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STEVE
O'BRIEN
prior to February 9 - July,
1968
& prior to January 26, 1969 - after July 5, 1969
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Smilin
Steve-O was a seasoned radio veteran when he arrived
at WPOP at the age of 22 fresh from WKNR in Dearborn,
MI. He had already worked at WEAM Arlington, VA; WKZO
TV Kalamazoo, MI; and WKFR in Battle Creek, MI.
Steve hosted WPOP's 6:00-9:00PM shift at a time when
The Good Guys officially became The Boss Jocks.
He was known for his fashion sense, sporting a collection
of trendy bell bottoms, English-cut jackets, French
cuff pullovers and Nehru style jackets.
He left WPOP the first time when opportunity called
at WIBG in Philadelphia but returned to his old shift
after a few months (in the interim Steve
Morgan occupied 6:00-9:00PM).
When O'Brien left WPOP the second time he made stops
at several stations including CKFH Toronto; WOR FM New
York; WNHC New Haven; WINZ Miami; WCBS FM and WPLJ New
York; Y100 in Miami; WNBC New York; KDWB Minneapolis;
KXYZ Houston; WABC/WYNY/WNYW TV/WCBS FM, all New York;
WMGQ New Jersey.
For
years Steve has been a major on-camera and voice-over
talent based in New York City; check
his web site or see
his note (e-mail).
(6/2/08)
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RIC
O'CONNOR
July 13, 1971 - July, 1975
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Ric
came to Hartford from California where he worked at
KAVL and KUTY. He was hired for the all night shift
when Bill Coffey moved
to middays. He inherited Coffey's 10:00AM-3:00PM shift
when Bill moved to morning drive in August, 1971.
In February, 1972 WPOP tried something unprecedented
in middays - Ed Clancy's
talk show, Women's Glib. Since Frank
Holler has just left, O'Connor moved to the 7:00PM-midnight
shift. He did that until June when T.J.
Lambert arrived. After bouncing around on various
shifts, Ric ended up back on overnights (2:00-6:00AM)
replacing Sunny Shores.
He was on the last music staff when WPOP dropped music
and went all-news in June, 1975.
Ric
worked at several other Hartford-area stations including
WRCQ Farmington; WATR Waterbury; WTIC Hartford; ? Springfield;
WIOF Waterbury; WNAZ Farmington and WYSR Waterbury.
Ric
is retired from radio and lives in Waterbury; see
his note (e-mail)
(5/9/04).
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JAY
PETERS
September 26-October 4,
1970
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Lou
Morton hired Jay to do weekends. His normal shifts
were 10:00AM-3:00PM Saturday and 1:00-6:00PM Sunday.
After
his short stay Jay entered the construction industry.
His
current whereabouts are unknown.
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RUSTY
POTZ
February, 1967 - after February
10, 1968
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Robert
Rusty Potz was a swing shift man at WPOP, doing
regular weekend music shifts and newscasts during the
week using the name Ron
Jackson. His previous experience was at the
former WSOR Windsor, CT.
After
leaving WPOP he worked at WAVZ New Haven and later ran
the show at WCCC Hartford during its "All Request"
format using the name Randy Potz.
Rusty
has been an institution for years at WLNG
on Long Island. (5/14/04)
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DEL
RAYCEE
1956 - March 1962
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Del
Raycee was one of the first personalities at WPOP. Delzapoppin'
took to the air from 6:30-9:00AM. By January, 1959 Del
was heard from 10:30AM-noon and 1:15-2:00PM. Newspaper
schedules from June 1959 showed Del following Dick
Brown from 9:00AM-noon, followed by Howie
Bee. On Monday, August August 17, 1959, the station
began broadcasting 24 hours a day with Del as the 1-6AM
host. He holds the distinction of being the program
director who instituted WPOP's format switch to Top
40.
After WPOP, Del worked at WHAY in Farmington, WDEE in
Hamden, and the National Black Network in New York.
He later went into station ownership and cable television.
In August 1996 Del sold WLIS in Old Saybrook.
Today
Del spends lots of time at The Forest Country Club near
Fort Meyers, FL. (5/17/01)
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JOEY
REYNOLDS
prior to May 5, 1962 - after
February 17, 1963
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One
of radio's best known and most colorful personalities,
this Buffalo native was hired from WNDR Syracuse to
do WPOP's 7:00PM-midnight show. By the time he reached
Hartford he had already worked at WWOL Buffalo; WWVA
Wheeling, WV; WAME Miami and WBNY Buffalo. His friend
Morton
"Doc" Downey got Joey the job at WPOP;
they also roomed together for a time. Joey's first run
in Hartford was fairly tame compared to his later antics.
While known in many markets for his distinctive theme
song by the Four Seasons, he didn't use it at WPOP;
the song on which it was based, Big Girls Don't Cry,
didn't become a hit until late 1962, just before Joey
left Hartford. Joey wrote the
liner notes for their album, so they recorded the
song to thank him. He did use it, though, during a one-night
WPOP engagement on Friday, June 14, 1974.
Joey's
career has been marked by many stops, often short. Within
months of leaving Hartford he breezed through WNCO in
Ashland, OH, then landed for a moment at WTRX in Flint,
MI. When program director Jim
Simpson left WTRX for WPOP, Reynolds took over for
him, but soon moved to WKBW in Buffalo where he continued
programming Flint from a distance.
Other
stops on Joey's long resume include WNCO Ashland, OH;
WIXY Cleveland; WXYZ Detroit; WDRC Hartford; WINF Manchester;
WIBG Philadelphia; WHLW Lakewood, NJ; KQV Pittsburgh;
KMPC and KRTH Los Angeles; WFIL Philadelphia; WNBC New
York; WSHE, WPLG TV and WIOD Miami; WAXY Ft. Lauderdale;
WQAM Miami; CITY FM satellite network; WBZT West Palm
Beach; and stints at 20th Century Records in Los Angeles.
Joey
hosts a nationally syndicated all-night show from WOR
New York, NY and in 2000 published his autobiography,
Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella But Don't Get A Mouth
Full of Rain. (e-mail).
(5/14/04)
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Dennis
was a newsman at WPOP during the era when the station
was located on Asylum Street in Hartford. He later hosted
a midday talk show at Manchester talk station WINF..
His
current whereabouts are unknown.
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SUSAN
RIGGS
October, 1972 - ?
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Susan
worked for a short time in the WPOP News department,
coming from similar stints at WINF Manchester and WHCT
TV in Hartford.
Her
current whereabouts are unknown.
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BOB
RIVERS
February 4, 1970 - March
13, 1971
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During
his year at WPOP Bob hosted the overnight show. He replaced
Bobby Branigan (#2)
and was replaced by Bill
Coffey. When he wasn't on the air he could be found
on the tennis court.
He left Hartford for WSAI Cincinnati and later worked
at KTKT Tucson, AZ.
His
current whereabouts are unknown.
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WOODY
ROBERTS
prior to October 7, 1966
- after January 6, 1968
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Woody
Roberts came to Hartford as program director and
morning drive host from San Antonio, TX where he worked
at both KONO and KTSA with Lee
Baby Simms. In one sense they were joined at the
hip, even buying a cabin cruiser together. His cast
of characters included his lovely secretary Miss
Marcia (Fox) and Dick Orkin's Chickenman.
He regularly checked the Weather Knee Forecast.
He was a stalwart member of the WPOP Good Guys basketball
team which played benefits at schools around Hartford.
Woody
helped orchestrate one of radio's favorite stunts which
probably left WPOP listeners totally confused. On April
Fool's Day 1967, the Good Guys traded places
for the day with the air staff of WKBW Buffalo. Stan
Roberts filled in for Bill
Bland...Dan Neaverth filled Dan
Clayton's shoes...Jefferson Kaye became Woody Roberts
and Bud Ballou filled in for Lee Simms.
He led the Teenagers March which raised more than $67,500
for St. Jude's Hospital in May, 1967. A notorious bachelor,
Woody once staged a promotion which resulted in listener
Irene Szloseko being selected Miss Woody Show;
for her trouble she won a new watch and a night on the
town with guess who?
After
leaving Hartford Woody returned to KTSA in San Antonio
as Vice President and General Manager. He returned to
WPOP as a consultant briefly in late 1972.
After
putting KTFM on the air Woody was nominated three times
as General Manager of the Year by the Gavin Programming
Conference (winning once). He later served as consultant
at Doubleday's KEXL in Austin. Woody opened an out of
town office in Austin at Armadillo World Headquarters.
From there came Willie Nelson's 1st Picnic plus the
Austin City Limits pilot. His company created a Lone
Star Beer campaign that actually added the word ' longneck'
to the dictionary. In the late seventies, Woody named
and formatted C-101 fm (KNCN) in Corpus Christi. In
early 1983, Woody moved from San Antonio to Austin to
serve as marketing head for the management company launching
the career of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He also began fifteen
years of directing the media image for Threadgill's
Restaurant.
In
the mid-nineties, Woody Roberts consulted and sat-in
for Jim Hightower on the national Chat n Chew radio
talk show, live from Austin. From 2000 to 2003 Woody
served as general manager of Austin
Music Network, a cable TV music video operation.
Woody
is a media consultant in Austin, TX (1/2/07).
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