOP Hartford, CT; WAVZ New Haven, CT; WVNR Naugatuck, CT

AFTER: WNAQ Waterbury, CT; WCCC A/F Hartford; WZMX Hartford, CT; WNNZ Springfield, MA; WFAN New York

TODAY: Sebastian does a one-hour Patriots pregame show on WCCC Hartford during the football season (12-10-03).

DAVE SEBASTIAN
prior to April 19, 1987 - after July 9, 1989

Dave didn't work for WDRC but was one of the voices heard on WDRC AM during its affiliation with Transtar's "Oldies Channel" programming.

PRIOR: KDON Salinas, CA; KNAK Salt Lake City, UT; KEZY Anaheim, CA; KHJ, KFI, KTNQ, KIIS, KBRT, KIIS, KHJ, KRTH, all Los Angeles, CA

AFTER:

TODAY: Dave runs VOICE OVER Resource GUIDE and ISDN ONLY in California (3-2-03) (e-mail).

RON SEDAILLE
August 1985 - present

A native of Barngor, Maine, Ron moved to Connecticut at the age of 1. He was hired by Frank Holler to do weekends and fill-in shifts. After Frank's departure he took over "Jukebox Saturday Night" and transformed it into "All Request Saturday Night," an all-request oldies show on WDRC FM (e-mail).

PRIOR:

SHANNON
December, 1964 - mid 1965

A native of Long Island, Shannon also lived in New Brunswick, NJ before arriving at the Fun Factory. He replaced Chip Thompson as utility man among The Swinging Six. In addition to hosting 1-4PM Saturdays and 7PM-1AM Sundays, he worked in the news department and filled in for the other personalities.

PRIOR: college radio at Rutgers University; WCTC New Brunswick, NJ

AFTER: WWRL New York, NY; WGBS Miami, FL; Channel 10 Miami, FL; WPIP/WPIS Ft. Lauderdale, FL; WOVV Ft. Pierce, FL

TODAY: Shannon was last known to be out of radio and living in Ft. Lauderdale (11-90).

BILL SHEEHAN
November 17, 1945 - after February 19, 1952

Born in Boston in May, 1925, William E. Sheehan attended school in Springfield. A University of Hartford graduate, Bill served as a bombardier-navigator with the Army's 416th Bomb Group in Europe during World War II, achieving the rank of second lieutenant. He was one of the first radio newsmen at WDRC. He met his wife, Rosemary Mansfield, who also worked at WDRC. In 1961 he joined ABC News where his posts included New York correspondent; London bureau chief; vice president for television news and chief operating officer. Bill was named president of the news division September 5, 1974. He later joined the Chevrolet division of General Motors, in Detroit, in a public relations capacity.

PRIOR: WMAS Springfield, MA

AFTER: WJR Detroit, MI; ABC News, New York, NY

TODAY: ?

PAT SHEEHAN
August 10, 1969 - November 28, 1970

Pat (no relation to Bill Sheehan) began his broadcast career while attending UCONN. He was a member of the WDRC news department and left to originate Connecticut Public Television's first evening prime-time newscast. He is a former president of the Connecticut chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

PRIOR: WILI Willimantic, CT; WINF Manchester, CT; WHCT TV Hartford, CT

AFTER: WEDH TV Hartford, CT; WNHC TV New Haven, CT; WFSB TV Hartford, CT; WTIC TV Hartford

TODAY: Pat retired from WTIC TV on April 10, 1999 but continues his career as an investment banker with A.G. Edwards & Sons. He also hosts a cable TV show on Comcast. (6-21-05)

AARON SHEPARD
June, 1961 - May 30, 1969

Born in Beantown, Aaron graduated from Boston University. Through most of WDRC's Top 40 heyday, Arnie worked alongside Joe Barbarette in the Earwitness Newsroom. He found a way to work Radio Fun into the news by hosting and producing "Feature," a series of silly questions designed to evoke unusual listener reaction.

PRIOR: WORL Boston, MA; WICE Providence, RI; WHYN Springfield, MA

AFTER: WROW Albany, NY

TODAY: Aaron is retired and living in the Rochester, NY area (5-19-04).

JOE SHERWOOD
June 28, 1969 - October 17, 1970 and April 16-May 2, 1971

Joe attended Connecticut School of Broadcasting and must have made an impression on Dick Robinson, because he became Dick's weekend newsman for two months in 1969. He later moved to FM for the 3-8PM Saturday and 2-7PM music shift. When Dick gave up weekend airshifts in November, 1969 to concentrate on sales, Joe took over his AM weekend shifts, Saturdays from 3-7PM and Sundays 7PM-1AM...all while working full time during the week in Waterbury!

PRIOR: WWCO Waterbury, CT

AFTER: WWCO Waterbury, CT

TODAY: Joe works as a network administrator in the Watertown Public School system; see his note (7-26-00) (e-mail).

STEVE SKIPP
May, 1979 - ?

A Waterbury native, Steve attended Wilby High School and went to UCONN. He was the afternoon driver on WDRC FM.

PRIOR: WWCO Waterbury, CT

AFTER: WWYZ Waterbury, CT

TODAY: Steve is program director and morning driver of WAXB Danbury, CT (9-17-01) (e-mail).

PRUDENCE SLOANE
April 4, 2004 - June 2008

Culinary educator and food journalist, Prudence had a lengthy media history prior to joining WDRC's kitchen for a Sunday night talk show, Simply Food with Prudence Sloane, from 6-8PM. The show later moved to Saturday morning, 10AM-noon. A graduate of The Institute of Culinary Education's professional program, Pru studied kitchen design at New York's Parsons School of Design and has written extensively for The Hartford Courant and other Connecticut newspapers. In October, 2000 her TV show debuted on Channel 30. Visit Pru's web site.

PRIOR: AT&T Cable TV; WTIC Hartford, CT; WHUS Storrs, CT; Connecticut Public Radio; WVIT TV West Hartford, CT

Prudence left WDRC in June 2008.

JACK SMITH
prior to February 26, 1951 - ?

Jack was a sportscaster at WDRC in the 1950s.

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TODAY: ?

MARC SOMMERS
April, 1997 - February 19, 1999

Marc had an extensive radio background when he joined WDRC for weekends. After the departure of Jerry Kristafer he took over morning drive on WDRC FM December 8, 1997.

PRIOR: KNOW New Orleans, LA; WDDT Greenville, MS; WTIX & WNOE, both New Orleans, LA; WABC New York, NY; WCBS FM New York, NY; WBMW New London, CT; WKHL FM Norwalk, CT

AFTER: In addition to voice-overs in New York, Marc is a writer (see below).

TODAY: Marc is a published author and does afternoon drive at KQSM FM in Bentonville, AR; see his note (6-27-05)(e-mail).

HAROLD "BUD" STEELE
December, 1959 - 1960 ?

Bud worked as a WDRC newscaster just prior to the beginning of pop music programming. In March 1960 he scored a national coup, calling the Tennessee Penitentiary where a riot had just occurred and getting an exclusive ten-minute interview with one of the convicts who had organized it. Stations all over the country asked for copies of the tape.

PRIOR: WSTC Stamford, CT

AFTER: WWDC Washington, DC; ABC FM Radio Network; WMAL Washington, DC

TODAY: Bud is retired and living in Wheaton, MD. (2-16-02).

LEW STEELE
February 22, 1970

Lew worked one day in the WDRC news department.

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AFTER:

TODAY: ?

MIKE STEIN
December, 1959 - 1960 ?

Mike also worked in the news department at WDRC, but just prior to the launch of a local pop music format. Mike's later journalism career took him around the world covering the war in Vietnam, the civil rights march in Alabama, and the six-day war in the Middle East. He was Peter Jennings' chief writer at ABC TV.

PRIOR: WAKR Akron, OH

AFTER: WNEW New York, NY; ABC Radio Network, NY; ABC's World News Tonight

TODAY: Mike retired from broadcasting in 1999. He plays cornet with a jazz group in the New York/New Jersey area;see his note (2-8-02) (e-mail).

BILL STEPHENS
prior to September 24-November, 1976 and December, 1978 - May 20, 1979

Bill's first stay as 6-10AM host (AM and FM) was short but his return brought with it a new name: "FM Stephens," short for "funky monkey." A Hartford Courant article once quoted him as saying, "I am not a disc jockey. I am just a crazy guy going into someone's home to play music." Crazy is how he came across, though. He hosted the 7PM-midnight show at WDRC AM, where his imaginary associate, "Lance Krindleman," was a regular visitor. Now, Bill is heavily involved in motorsports television; he is a co-host and feature reporter on ESPN and ESPN2 for coverage of NHRA drag racing and a pit reporter for CBS Sports on all their Winston Cup telecasts. He also writes and narrates Motor Trend Television on Speedvision and host NHRA Heat on ESPN2 before every NHRA national event.

PRIOR: WRYT Cambridge, MA; WEZE Boston, MA; WCCC Hartford, CT; WVBF Framingham, MA; WCOD Hyannis, MA

AFTER: KGOE/Thousand Oaks. CA; KGIL, San Fernando, CA; K100 Hollywood, CA; WVBF Framingham, MA; WRKO Boston, MA; WEEI FM, WMJX, V-66, all Boston, MA ; WPXC Cape Cod

TODAY: Bill lives on Cape Cod and runs an ad agency; he also hosts a syndicated radio feature called Time Capsule; see his note (1-25-08) (e-mail).

BILL STEVENS
September 25, 1971

Bill worked one day in the WDRC news department during a period when several people were auditioned live.

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TODAY: ?

JACK STEVENS
November 1943 - ?

Jack hosted The Inside of Sports for four years on Mutual before joining WDRC during World War II. He was no stranger to Hartford, however. Jack graduated from Trinity College where he played on the basketball team.

PRIOR: Mutual Radio Network

AFTER:

TODAY: ?

MIKE STEVENS
1983 - August 1, 2005
May 20, 2006 - current

A Wallingford native, and graduate of Lyman Hall, Mike spent much of his adult life at WDRC. Over 22 years he wore many hats including weekend music director, overnight jock, promotions director, production manager and operations manager. He hosted the morning show on WDRC FM along with news anchor Beth Bradley; their partnership began in February, 1999 after the departure of Marc Sommers. Mike left DRC FM on August 1, 2005 and was replaced on the morning show by John Saville. He returned on May 20, 2006 replacing Scott Michaels on the 7PM-midnight shift.

PRIOR: WMMW Meriden, CT

TODAY: send Mike e-mail

C.J. STONE
prior to July 8, 1989 - 1989 ?

Like other employees of The Oldies Channel satellite service, C.J. didn't work for WDRC but was heard on various WDRC AM shifts.

RIOR: KPKE-FM, Denver, CO; 91-FM, Auckland, New Zealand; KYA-AM/FM San Francisco, CA; and KXOA, Sacramento, CA

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TODAY: C.J. is still affiliated with Westwood One's The Oldies Channel (3-2-03).

ROBERT STUART
1941

Robert was identified as a WDRC staff announcer in a 1941 promotional piece.

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FRANK W. STUHLMAN
1940 - 1941?

It is unclear exactly when Frank worked at WDRC. A Hartford Courant article on January 30, 1944 described the exploits of Marine First Lieutenant Frank W. Stuhlman during the landing on Bouganville in the Northern Solomon Islands. It says he graduated from Syracuse University in 1939, then attended Hartford College of Law. He worked for both WDRC and WTIC. He enlisted for flight training in September 1941 and received his Marine wings on August 5, 1942.

PRIOR: WTIC Hartford, CT

AFTER:

TODAY: ?

PETE SULLIVAN
November 9, 1972 - prior to March 16, 1974

Pete followed Tom Hopkins on the morning show, 6-10AM on WDRC AM. Low key and witty, he joked with news anchor Walt Dibble and was known for his voice impressions including the leprechaun who dropped in at 7:20 every morning to announce, "they're always after me Lucky Charms!" Hartford Mayor George Athanson continued appearing with Pete every Monday morning as he had done with Jack Miller.

PRIOR: WIBC Indianapolis, IN

AFTER: WIFE Indianapolis, IN; WBT Charlotte, NC; WMGK Philadelphia, PA; WWJZ Mount Holly, NJ

TODAY: Pete passed away February 4, 1994 at the age of 49.

FRED SWANSON
1978 - 1981

A familiar voice to Hartford listeners, Fred was a member of the WDRC news department.

PRIOR: WHAY/WRCH Farmington, CT

AFTER: WPOP Hartford, CT; WBIS Bristol, CT

TODAY: Fred is an announcer at WJMJ Bloomfield, CT (3-1-03).