Tiger Tom Allen replaced Jim Simpson as morning man at WPOP, 5:00-9:00AM. Prior to Hartford he worked at WISH Indianapolis and WEBC in his Minnesota hometown of Duluth.

Tom also worked at WSPR Springfield; WJIM Lansing; KJR Seattle; WUBE Cincinnati; WITL Lansing; WIL St. Louis and WDEE Detroit. His career in country music stations includes KBOX Dallas and KASE Austin (where he hosted morning drive for 17 years and is still on the air at sister station KVET).

Tom will soon retire after 47 years in radio; see his note (e-mail) (6/4/08).

Gene started his career at WSPR Springfield, then moved to WDRC Hartford where he did news and music. He then moved to WACE Chicopee before being hired at WPOP.

He later worked at WHAY/WRCH Farmington; WCCC Hartford; WHNB TV30 in West Hartford and WELI New Haven.

Gene is deceased.

In 1962 WPOP extended its broadcast day to 24 hours. The first overnight host at POP's Palace of Platinum Platters was Johnny Argo. Prior to coming to Hartford The Alligator worked at KJAY in Topeka, KS; KWCB Searcy, AK; KVLC Little Rock, AK; and WHEY in Millington, TN.

Upon leaving the Insurance City, Argo joined fellow WPOP-alumnus Mort Downey at KUDL in Kansas City, KS. Later he moved to WMBR in Jacksonville, FL. Then it was on to Kentucky, working at both Louisville Top 40 giants, WKLO and WAKY.

Johnny is deceased.

In the August 9, 1969 edition of Billboard Claude Hall wrote, "Jack Armstrong is joining WPOP in Hartford. Tough luck, WDRC."

Jack was billed as "the fastest talker in the east" and he may well have been. His on-air alter-ego was The Old Man and they were frequently joined by The Talking Gorilla. His nightly 8:00PM-midnight show was raw energy.

For a young guy, Jack had already worked at a lot of stations in his native North Carolina: WCHL Chapel Hills; WSSB Forest Hills; WCOG Greensboro and WAYS Charlotte. He also worked at WIXY and WKYC Cleveland; WMEX Boston and came to Hartford from CHUM Toronto.

He left Hartford for KTLK Denver and a parade of call letters and cities followed: WKBW Buffalo; WJAS/WKTQ and KDKA Pittsburgh; WHYI Miami; WIFE Indianapolis; KTNQ, KHTZ, KFI all in Los Angeles; KFRC San Francisco; KKHR Los Angeles; and KBOS Fresno. Frustrated by the lack of jobs for personalities, he moved back to North Carolina and sat out the radio business for about five years in the early 1990s. From 1997 to September 2004, Jack woke up Winston-Salem at WMQX. In 2003 Jack began voicetracking the night show at WWKB Buffalo but they pulled the plug on oldies and went to talk programming on February 6, 2006.

Jack passed away March 22, 2008 at the age of 62; read more; also see a note from his daughter. (4/2/08)

Joe attended Cambridge School of Radio and TV in New York in 1955. One of his classmates was Don Blair. Though they never worked together during their careers, they competed while Joe was at WDRC and Don was at WPOP in the early 1960s.

Joe first went on the air playing records at WBIS in Bristol, CT, then moved to WHIM Providence, owned by Buckley Broadcasting. He was transferred to their Hartford station, WDRC, where he stayed from 1962-68 until he accepted a post as press secretary for U.S. Senator Thomas Dodd. After that assignment he returned to radio as news director at WPOP. He was responsible for getting WPOP affiliated with the ABC Contemporary network in September, 1971.

After moving to WFTL in Fort Lauderdale, FL., Joe retired from radio in 1977.

Today Joe is in business in Gainesville, FL. (5/1/01)

Dick was hired as a utility man from WDEE Hamden, CT. During the week he did news at WPOP using the name Dick Beech; on Sundays he hosted 12:00 noon-4:00PM (and later 10:00AM-1:00PM) music shifts as Dick Stephens. He briefly hosted morning drive between the departure of Roy Cooper and the arrival of Kilroy.

After leaving The Good Guys, Dick worked at WKOX FM Framingham and WAAB Worcester.

Dick passed away in 1982 at the age of 53; see his daughter's note (5/21/02).

A graduate of WEIM Fitchburg, MA; WTSA Brattleboro, VT; WKOX FM Framingham, MA; WKBR Manchester, NH; WKNR Dearborn, MI; WGNG Providence, RI; KFMX Omaha, NE; KGW Portland, OR; and WMYQ Miami, FL, Chuck came to Hartford from WNHC New Haven. He was hired by Bob Paiva. This high-energy jock was hired at WPOP to replace Judge Harrigan from 2:00-6:00PM when The Judge moved to morning drive.

When he left Hartford The Chucker went to WIFI Philadelphia; WPRO FM Providence and later worked at WOCA Ocala, FL after running a south Florida production company. His most recent radio job was as operations manager of WRGO Ocala-Gainesville, FL.

Chuck recently opened a voiceover business in Florida (e-mail); see his note. (11/13/05)

Good Guy Larry Black, his wife LuAnn, and dog Kona-Sha, came to Hartford from Charlotte, NC where he worked at WIST and WAYS. He was heard from noon-3:00PM (Sundays noon-6:00PM). He left for WAXC in Rochester, NY but returned in 1971 to do weekends as The Reverend Mr. Black.

After his second stint in Hartford, Larry returned to upstate New York to produce a syndicated religious show, and eventually found himself on the air at WSM Nashville.

Larry has been seen on the silver screen, with appearances in "Ernest Goes to Camp" and in 1992 he played a cab driver in the movie "The Thing Called Love," a film about young Nashville songwriters embroiled in a romantic triangle. He was also in several "Heat of the Night" episodes.

Larry lives in Nashville and runs Gabriel Communications which has produced several music reunion videos featuring country and rock stars; see his note (e-mail). (7/11/01)

Don's broadcast training was provided by the Cambridge School of Radio and TV in New York in 1955. At first he worked at WHAY in Farmington, CT. While at WPOP the Teddy Bear did both news and music. Through most of 1959 he hosted 2:00-6:00PM. Toward the end of his tenure Don hosted the 8:00PM-midnight music show.

Don spent a few months at WHYN in Springfield before joining the news staff at WNBC TV30 in West Hartford. He also spent time at WDEE in Hamden before heading to the news business in New York City where he worked for the Mutual, CBS, ABC and NBC Radio Networks. In retirement, Don delivered weekly commentaries over a web service in Sarasota.

Don is enjoying retirement in Venice, FL. (e-mail). His book was published in July, 2004 and had a third printing in mid-2005. It's about his experiences as pool reporter for the landing of Apollo 11 aboard the recovery ship USS Hornet, and all 31 recoveries-at-sea of NASA spacecraft. Order at Turner Publishing. (5/21/05)

See Don's most recent note about the Hound Dog (8-20-07).

William Bland, Jr., was the housewives' companion, hosting WPOP's 9:00AM-noon shift. He was 24 when he joined The Good Guys. Born in Alaska, Bill lived in Washington state and Oregon before joining the Marines for four years. His pre-Hartford radio jobs included KLOG Kelso, WA; XEMO Tijuana, Mexico; KSON and KDEO San Diego, CA; KISN Portland, OR; KLPS Santa Rosa, CA; and KTNT Seattle, WA.

Bill and his wife, Penny, were members of the Capitol Cities Gun Club, entering various shooting competitions in central Connecticut. According to Danny Clayton, one after-hours party of WPOP jocks became a little exuberant. Bill pulled out his credit card, was driven to Bradley Field, and woke up the next morning in San Francisco!

After he came off the air, Bill stayed in WPOP Sales until September 1969 when he joined the national Bridal Fair organization in Omaha. He later held national posts with the Star Stations and Heftel Broadcasting before going to WFMM/WNCC in Barnesboro, PA (where he was elected Mayor). Bill's last known assignment was general manager of WRKZ Hershey, PA.

See his note (e-mail). (5/18/01)

This individual holds one of the shortest records for a full-time employee at WPOP. Danny Clayton hired him to host 10:00AM-1:00PM weekdays and Saturdays from 10:00AM-3:00PM. He stayed just about long enough for PAMS to sing a jingle for him then left for Canada where he reportedly went to work as a promotions man at RCA Records.

His current whereabouts are unknown.

What do you do when you already have a jingle but no announcer? Hire Clark Smidt and change his name! That's what Dan Clayton did when the first Bob Branigan left town unexpectedly.

Smidt started in radio at WBIS Bristol at the age of 16. While a student at the University of Hartford, he was the driving force behind the creation of WWUH FM in July, 1968, serving as station manager. At WPOP Clark was hired for weekend work but worked full-time on the overnight shift after John Scott left and before Bobby Rivers was hired.

Clark went on to big things in Boston at WBUR, WBZ FM, WCOZ and programmed WEEI FM during its soft rock format. He later became a consultant to numerous other radio companies.

On November 17, 1989 Clark realized a dream by signing on his own station, WNNH Henniker/Concord, NH. He sold it to Tele-Media Broadcasting in August, 1999 for $2.5 million in stock options. He left the company in January, 2002. He is the managing partner of WCAP in Lowell, MA and runs a broadcast consultancy. (e-mail) (7/31/08)

A press release published in The Hartford Times on February 22, 1964 said Al Brenick had been appointed news director at WPOP; he was married and had four children. He came from KQV Pittsburgh and was a lifelong resident of that city, having attended Duquesne University. A Billboard profile of the Hartford market (May 16, 1964) listed Al as WPOP's news director, presiding over a "four-man, mobile cruiser-equipped news operation."

His current whereabouts are unknown.

Born in Elmira, NY, George attended Ithaca State College and worked at stations in New York (WOLF Syracuse) and Michigan before coming to Hartford to replace Roy Cooper on the 3:00-7:00PM shift.

On July 7, 1966, George broke the world's record (at the time) for the longest roller coaster ride at Riverside Park by going round and round 310 times over 12 1/2 hours. By that time he was hosting WPOP's wakeup show from 5:30-9:00AM.

George left WPOP for WIXY Cleveland and later worked at WIXZ near Pittsburgh. He was working in the promotions department of CBS Records when he passed away.

George died in 1973 of a congenital heart disorder.

Tom is a California native whose first on-air job was at KUDU in Ventura. He came to WPOP from WAVZ New Haven. The switch from music to all-news left him looking for employment, and he found it at WDRC where he hosted 7:00PM-midnight under his real name, John Larrabee.

His later stations included WXLO New York, KADI and KYKY St. Louis.

John reports traffic on KMOX St. Louis (7/31/08).

Prior to joining the WPOP News team, Randy worked at WOLF Syracuse; WMEX Boston and KBTR Denver.

Hired by news director Chuck Crouse, Randy was the Capitol Beat news reporter.

Randy left Hartford for Philadelphia where he worked for WFIL, WPEN, KYW and Metro Networks.

He is news director at WNPV in Lansdale, PA. (7/31/08)

Bill Vassar's second stint at WPOP was as weekend and utility man Bobby Brooks. He has worked there the previous fall as Michael Murphy. He also did a Saturday night show using his real name for a while.

His other radio experience includes WCCC Hartford; WACE Chicopee; WHCN Hartford, WNHC New Haven; WCDQ Hamden; WRCQ/WRCH Farmington; WPLR New Haven; WAAF Worcester; WEEI FM Boston; WHYN A/F Springfield; WFAS A/F White Plains and WGBB Long Island. He has an extensive video background as well.

Today Bill/Bobby/Michael is VP of Production & Technology for EUE/Screen Gems in Wilmington, NC (e-mail); see his note. (6/2/02)

A graduate of New York University, and a World War II veteran, Jack also served in Korea where he did a stint on Armed Forces Radio as Jack the Bellboy. After returning to the U.S. he went to school and began his radio career at WWNH in Rochester, NH. During the early 1960s Jack was the director of WPOP's Pulse Beat News department, an operation billed as "the largest independent radio news source covering the world for the people of Central Connecticut." He arrived at WPOP fresh from WCCC in Hartford, where he was program and news director. Jack retired in 1996, after 32 years, as executive director of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants. He was honored by that organization with honorary lifetime membership in December, 2001.

See Jack's note (e-mail) (7/21/06)

Dick was one of the early morning men at WPOP. A colleague described him "as an early Stern/Imus type." For example, when he started at The Big 14 he called himself Dick Ribicoff in reference to Connecticut's esteemed U.S. Senator. He was on the air from 6:00-10:00AM.

He left Hartford for the all-night show at KDKA in Pittsburgh. His career took him around the country to stations like WIND Chicago, WCOP and WXHR Boston, WFEA Manchester, NH, and on Cape Cod.

He died while living in Naples, FL in May, 1984.

Mike joined the WPOP News staff from WAVZ New Haven.

His current whereabouts are unknown.

Born in Hartford February 28, 1924, Howie got his start in Armed Forces Radio while serving in the Army Special Services during the Korean War. Back home he worked at WCCR Torrington, CT; WTXL West Springfield, MA; WSPR Springfield; then back to WTXL.

Known on the air at WPOP as Howie Bee, two months after his arrival he won a Sunday Herald poll as Hartford's "Most Popular Disk Jockey" for his Modern Sounds program weeknights from 10:30PM-midnight. For many months he hosted the wakeup show, 6:00-9:00AM. By June 1959 he was hosting noon-2:00PM, and by September, 9:00PM-midnight.

After Hartford, Howie's radio journey took him to Tucson, AZ and West Virginia. He moved into the news end of the business, anchoring TV newscasts in Youngstown, OH and WSLR Radio in Akron.

Howie died May 11, 1999 at the age of 75 while living in Portage, OH. (5/17/01)