WYRE Staffs '65-'69

Sadly there are a few no longer with us such as Jack Alix, Carl Marcocci, Bobby Dee. There were many talented people during that time period. Curious as to their whereabouts.

After more than 10 years in Minneapolis radio, Bob Wood at last report is out of the business and living in Austin, Texas.

Dennis Constantine is the PD of KLTH-FM and KINK-FM in Portland, Oregon.

Barry Richards, "The Boss with the Hot Sauce," is a "music consultant for major record labels."

Kirby Scott (Confer) and his partner Donald Alt run the Keymarket radio station group.

You talking about WYRE 810 in Annapolis? Wow -I grew up in Edgewater and loved WYRE as a kid in the late 60's/early 70's. Was Top 40 then.

Thanks, Don for the info. Yes, OK, WYRE in Annapolis. Amazing station. There were someothers like Buzz Long, Ron Wolfe, Wayne Gracey, (one of the ) Jim Nabors, and surely others who have slipped my mind. Did hear that Freddy Klein (King) passed away a few years back.

Don't remember too many details - I was born in 62 so I was a little young. My first time on the radio was on WYRE in about 1974. They opened a brand new bank on Rt. 2 right behind my house and they had a grand opening with WYRE there. They were in a trailer and had a building being built and I showed up at 9 AM on the first day and opened a savings account for my paper route. They put me on the air as I was the first new account - it went something like this:

WYRE: So why di you put your money into Capital Savings and Loan? Was it the long stable history, the five star rating, or the great interest rates?

OK: It was the only bank I could ride my bike to.

WYRE: So there you have it ladies and gentlemen - Capital Savings and Loan is conveniently located right here in Edgewater. It is so close you can ride your bike to it.

End of interview with 12 year old O.K.

My Dad busted my chops about that one for years. Am I remembering right "WYRE - The Voice of the Bay" - ?????

O.K.

Is Carl Morcocci the guy who also worked at the bowling alley?

Funny story, OK. My tenure at WYRE ended in 1970 as the owners sent me to Rhode Island to be OM of their new station. Sorry to have missed the Capital Bank interview! Marcocci was one of the owners by the way and one time PD under the name Jack Armstrong.

I worked (briefly and not too successfully) at WYRE in 1970. Here are a few photos from that time.
Ron Wolf - http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/4552553390_35d005fc26_o.jpg
Ron Wolfe - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/4552553308_8d86ff82dd_o.jpg
Me - http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1301/4551913805_e215e57b37_o.jpg
The WYRE 250 watt transmitter - http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1156/4551913161_4e1128f094_o.jpg

P.S.

"Next WYRE marine weather on the hour ... brought to you by the yacht dealers of Northeast, Maryland."
"Mail your announcements to Scuttlebutt, c/o WYRE radio, Annapolis, Maryland. And if it happens in Crofton, Easton, or Salisbury, you'll hear about it on the Great 8, serving Annapolis-Glen Burnie."
"And now Bay Volkswagen presents .. Der BEETLES."
"Tide Timetable. Heard once each hour on WYRE - your official Chesapeake Bay Yacht Clubs Association station!"
<chimes> "Three quarters past the hour / WYRE / with offices in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington DC."

Thank you for those great pictures! Really took me back.

Glad you liked the pictures.

I have to admit -- I was not the best dj and certainly not the best employee in those days.

I remember one Sunday evening a friend who was on the air at a DC area radio station and I stayed on the phone and coordinated our playlists We played the same records at the same time on each station ... just to see how long it took someone to call and say something. I think it took about two hours.

You must have come along right after the company sent me to Rhode Island. What name did you use on the air? We used the WYRE air names in Providence and the name shouts from the YRE jingle package. Guess Dennis Constantine was PD during your tenure??

What a great thread for a GREAT station. Grew up listening to "Great Radio 8, The Voice Of The Bay". I was in awe years later when I got into the radio biz and a buddy gave me a tour of the joint.
Anyone remember engineer Grady Moates (sp?) and his customized audio processing. He had hot rodded an Inovonics (I think or was it a DAP) with all kinds of controls labeled things like "sizzle" "pop", etc so the PD could crank around to get the sound he wanted. I believe Grady used WYRE as a sort of test/demo bed since it was smack between the Balto and DC metro's. I think his company was called "Loud and Clean" or something like that.
Anyway a great sounding station both programming and technically.

Who was the AMC dealer that that voiced their own spots in Q and A form with Kirby asking the questions. funny stuff.

Frank, you must have preceded Jim Edwards as PD at WSVP...Mediamerica Radio for Rhode Island.

How did you like it down in the basement? Did you work for Jim Hooker? I was there in 1971. What a great little station. You obviously deserve some credit.

I worked with Bob Wood in Minneapolis--wonderful guy. He never told me he worked at WYRE. I also worked with Dennis at KTLK in Denver.

That little station may have had the best signal for its power in the country--although the old 550 WGNG in Pawtucket, RI was a little power house, too.

Did you work in Washington, DC?

Dale, thanks for the good words. Yes, Jim was GM of the station. Very positive guy with tons of energy. Bill Hennes came along as a consultant under Jim. That was one well run little radio station with some very talented people. Yes, worked in the basement of the sign shop. Bob Wood was ahead of his time. Very talented guy and one of the truly funny people on and off the air. Remember Constantine was a kid who had a burning desire to get in the business. He was in some sort of bad accident as a teen and was laid up for a period of time. Would call me daily during my airshift while he recovered. Dennis had a burning desire to get into the business. Hired him at WYRE and, of course, the rest is history. One of the real good guys in radio. No, never worked in DC, however, many of the DC guys passed through WYRE. Barry Richards, Jack Alix, and others. The WSVP experience and learning from Hennes/Hooker was instrumental in a big success in Erie putting on one of America's first top 40 FM's in 1970, WCCK.

Wonder if that's the same Ron Wolfe that worked in the Norfolk market in the 70's... I've totally lost track of him. A picture of sorts of him is on my Facebook page.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWw "Y-R-E"! was one of their great jingles in the 70's. One amazing radio station, especially for being a 250 watt daytimer!

Frank you are the best one to ask.... Will we ever hear Ron Rondo or Frank Shannon on the air again?

Lease-a-Mona said:

Frank you are the best one to ask.... Will we ever hear Ron Rondo or Frank Shannon on the air again?

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Thanks for asking! Loved every minute of being in the business.

You know, it occurs to me that a name like Ron Rondo would have been a big hit on 1040 WHBO back in the day.

jbozks said:

You know, it occurs to me that a name like Ron Rondo would have been a big hit on 1040 WHBO back in the day.

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Right you are. Should have used it there, although, Robbins came up with the "Shannon" moniker and had a Frank Shannon name shout already produced by Jeff Laurence.