Who better to occupy WPOP's overnight hours than Jonathan Dark? He replaced Jerry Gordon and was replaced by Stan Douglas. Jonathon was just sixteen when he started in radio. Art Wander brought him to Hartford from KBGO in Waco, TX.

After leaving Hartford, Jonathan worked at WHYN in Springfield and then at WTXL West Springfield, MA. He later began using his real last name, Fricke, and went on to a prominent career as program director at country music stations WSAI Cincinnati and WMC Memphis. Other stations on his resume include KDJW, Amarillo, TX; KBUY, Fort Worth, TX; KOKE AM/FM, Austin, TX; KFOX, Los Angeles, CA and KRAK, Sacramento, CA..

He served as the first Country Editor for the trade magazine R&R, followed by several years at Warner Brothers country music division in Nashville. He hosted a weekly country program on cable television in Ft. Worth. He also ran an independent record promotion company in between programming various radio stations. In 1982 he launched TUNE-IN Publications and in 1994 Jonathan joined Ideas Advertising Group in Houston. He and his family later ran an artist management firm in Nashville.

In February 2006 Jonathan was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame. He lives in Nashville (e-mail). (7/31/08)

Like Jonathan Dark, Sunny Deigh was a pseudonym. Before working at WPOP, Fred Herdeen worked at WCCC Hartford; Connecticut Public Television and WTIC FM Hartford. In fact his stay at WPOP coincided with his Junior year at Trinity College.

After graduating from Trinity in 1964 with a BA in English, he attended the University of Hartford where he completed graduate courses in International Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy. Fred also worked at WHAY Farmington and WHNB TV30 in West Hartford, and later at WROW in Albany, NY.

Fred is an experienced trainer, motivator, and facilitator. During his varied sales and management career, he has helped others to expand their business opportunities by using dynamic, proven sales techniques. Fred has organized and conducted numerous business seminars and workshops for senior level executives.

Fred lives in Florida and hosts the Christian Business Review television series, syndicated in more than 200 markets; (e-mail) see his note (5/19/03).

Mike Adams' career started on the overnight shift at WINF Manchester, CT. He then played the periphery of the Springfield market at WAQY and WACE. Not surprisingly, Dale Denver was an airname assigned by WPOP management.

He later played oldies at WRCQ in Farmington, CT before becoming program director of a station in Portland, ME. He returned to Springfield at WHYN and WMAS, then back to Hartford at WHCN (off air in sales) and as morning man at WCCC. He later moved to several stations in Boston where he hosted a sports call-in program on New England Cable News, as well as a radio show at WWZN.

Mike works at WEEI Boston and is also a sales consultant at Metro Ford in Raynham, MA. (12/15/05)

Dave was a newsman who slipped in just before WPOP dropped music; he remained for the beginning of the all-news format.

Current whereabouts unknown.

Little is known about Bruce, though a Hartford Courant article dated January 6, 1957 says he was a WPOP disc jockey. Later that same month Bruce and Al Schaertel shared hosting duties for Hartford's Official Top Forty program weekday afternoons from 1:45-5:00 p.m.

Current whereabouts unknown.

Before joining The Good Guys as Jonathan Dark's replacement on the all-night show, Stan worked at WTWN St. Johnsbury, VT and WELM Elmira, NY.

Little is known about Stan's life after he left WPOP.

He is deceased.

Son of the famous baritone, Mort Downey was a one-man promotion machine. Reading broadcast trades from the early 1960s it was hard to miss his meteoric rise to stardom. The March 17, 1962 issue of Billboard magazine announced that "Morton Downey Jr., is new program chief at WPOP, Hartford, Conn." On his wakeup show he was known as Doc Downey.

He came to Hartford from WHIM in Providence, having previously worked at KROD and KELP in El Paso, TX; WONE Dayton, OH and WICE Providence.

Described by some as arrogant and egotistical, he found a close ally in programming consultant Irving Schwartz who convinced WPOP's owner, Tele-Broadcasters of Connecticut, to be the pilot station for a controversial computer music selection process. Schwartz touted WPOP's rise from #3 to #1 in the Hooper ratings based on a chart relying on "weighted" factors based on national sales. Some jocks resented the computer taking away their choice of records. Downey believed, however, and when Tele-Broadcasters installed Schwartz as vice president and general manager of KUDL in Kansas City, MO, he hired Downey and WPOP overnight man Johnny Argo. It was no coincidence that Tele-Broadcasters sold WPOP to Joe Amaturo and H. Scott Killgore in February 1963.

A significant note about Downey's days at WPOP...he forged a lifelong friendship with Joey Reynolds; they even shared an apartment for a while.

Downey's career included lots of call letters, some for very short periods. Among them: WYNR Chicago; KJR Seattle; KAFY Bakersfield; KRIZ Phoenix; KDEO San Diego; WCPO Cincinnati; WNOE New Orleans; WFUN Miami; KFBK Sacramento; WMAQ Chicago; WERE Cleveland; WWOR TV New York (where he launched a nationally syndicated live audience confrontational TV show); WWRC Washington; KGBS Dallas; and WTAM Cleveland.

Mort Downey died of complications from lung cancer on March 12, 2001. Check this site run by his widow..

Dan Clayton hired eighteen-year-old Mark Driscoll at WPOP for weekends when Frank Holler was called by the U.S. Navy. He briefly did 8:00PM-midnight weeknights between the departure of Steve O'Brien and arrival of Jack Armstrong.

Before coming to Hartford he had already logged time at KNAK Salt Lake City; KQIX Arvada, CO and KUDL in Kansas City. His post-Hartford stations were numerous and included WRKO Boston; WRNO New Orleans; WOR FM New York; WRC Washington (where he was reunited with Dan Clayton); WWDJ Hackensack, NJ; WBBF Rochester; WKTQ Pittsburgh; KSTP Minneapolis; KNDE Sacramento; WNBC New York; WAPE Jacksonville; KHYI Dallas; WIOQ Philadelphia; WAQQ/WEDJ Charlotte; and numerous broadcast consulting positions.

Today Mark is doing full-time voice-over work and script writing ("Ellen Comes Out") in Los Angeles (e-mail). (6/1/05)

A native of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, Ray was active at WRTC while a student at Trinity College in Hartford. He was hired by Dan Clayton as WPOP's weekend man, then assumed the 7:00PM-midnight shift for five months between Jack Armstrong and Doctor Jim Holiday. He resumed college at Baker University near Kansas City, doing afternoon drive at one of the local stations until graduating in June 1972. He did post-graduate work at Oklahoma State University while keeping a hand in radio.

His radio career took him to several major markets including Detroit's WWWW; WFAA in Dallas; KHJ in Los Angeles (where he was known as Mike Dunaway); KUDL and KMBZ in Kansas City; and KVRO Stillwater, OK.

Since May 1992, Ray has been morning man at WTIC Hartford (e-mail). (3/27/08)