Signing Off

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."

Off the Air

From Mick Melvin:

When I was kid, my father told me that when he moved to a new area he would take a ride and get lost. He said he would familiarize himself with the area that way. I was out for one of my weekend “Backside” rides in CT and had gotten lost. Thinking of my dad, I just took in the sights and familiarized myself with the area. In doing so, I came upon a Backside gem.



As I drove along Route 173 in Newington, I saw a building with the call letters of a radio station, WPOP. Not being from CT, I was not aware of this station. I asked my wife, who is from West Hartford, about WPOP and she said she listened to the station when she was young. She said right away, “WPOP Good Guys,” recalling a time in the '60's and '70's when the station's DJs were called the Good Guys. The station played Top 40 music at the time. The station was sold to Merv Griffin in the early '70's and soon became an NBC news and information station. The radio station left the Newington location in 1998, leaving the space abandoned like many of our backside subjects.