Big Ange.....

[MACK184]

Big Ange..John Angelo Manzi was a Providence area fixture for years. I had the cance to work with him a long time ago in Upstate NY. I had heard he went back to the Providence area. Is he still around? Still on the air?? I always thought he was a great jock.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

I do not believe he is on the air. He does live in the Johnston area. I do see him once in a while at the Cumberland Farms in Centredale ( a village in the southern corner of North Providence and Johnston).

 

[AKLes]

I do not believe he is on the air. He does live in the Johnston area. I do see him once in a while at the Cumberland Farms in Centredale ( a village in the southern corner of North Providence and Johnston).

Last I heard, from an unreliable source, Big Ange, aka Jack Andrews, aka Jack Manzi, aka John A. Manzi, was doing some kind of advertising sales in/around Johnston. I worked with him for 2-3 years at the old WYNG (1590) in Warwick. The guy was a hoot!!! If anyone makes contact with him please see if you can get an e-mail address or some means by which I could reach him. I'm sure we can work out some secure means of getting the info to me even if I have to create a temporary e-mail address to receive it. Identify me to him as the guy who opened the station one morning, found "Wyngie" dead and laughed himself sick through the whole show. Jack and that damned "Wyngie" (no, I'm NOT gonna tell you who or what "Wyngie" was) had an evil conspiracy that once got my head covered in $hit during a newscast. Like I said, Jack was a hoot! And....I HAVE forgiven him.

 

[radiojay1]

I remember hearing Big Ange on WICE and WHIM. I thought his real name was Andy Jackson. That's the name he used on WHIM. I have two tapes I recorded in the 90's, one when Big Ange and Chuck Stevens broadcasted on WICE from Combined Hardware (not sure where it is or if it's still around), and one when Big Ange was live at JcPenney in the Warwick Mall for Million Dollar Jewelry Sale. I also remember on WHIM that he used to do middays and had a contest on his show called the Country Kitchen where he would give ingredients to a recipe little by little until someone guessed what it was for a prize. Great memories!

 

[AKLes]

I remember hearing Big Ange on WICE and WHIM. I thought his real name was Andy Jackson.

Jack started at WLOV (FM) which was a very early FM, studio and transmitter in a pretty crude shack on (spelling?) Neutaconkanut Hill in Johnston. The name "Salera" comes to mind in connection with it (owner) but it's a vague memory. When that collapsed in very interesting fashion Jack came looking for work at WYNG which is the original call of the 1590 AM that's now known as WARV. It was (and probably still is) sorta cattywampus from the main Warwick Fire Station in Apponaug. He was hired as a salesman and worked occasional air shifts. At the time I was doing news there and what little program direction there was. At the time he used the air name "Jack Andrews" and I used to torment him on the air by calling him "Andy Jackson" as though I just couldn't get his name right. He stayed at WYNG for several years after I moved on to then-WXTR (550). I know he wandered around among numerous stations in the area and there were some lurid tales of events at WNBH over in New Bedford but I didn't hear them myself so won't dwell on them. Though it could be maddening to work with Jack at times nobody could stay angry with him; he was such a delightful character.

One Jack newscasts:

"Jones was remanded to The Adult Correctional Institution in lieu of ten thousand dollars....
no, that's wrong....The ACI is in Cranston. I dunno where this "Loo" place is!.....bail. He's due back in court next week."

 

[johnnyboots]

I worked with Ange for 2 years when he was PD at the old WKRI in West Warwick. He had the engineer turn up the reverb to make it sound like the old WPRO in its hey day. He also tried bringing back the old type format of mixing talk with music and news. He tried for 2 years. It was a novelty at first but grew old fast. He was fun to work for and easy to get along with. I was just 16yo working for him doing weekend shifts and fill ins at night. I had a great deal respect as he was one of the figures in radio back in the sixties an early 70's.

 

[Skynet74]

I worked with Ange in 1986 when he was at WKRI. I had no idea at the time that he was an area legend. I just thought he was some goofy local guy with a little show on a station that could barely be heard in the next town. LOL. It wasn't until people started posting about him on this board that I learned he was a jock who actually had a fairly successful past.

I used to call him up every afternoon when I was just a listener of his show. I was trying to find a local guy like Howard Stern. Someone who wasn't afraid to open his mouth and could come up with some funny stuff. Ange was the closest thing to Stern that I found in the area. I told him I was in broadcasting school and was looking for an internship. In a matter of a few short weeks I was working with the big guy.

Unfortunately I found him a little to bossy to work with. When a person starts telling me not to wear an NBC jacket to the station.... that's where I had to draw the line. It wasn't his business what kind of jacket I chose to wear. He had a little to much of the powertrip thing going on. So I chose to leave.

Not including that incident....... he seemed to be a decent guy. I guess I enjoyed listening to him more than I enjoyed working for him. I still appreciate the opportunity he gave me though. That was nice of him.

 

[AKLes]

I forgot to note that it was back in 1961-1963 that Jack was at WYNG. Another character at the station was Ed Williams who went on to other stations in RI, mostly in sales but some air work.

WYNG was, I believe, the last place Dave Stackhouse worked in radio. He was well along in years and dabbling in radio. I know, the name means nothing to you young folks. He started in broadcast in 1929 at WEAN (790) in the days when announcers did just that; announce.

http://www.smecc.org/david_l__stackhouse_-_wean_-_wjar_-_wean.htm

He's mentioned on several other websites if anybody cares to "Google" him.

 

[cruisinoldiesradio]

WELLLLLLLLL.......BIG ANGE, ONE OF PROVIDENCE'S BEST JOCK'S FOR SURE!
I WORKED WITH ANGE AT WPRO-AM IN THE LATE 60'S, THEN AT WNBH-AM IN THE EARLY 70'S, THEN AT WKRI AFTER THAT. HE TAUGHT ME SO VERY MUCH DURING THOSE YEARS....UNFORTUNATELY I REPLACED HIM AS P.D. AT WKRI AND THAT WAS MANAGEMENT'S CHOICE, NOT MINE!

I REMEMBER ONE SUMMER DAY I THINK IT WAS SOMETIME BETWEEN 1967 AND 1969 THAT ANGE, ME, AND ANDY KIM WENT TO NEWPORT FOR ONE OF ANGE'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE'S...WE HAD TO STOP SOMEWHERE IN MIDDLETOWN TO TAKE A PEE, AND ANGE DECIDED TO STOP IN FRONT OF A HOUSE SO WE COULD RUN BEHIND THEIR BUSHES AND PEE, IF THE OWNERS OF THAT HOUSE EVER KNEW WHO PEE'D ON THEIR LAWN THEY WOULD HAVE DIED!!!! LOL...BUT THAT WAS ANGE, WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.....HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DEAR FRIEND! I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR HIM ON B-101...THE EARLY DAYS OF THE "B"...I REALLY DO THINK HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR TOP JOCK!

AHHHH, THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS!

STAY COOL ANGE! WELLLLLLLLLLLL..

VINNIE LEWIS
FORMERLY: WPRO-AM / WPRO-FM (the old wpro-fm/Nuentacontaket hill studios)
WNBH-AM /WYNG-AM/WKFD-AM P.D./B101-FM/P.D.-OPS MANAGER LITE 105-FM
WSNE-FM / WICE-FM (the pirate) / WSRS-FM / WTAG-AM / WICE-AM (Part time under King Arthur Knight) / WHIM-AM (early Pappy days) / WARV-AM (where i got my start, 1961) / WPRI-TV (when located above the wpro studios in the city)
WLKW-FM (under Tony Rizzini & Norm Jagolinzer / WLKW-AM (big band)
WEAN-AM(PD & OPS Manager) (under telecomunications & Ira Rosenblatt) /
WRIU-FM (Kingston Campus U.R.I-Closed circuit-then FM) /
WBLQ-FM (the old one in Narragansett) / WRKO-AM (part time-Drake Chenault)
Most Recently: WJRZ-FM Toms river, NJ-Morning Drive) and now, President & program Director of CRUISIN OLDIES RADIO The Internets Best Choice For Oldies, Doo Wop, Soul & Rock N Roll !

 

[AKLes]

We really need to communicate offline if we can find a way for these reasons:

WYNG-AM

I was news director there between about 1961 and 1963. Big Ange was there at the time, transitioning from sales to on-air.

WLKW (under Tony Rizzini & Norm Jagolinzer

Was there for a year or so under Tony (who was best man at my wedding). I replaced George Allen when he left for TV. There was no WLKW-FM at the time. 4th floor of Lowe's Theater building. I had just signed off then the Great New England Blackout happened and narrowly missed being trapped in the elevator.

If you're interested in comparing notes (swapping lies), post here and I'll set up a temporary e-mail address to initiate off-line contact.

 

[BOSOX04]

WYNG Radio, Warwick RI

Hi everyone.....Paul Daly here and I worked with Jack Andrews at WYNG in the 60's & 70's. Jack did the early mornings, followed by Don Turner middays, I held down the afternoons. Jack was a great guy and knew the area well. The GM was Big Bill Dawson (WAD) and
Dave Stackhouse was our guy in the newsroom. Dave was the guy who got the Gaspee Days celebration going. WYNG had a great country sound and it was a great ride for me. After the station (WYNG) was sold to Bill Cook from Newark, DE it became WARV and I stayed on in sales for about 3 months (it was a big mistake as we had a sales mgr. (Lou Roche) who thought his stuff didn't stink. I then went to WHIM and worked with Big John Allen, Art Godfrey, Lee Frazier, Gene Bonner and others. RI Radio was really great back in those days and I'm glad I was a part of the industry.