Cityline: Black Boston radio history

XM CENTRALIZE THE MUSIC. YOU HEAR WITH PROGRAM PLAYLISTS, SMALL INDEPENDENT AM STATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHERE WHERE PROMOTERS WENT TO GET THEIR ARTISTS RECORDS, PLAYED THOSE SAME LOCAL STATIONS WERE THE FIRST SOURCE OF NEWS. AND INFORMATION FOR THE COMMUNITY IN BOSTON’S BLACK COMMUNITY. THE SUNUP TO SUNDOWN RADIO STATION WILD 1090 ON THE AM DIAL IS WHERE PEOPLE TUNED IN. SOUTH END CHRISTOPHER WINTHROP. I LISTENED TO ZAPORIZHZHIA BECAUSE THEY SOUND FOR REST STATIONS LIKE WILD IS ALSO WHERE MANY BLACK BROADCASTERS GOT THEIR BREAK IN THE BUSINESS. DJ SUNNY JOE WHITE WAS A LEGEND BEFORE HE WENT ON TO DO THE MORNING SHOW AT KISS 108 RADIO. OTHER WILD ALUMS INCLUDE PAUL PORTER, WHO WENT ON TO DC, ELLIOT FRANCIS, WHO BECAME A TV HOST FOR EBONY JET SHOWCASE, AND SAY BROTHER. DOUGLAS BOONE STILL HOSTS A RADIO SHOW IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. SPORTSCASTER COACH WILLIE MAY BECAME THE IN-ARENA HOST FOR THE BOSTON CELTICS, AND BEFORE SHE WENT TO KISS 108 FM, LARK LOGAN AND I WERE THE FIRST FEMALE MORNING DRIVE TEAM IN THE BOSTON RADIO MARKET AND JOINING US NOW IS ONE TIME WILD AM PROGRAM DIRECTOR ELROY RC SMITH, WHO ALSO WENT ON TO BIG THINGS. THANKS FOR JOINING US. HOW ARE YOU, ELROY? GOOD TO SEE YOU. KAREN. UH, THOSE VISUALS JUST GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS. YEAH, JUST REFLECTING ON THE GREAT TIMES THAT WE HAD AT WILD BACK FLASHBACK FOR SURE. NOW, WILD WAS A KEY PART OF OUR COMMUNITY AS HEYDAY. WHAT DID THE STATION MEAN TO BOSTON’S BLACK COMMUNITY AND TO THE R&B DIVISIONS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? WELL, FIRST OF ALL, TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY. IT WAS A PLATFORM FOR EVERY AFRICAN AMERICAN IN BOSTON. NOT ONLY THAT, IT BRANCHED OUT BEYOND AFRICAN AMERICANS. WHY? BECAUSE, AS YOU JUST INDICATED, THE MUSIC SO MANY ARTISTS GOT THEIR START, UH, WITH, UH, WILD AND THE RECORD COMPANY SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? IF WE DON’T GET OUR MUSIC PLAYED ON WILD, THERE IS A PROBLEM. SO RECORD REPRESENTATIVES WILL BE IN THE LOBBY PLEADING FOR FOR THE PROGRAM DIRECTORS TO, UH, PLAY THEIR MUSIC. I REMEMBER THERE WAS A CERTAIN DAY THEY WOULD ALL SHOW UP. THEY’D BE SITTING OUT IN THE LOBBY WITH THEIR RECORDS IN THE HAND, BEGGING TO GET PLAYED. NOW, YOU INTERVIEWED SOME BIG NAMES. LET’S LOOK AT SOME OF THE PHOTOS FROM YOUR SCRAPBOOK. OH, BOY, LOOK AT THIS. OKAY, I SEE STEPHEN HILL IN THERE. SO WHILE WILD, UM, UH, HOSTED SO MANY FROM THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, IT WAS A POPULAR. OH, TELL US MORE, TELL US MORE. WHO IS THE NEW ADDITION? I SEE THAT, ELROY. THERE’S YOU, ME AND THE COACH. TELL US MORE ABOUT SOME OF THESE BIG NAMES WE SEE. OH, MY GOODNESS, THAT’LL COOL. J YES. OH, MY GOODNESS BOBBY BROWN MY GOODNESS THE JACKSONS THE JACKSONS JERMAINE TITO IS THAT CANDY EASTMAN THERE. CANDY EASTMAN ABSOLUTELY. OKAY. LOOK AT THAT GROUP PHOTO. LOOK AT ALL OF US HAVING SO MUCH FUN. AH. WHO’S THAT? UH OH. MORE NEW ADDITIONS. I KNOW YOU KNOW ABOUT SOME OF THE BIG NAMES THAT CAME THROUGH THE, UH, THE THE CONTROL ROOM WHILE YOU WERE THERE. YEAH. IF THERE WAS A TRIVIA CONTEST, YOU WOULD HAVE WON. UH, BECAUSE YOU’RE SITTING THERE NAMING EVERYONE AS YOU SEE THEM. UH, THINK ABOUT IT. LUTHER VANDROSS, UH, YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE, UM, BILLY MINELLI. ARE YOU LOOKING AT PAULA ABDUL? UM, OF COURSE. UH, NEW EDITION BELL BIV DEVOE. IT WAS JUST A SLEW OF PEOPLE COMING THROUGH. THIS IS WHEN WE DID A SCHOOL SPIRIT CONTEST. UH, STUDENTS HAD TO SEND IN, UH, CARDS TO WIN A FREE CONCERT BY NEW EDITION LL COOL J, AND YOU MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING KAREN THAT THIS WAS AN AM STATION IN OTHER WORDS, IT ONLY, UM, STAYED ON THE AIR FROM WHAT? SUNRISE TO SUNSET COME 415 IN THE WINTER, THE STATION SIGNED OFF, BUT AT SIGN ON, LISTENERS WERE THERE, GLUED TO THE RADIO TO HEAR WILD AMAZING TIMES. AND WHILE WILD HOSTED SO MANY FROM THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, IT WAS ALSO A POPULAR STOP FOR POLITICIANS AS WELL. WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THEN GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS. WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR POLITICAL FOLKS TO STOP BY WILD? YEAH, THEY NEEDED THIS PLATFORM, KAREN, TO GET THEIR WORD OUT. IF THEY DID NOT COME TO WILD, THERE’S NO WAY THAT THEIR VOICE WOULD HAVE BEEN HEARD WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. SO WE WOULD ASK THEM TO COME ON TO THE MORNING SHOW. THEY WOULD END UP BECOMING GUEST DJS. THERE WOULD BE INTRODUCING THE MUSIC. SO WE MADE IT FUN TOO. AT THE SAME TIME, WE GOT INTO THE ISSUES ALWAYS OPEN. THEY WERE ALWAYS OPEN TO COME TO THE STATION TO BE ON WILD, TO TALK TO THIS EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITY. HOW HAS THE RADIO LANDSCAPE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? YEAH. UM, AS AS YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE RUNNING TO THEIR PHONES NOW, UH, LISTENING TO WHAT INTERNET RADIO? UM, SERIOUS FM BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN ALL OF THE RESEARCH THAT WE HAVE DONE, RADIO, IS STILL THE NUMBER ONE ENTITY WITH REGARD TO MUSIC, WITH REGARD TO ENTERTAINMENT. SO AS I PROGRAM VARIOUS RADIO STATIONS, I MAKE SURE HOW MANY DID HOW MANY STATIONS ARE YOU PROGRAMING? YEAH, I WORK HERE IN ORLANDO, BUT I OVERSEE TWO STATIONS. UH, IN MIAMI, ONE STATION IN ATLANTA. WOW. MY GOODNESS. TWO STATIONS IN JACKSONVILLE AND ONE STATION IN TAMPA BAY. THE KAREN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID AND WE DID IT WELL, WE ALWAYS ENTERTAINED EVEN YOU WHEN YOU WERE DOING THE NEWS, YOU WERE STILL AN ENTERTAINER. UM, ON WILD. SO THE FOCUS HERE NOW IS LET’S BE ENTERTAINING. WHY? BECAUSE YOU CAN FIND MUSIC ANYWHERE, BUT YOU CANNOT FIND ENTERTAINMENT ANYWHERE. THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S RIGHT. NOW, WHILE YOU WERE IN CHICAGO, YOU WERE ONE OF THE FIRST PROGRAM DIRECTORS TO INTRODUCE ALICIA KEYS TO THE AIRWAVES. YEAH. UM, WE RECEIVED THIS SONG BY ALICIA KEYS. AND AS YOU SAID, PROGRAM DIRECTORS HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION RIGHT THERE AND THEN I SAID, THIS SONG IS SO BEAUTIFUL. LET ME GO AHEAD AND PUT IT ON. AND WHAT, A YEAR LATER, SHE GIVES THE RADIO STATION WILDE AND MYSELF A SHOUT OUT ON THE GRAMMYS. WOW, WOW. YOU WERE ALSO THE FIRST, UH, PROGRAMMER TO PLAY CANDY GIRL BY THE NEW EDITION IN 1984. I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE THAT OUT. YEAH, NOW, KAREN I WAS JUST SORT OF DOING THE MORNING SHOW AND MAURICE STARR, THE PRODUCER OF, UH, NEW EDITION, CAME TO THE RADIO STATION WITH RICKY BELL AND SAID, HEY, I HAVE THIS SONG THAT I WANT YOU TO HEAR. I SAID, OKAY, THESE GUYS ARE FROM ORCHARD PARK. I’M LIKE, LET ME GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY. I PUT CANDY GIRL ON ONCE, THEN I PUT IT ON AGAIN TWICE, AND THEN THREE TIMES HIT AND THE REST IS THE REST IS MUSIC HISTORY. ELROY, YOU KNOW, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL THESE GREAT MEMORIES BECAUSE, UH, WILD IS PART OF THE UPCOMING BOSTON RADIO REUNION THAT YOU’RE HOSTING. QUICKLY TELL US ABOUT THAT. YEAH, WE ARE GIVING OUT AWARDS. UH, CANDY EASTMAN THAT USED TO WORK FOR WILD WILL BE GETTING THE WILD AWARD. WE’RE GIVING OUT AN AWARD FOR, UM, THE SUNNY JOE WHITE AWARD. UH, GOES TO JOJO COOKIN KINKAID. STEVEN HILL WILL RECEIVE THE EMERSON COLLEGE AWARD. IT’S GREAT. AND RALPH TRESVANT GETS THE ENTERTAINMENT AWARD. OKAY. THE BOSTON RADIO REUNION IS ON FRIDAY, JULY 26TH FROM 6 TO 9 P.M. ELRO

Cityline: Black Boston radio history

A look at WILD AM Radio’s past hits

Updated: 12:30 PM EDT Jul 14, 2024

Before I-Heart Radio and Sirius XM centralized the music you hear with programmed playlists, small, independent stations like the sunup to sundown WILD Radio, 1090 on the AM dial, is where Boston’s black community turned for news and music. Onetime WILD-AM program director Elroy Smith reflects on the early days of WILD and the upcoming WILD Reunion.

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Before I-Heart Radio and Sirius XM centralized the music you hear with programmed playlists, small, independent stations like the sunup to sundown WILD Radio, 1090 on the AM dial, is where Boston’s black community turned for news and music. Onetime WILD-AM program director Elroy Smith reflects on the early days of WILD and the upcoming WILD Reunion.