#wbcn

Bruce Springsteen’s first radio appearance. WBCN Boston studio, 1973. He introduces Clarence Clemons on saxophone, David Sancious on sand blocks, Danny Federici on accordion and Garry Tallent on tuba, yes tuba. In the second video they do a great, giddy impromptu performance of Rosalita with David Sancious on tambourine and Garry Tallent on cowbell, yes cowbell.

October spread featuring U2, from the 1989 “Rock ‘N’ Roll Calendar” issued by Boston rock radio station WBCN.

The MTV calendars were clearly missing a trick by not christening this month—as WBCN does here—”Roctober” (or the more common “Rocktober”). Guys, know your demographic!

Cover stars here are WBCN rock radio staples U2. They would be an obvious pick for any month? Why October? Well, if you know the name of the band’s second album...

As for the content I added to the calendar, it’s pretty minimal. (I suppose September was my Roctober.) Events here include a driving lesson and a note about how much hourly-billable online computer time I used with CompuServe. Though the one that caught my eye, of course, was this one on the 20th:

 Boston Morning Radio Aircheck PART 1 – WZOU WCGY WXKS WBCN WROR WJIB WODS WZLX WMJX WHDH – July 1990 Here are some clips of Boston area morning radio shows I recorded on a trip to New England, including: WZOU, WCGY, WXKS, WOKQ, WBCN, WROR, WJIB, WODS, WZLX, WMJX, & WHDH from July 1990. You’ll hear Matty Siegel, Charles Laquidara, Joe & Andy, Jess Cain & more. This was a great time…

September spread, plus calendar detail, from the 1989 “Rock ‘N’ Roll Calendar” issued by Boston rock radio station WBCN.

What better band for WBCN—at that time the graying, album-oriented rock granddaddy of the Boston airwaves—to feature as September stars than fellow lifers The Grateful Dead?

Quite a contrast with the decidedly more current musical action happening this month for me, as evidenced by the numerous events scribbled in here:

Sept 17: “More Coop Concerts!” — This year’s series of free, outdoor concerts sponsored by radio station WFNX, the previous year’s which I had helped introduce me to local music

Sept 19: “Robyn Hitchcock tickets go on sale” — One of the earliest instances of my concert ticket sale calendar reminders-to-self

Sept 21: “The The at the Orpheum” — That would’ve been a fun one. Alas, I missed it.

Sept 22: “Galaxie 500/Blake Babies at Go Team show, Adams House, Harvard / 9pm” — As previously documented here, this show more than made up for the previous night’s miss, even if Galaxie 500 bowed out and Honeybunch played instead.

Sept 24: “Robyn Hitchcock at T.T. the Bear’s” — More Fegmania