From Frank N. Stein:
I'm not sure whether the Ramones ever made it onto a playlist at WNTN, a low-power AM radio station that until earlier this year broadcast from my adopted hometown of Newton, Mass. But you can't ever go wrong kicking off a blog post with some classic American punk rock.
Full disclosure: I have never listened to WNTN, and only became aware of its existence last month when the Newton-centric Village 14 blog posted the news that the station had sold its cozy studio hard by the town dump, er, recycling depot.
I took this photo shortly after learning that the building would be torn down. It is likely gone by now.
I'm happy to report that WNTN hasn't signed off, despite my wicked clever headline. The station moved to neighboring Needham and still broadcasts shows including Grecian Echoes, Reel Talk, Arabic Baptist Church and Benchwarmers, among others. The station came on the air in 1968 featuring "progressive rock music" until 1975, according to its web site. Over the years WNTN has showcased local news, "middle-of-the-road popular music," disco and, more recently, various ethnic programs.
Do yourself a favor and read the comments under that Village 14 story to get a flavor for the station. According to one commenter, "Most of what was in that building moved to [a new space]. The control boards, microphones, phones, tape and CD decks, etc were brought over to the new building."
The studio building was erected in 1950. I'm not sure whether this place was a private residence prior to WNTN taking it over in 1968, but it sure looks like it, doesn't it?
What's going to take its place? you ask. Dunno. Stay tuned....
Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the station has an extremely famous alumni. "With the [radio] license, Stern landed his first professional radio job at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts from August to December 1975 doing air shifts, news casting, and production work," according to Wikipedia.
To read about another abandoned radio station building, this one in Connecticut, check out Mick Melvin's October 27, 2010, post, "Off the Air."
I was the commenter you mentioned on Village14. Just a longtime listener of the station (From afar, I live in Wisconsin) Land was sold to a developer (Self storage facility will go in it's place) and the station (Licence, studio equipment, transmitter, etc) was sold to the host of Grecian Echoes (Which has been a staple of the station since at least the 1970s, actually the new owner is the son of the original host and a former owner of the station, Orestes Demetriades. The station now transmits (With the same transmitter that was once here) at WJIB's tower in Cambridge. The new schedule is at http://wntn1550am.com/program-schedule/ The format is mostly the same as it was before and it's still an active member of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce. And yes, I believe this was built as a private residence but being next to the city dump, being converted into a radio station in 1968 was probably the best they could do.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy -- thanks for the additional information! Thanks for reading the article.
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