October 18, 2025 • 39 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to Cindy Stumpo tough his nails on WBZ News,
And I'm here tonight with who Samantha? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Is that it?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You haven't You haven't yelled at me today, so I
don't know what's wrong. I haven't seen you, that's why
all day. But you've texted me with like eighty five
group chats and I haven't been yelled at, So something's off.
But somebody just brought this to my attention.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You know, I haven't even seen her for years, or
or you for years, and you sound the same. You
act the same with each.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Other, we do. Nothing's changed, Okay, So hold on. I
I somebody said to me the day you know, you
don't call Samantha Samantha. I call it No, I got
call it Samantha. I call it Samantha. And I'm going
to Florida, so I'm putting ours where they don't belong,
in ours where they should go Samantha. Okay, Sammy, Well
hold on, we got to introduced you so people know
(00:44):
who we're talking to you. No, we've got my TV
here too, Mikey, what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm from Kissing one and H two Capital.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay And then we got the legend in the house,
the legend would there be a kiss one away without
the man in this room tonight? Which is what what
you anybody? Richie balls by Richie Baldba.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I can answer that question. No, there would not be
a kiss from eight without chel.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We're going there, Richie. When you walk into the new
iHeartMedia Studio and you're sitting here, how different does this
place look? Going back from the day with your amazing office,
with your Louis batons and your boxes and.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, that wasn't the first office of the It was
across the street from you that that cinder black building
was over there where that was the original kiss. Yeah,
it was awful. It's like going from a from a
construction site to a spaceship.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's the difference between there and over here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So let's stop from the beginning. You're how old? I'm
seventy six, not now when you start in the business.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, you said you're how old? You just say were you?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Okay, let me, I'm a literal guy. How old were
you when you started? How did you stop? How did
you get into the radio?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
It was twenty nine, Yeah, when I was hired to
be the general manager of a radio station in Boston.
And the radio station I was hired to be the
general manager of was WBCN.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
WBCN Rock and roll.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Right. A guy who was a congressman from Hawaii had
bought WBCN, and he sent his lawyer, a guy named
Jason Schrinsky, to Boston to meet me. For some reason,
he had heard about me. I guess I was had
a reputation in the business of being a young hotshot.
I guess he had this guy come up and meet me,
and he and I hit it off right away. So
(02:29):
he hired me, you know, like almost that day, to
take over and be the manager of BCN, the general manager.
I had never been a general manager before, had only
been a sales manager. And I was like over the moon.
I was working for a company called the Knight Quality
Radio Station. So I went and resigned. And then I
get a call to tell me that the deal fell through.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So you quit, and then you quit? Okay?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
And then the deal fell through, and he said, but
don't worry, he said, we bought an we're buying another station.
Your deal is still good. We're buying w R O
R AM. I said, well, cool, no, I said that
was an FMS.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I thought, oh, ninety eight point five was w R.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, okay, now it's sports.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, now it's sports okay.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But it was ninety eight point five.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So I said, well that's pretty cool. I mean, you know,
it's I'm still in the FM. I still got things
going on. So I waited, and then all of a sudden,
I get another call and that fell through. So I
thought my world had come to an end. I said,
oh my god, I gave up a pretty good family
job and now I don't have one. And they said, look,
we're bound determined to buy a radio station and we're
going to and your contract is still in place.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So how months ago and buy the you know world.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
This all started in September nine of of seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It finally starts.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Buying a radio station called w w e L in Medford,
which I had never heard of, which was in that
cement building across the street. It's called wull U w
e L. What kind of Wellington Circle WWL Wellington Circle.
Judge Woody Tarlow had owned it. The FM was a
beautiful music, and the AM was a beautiful music, if
(04:10):
you can believe that, and there were thirty three stations
in Boston and WWL FM was rated thirty second with
a point one share or point two share, and the
AM had a point one share, so they had an
aggregate point three share point oh three share of the
Boston market. And I thought, oh crap, I'm done. I'm
(04:31):
taking over this thing. And then then you know, well,
I should let you ask questions. But then it really
hit me when I walked when I made my first
trip to the station and I saw that little cinder
block place. I mean, it's a it's a it's a
it's desolate now, I mean there's nothing there. And that's
after I had already redone the building. I mean it
was just a cinder plock building.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That was it. And I said, oh crap, this is
this is the end of the world for me. I mean,
I thought things were going to be the greatest BCN
general manager and all of a sudden, I'm the general
manager of w WVO Medford. How's that Okay?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So you're at the lowest the low in your career
at this point.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Now, well, I mean I had a contract and I
could always sell, so I wasn't the lowest the low,
but I was.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I, well, you had a very small portion offications.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We were we're definitely uh diminished.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
From going from w Back then, WBCN was what that was.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That was rock and roll station. And the deal fell
through because the the other guys that came in kind
of stole it from the guy Heftel, and all of
a sudden, I was, you know, out of luck. But
I was actually hired to become the manager of BCN.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, so now you're working over there.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well so now now.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
W whatever, No I got, yeah, is it still rough?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
But no, no, god no, well yeah, it was kind
of interesting. So so the only good thing that happened
out of it was that my because of all the changes,
my contract basically called for me to be able to
do whatever I wanted to the radio station. And I
had this vision, right, this idea. I mean, at the time,
(06:08):
disco was a big deal, but it was also losing
it's you know, it's ground. But I said, you know,
we're gonna I'm gonna wait.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
We're in nineteen seventy eight, right now, nineteen seventy eight,
and disco was at its prime right now now, but it.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Was starting to it was starting to lose its sizzle
a little bit. I mean I could see it was
you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, but if you remember, sayn I Fever came out,
what's seventy six six, so we're all no.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But disco was like it was a big thing, but
you could tell that it was gonna it was going
to implode at some point, or it was gonna it
was certainly going to wane. And so yeah, so I
knew that.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I thought that about wrapping that never happened.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, I can't even understand rap.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
But that's that's a difficult.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It's always like I don't parents say what, Yeah, I
kind of.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Hate to, you know, show my age. I told good program.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But the truth is, Richie, wrap was out a long
time ago when you still on your radio and just
didn't like it.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Listen, I'm gonna. I was down in Fanuel Hall at
one of the restaurants and that the first song rappers
Delight when we played.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
The hip hop to the.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
What the heck rap was going to be? And here
I am sitting in some restaurant and I look over
and there's like four guys, four stockbrokers or something, singing
all the worst everywhere. And I said oh god, this
is going to be real, and like, well, I'm bouncing
all over the place. But anyway, so that's right to
go back to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And sometimes you go to exit sixteen, then exit nine
and we're back.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I'll I'll just keep talking.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Right, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
To somebody created.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Okay, Well that so that's that is kind of how
the story really starts. So so I the one thing
that I was able to do based on the changes
and what I was hired to do. And you know,
I was hired to run a radio station that was
really going entity in BCN and it was really a hot,
hot stationed then I was going to rr which was
(08:07):
you know, which was an adult contemporary station. It wasn't
it was a music station. It wasn't bad. It was
krko's sister station. And then all of a sudden, I'm
in a station that's like nothing. So one of the
things that I was given the ability to do, much
to the chagrin of the guy that owned it, was
I was able to kind of put the format on
that I wanted. Now they had no real sales, no presence,
(08:28):
no nothing. So I walked into the station. I made
my ma. Well, first of all, the first thing I
did was I decided I was going to be a
disco station.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Okay, now you get to hold that though, because you've
got to go into commercial, like, oh we all right,
I'm Sidney Stumple. You listen to to Hiss Nails on
WBZ News Radio ten thirty. Okay, come right back in
and welcome back to Tavia's Nails. I'm City Stumple on
WBZ and I'm here with who Sammy and mikey.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
V and allowed to say my name?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yes, ye, Richie one and only Richard Balsbag, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
All right. So anyway, so the first thing I did
was when I decided what I was going to do,
and I really kind of kept it to me, but
I went my offices with night stations were in the
Sinesta building on COMAF and there was a little radio
station downstairs. There was a great radio station. It was
a black radio station.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Wild wild yeah, with the best music.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Great station. But it was a daytime AM station and
the guy who was the morning guy and program.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Director was hold on, let me tell you something. For
me to get wild, I had to hit it just
perfectly on my radio or I get into static. Do
you know what I'm saying exactly how to I hit
it like right on the well, you would just getting to.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Actually stopped someplace for about ten minutes, just part of
the songs.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Great music, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
It was great. And Sonny Joe White was the morning
guy in program director, and Sonny and I had had
had a relationship being in the building, and they didn't
even they were such a small station and they couldn't
even afford to buy the arbitron ins the rating books.
So I would, Yeah, so I would get the rating
books for night stations, and i'd get the one from
Boston and i'd go down and go over it with Sonny.
(10:06):
So I kind of, you know, showed him what his
numbers were and everything, and you know, so I said, look,
you're not gonna believe this. I said, but I'm taking
over a radio station in Boston. He goes, which one.
I said, I can't tell you. I go, but I
want you to resign and I want you to be
my program director. He goes, well, what are we going
to do? I said, well, I can tell you that.
I said, We're going to do disco. He goes, You're
(10:28):
taking a you're buying bos I said, no, no, I'm not
buying anything. I've become a manager and I can do
whatever I want to, and I want you to become
my program director. So I said, well, what are you making?
He said, I'll never forget it, twenty three thousand dollars
good morning. I said, I'll give you thirty five thousand.
He said, all right, I'm going to quit this afternoon,
(10:49):
and that's that's it. So I hired Sonny, and so
Sonny was my only hire. So I get Sonny next
to me and we take our first maiden voyage to ww. Now,
nobody in the on the staff was told that there
was going to be this big change that was sold
or anything. But right that morning, I guess they told
(11:09):
the people, well, we Tarlow has sold the station to
a guy named Cecil Half. Tell the new general manager
is going to come here this morning and meet you all,
but there's not going to be any changes. There's no
changes contemplated. And these guys are all older guys, playing
beautiful music. It was hysterical. I walked in and all
of a sudden, I walked in with this with this
flamboyant wearing like a robe, you know, looked like a
(11:34):
he look like he was something or the other night.
But yeah, so we walk in and the places like
they're looking at us like we had two heads. And uh,
we meet, we meet the trip staff, and we lie
through our teeth and basically say, well, there's no changes contemplated,
although I knew what I was going to do anyway,
So we took a tour through the building and the
(11:56):
guy who was a manager was a guy named Joe Krueger,
and he had this this he was had this big
desk and he was little and his head barely came
over the desk and he's sitting there and I was
supposed to meet him, and I'm ready to go in
the office he's going, and so I have. He was
he was negotiating the Medford High School football deal with
Medford High for the station. This was how this is
(12:19):
how big time the station was. I said, oh my god. Anyway,
so we I get a tour and they go in
the back of the building and there's this office which
is no windows. It's just like a little block. It's
like a probably a third of this size of this studio,
maybe even less. And they're sitting there behind the desk
is sitting this guy with white hair, and I look
and I go, oh my god, it's Arnie Woo Woo
(12:41):
Ginsburg and it was yeah, so now, Arnie, you.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Don't even know who that was.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
He could be the dean of radio in Boston. He
was a programmer. He was the original DJ at the
Adventure Car Hop Arnie Woo Woo for you, Ginsburg. He
was the rock and roll DJ. He was big time.
He introduced the Beatles at Suffolk Down's. I mean he
was big. Yeah. He was an engineer, a programmer, a
general manager, brilliant. He knew everything about radio. So I
see him, I go, what are you doing? He goes, well,
(13:10):
they let me have an office here. He had kind
of gone out to pasture. He was his radio days
were over, as they said, so anyway, So I said, well, Geez,
I said, you're going to be here. He goes, I
know where to go. I said, well, look, I said,
after I'm done with this tour, I want to come
talk to you. So I do the tour and so
I go back to the office. I go, Arnie, what
(13:30):
are they paying you here? He goes nothing, They just
let me have an office. I said, all right, and
then I bring Sonny Joe in and he looks and
I said, look, I said, here's what's going on. So
I tell him a story what I want to do,
and he lights up. I said, now, I don't know
if you want to really get re engaged and you know,
work hard, I said, but I need, I need. I'm
(13:51):
twenty nine years old. I've never run a radio station.
I said, look at this guy next to me, Sonny, Joe,
what you think he's ever managed?
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Shore A plan when you got out of school to be.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Oh no, god, no, no no. I wanted to be
NFL quarterback. No we all no, no, I didn't know
what I wanted to do. But anyway, so yeah, so
I uh h, I said, you want to you want
to be my operations manager? And he lit up and
I said, I'll pay you thirty five. That was the
(14:21):
number that everybody, everybody thirty.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Five, everybodys getting thirty five thousand a year.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
He wasn't make it anything, and barn and Sonny was
making twenty three before. So these were my two guys, right,
So so we have these number. I don't know what
it was. I don't maybe I was so naive to
being a general manager that I just thought that was
a good number. I guess I don't know, but anyway,
it worked. And so we had our little you know,
(14:48):
we got our meetings, and I said, well, look we
got to come up with a great, great call letters.
We got to do something. We gotta change for w
w L. So I said, you know, we got to
come up with a hook, something great. And so I
came up with kiss. I said, how about kiss? It's
like sexy is that? And so Arnie went and found
the call letters x ks. You know, you have to
find what letters aren't.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Being used, which is now our current and.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
He and you know, the X for a kiss and
great call letters and so so he goes, this is great.
This is the x K S one O seven point nine.
I go, oh, no, no, no, we're gonna do We're
gonna be one kiss one owaight. He goes, well, you
can't be one away. He says, you got to be
you know, he was a real pure radio guy. But
you're like, you've got to be like one of seven nine,
(15:32):
one of seven seven. You're on the half thing, you know.
I got no. I said, what's after one O seven
nine in the dial? He goes nothing. I go, so
we're one to wait, and that's how we came up.
I came up with that.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Now that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and so we're the first thing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Technically on the dial was one O seven point nine.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Even to this day it's one seven point nine. But
people it's branded as Kiss went Away.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, because it made it. It made it more imited, different,
it made it more easier to remember.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, your DJ and Kiss went Away. That's to me,
I was sitting next to you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
He named it now more than even just that named it.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Arny found the call letters, but I named it and
Sonny programmed it. So we had the that was the group.
And but when we did it, you know, when we
sat down, I said, look, I said, we're gonna have
to wind up being a contemporary station. We're gonna have
to evolve to be a pop station. I don't know
how long it's going to take for disco to die,
but it's gonna it's gonna die. It's gonna be rhythmic,
(16:26):
but it's gonna die. So we already had planned, after
being in the air six months five months, that we
were going to kind of move toward more contemporary.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Music, which was what back then what was contemporary Top forty.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Pretty much, but we always did Top forty. We actually
had one billboard which was the dumbest thing but also
the best. It was said kiss Went Away. I had
the big red lips and it says rock sol disco jazz,
which makes but it's what we did. And I mean,
you know, Sonny would play like the Tramps and then
he played Nina Simon correct. I mean he do stuff
(17:02):
that like was and everybody says, you can't do that.
I said, oh no, we can do whatever Sonny wants.
And that was kind of Sonny was a great music guy.
He was not a good programmer because he wasn't a
good manager and he had a hard time managing staff,
but he was terrific at picking.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Probably it wasn't the most like guy, but he did
is he He wasn't Sonny wasn't like you walk down
Newbury Street and you walked by Sonny back in the day.
So I was just like people say, hi, you know,
Well he wasn't very friendly that way, but he can spin.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Well, Sonny was an odd guy, but Sonny was. He
was brilliant. He was really smart.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
He could spin.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, he was good and that you know, and that
was it. So we you know, we did it. We
started organically and crazy in a crazy way. But that's
that's how that's how we kind of I kind of
got into it. Then I had to, of course going
into making a building a radio station, which was getting
that this jockey's ID if we first started, for the
first three months of being on the air, well.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
What was that word they were called?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What this jockey?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And what do you guys called now, I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
A DJ or on air talent? On air talent.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
What we had when we took over the station is
we didn't have anybody who except for except for Sonny,
and Sonny had a very largely I'll tell you some
stories about Sonny which are mind blowing, but he but but.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
His fiction with the big fur code.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
We got all his spinners, all the guys that were
spinners at all the disco, and we had spinners spinning
record They were actually mixing records on the air. And
that's that's how play started.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I don't don't pay attention to clock. I have to
pay attention to clock.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
That's for the ads have ad revenue.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Man, you started off you know better than anybody that one.
Definitely go ahead Okay, hold, I thought we was going
to break. I'm Sidy stampoint. Listen to Zails on w BZ,
would be right back, come back to toughest Nails on WBZ.
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Sammy, I'm here with
mikey V and I'm here with Richie Balls. Well, Richie,
pick it up.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Go ahead, Okay, Well, let me see, I don't know
where I was. I left off. We were building a
radio station, and I said, you know, we've just went
on the air. In fact, it was it was kind
of funny because we didn't tell anybody. We didn't tell
the market that we were changing, and uh, you know,
I'm sure that there were there were very few people
listened anyway. But I mean, I'm sure that in the
dentist's office when they had their first patient flipped on
(19:15):
Kiss in the Morning and the Disco Inferno came on
instead of Perry Como, the grill probably went went through
somebody's tooth.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
That was your marketing right there.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
To how sid it was. It was, and we had
those big I bought billboards all of the city, the
big black billboards with the red lips and the red
kiss It was they were. It was kind of iconic actually.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And the other thing too that like you obviously built
Kissing Away, which is like what everybody grew up on,
but like people in it's.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Pretty bad that I grew up on it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
That generations have. Right even when I first got my
job by Kissing Await. For me, that was like, oh,
like the legendary Kissing Away, And people in Boston don't
really realize one how legendary it is. But two, not
only did you build the station, but you changed concerts
for the entire country concess.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
We're going to get into that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think that's like, like, but it didn't only change
here in Boston, but what you did in Boston now
is done because of you across the country.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Well, the concept, my concept was I was always like
kind of a dreamer, a big thinker, whether you know,
to be able to perform, make it happen, you know,
you had to get a little lucky in but yeah,
but the idea I had was to do something bigger
than life for Boston, bring Hollywood to Boston instead of
it just being another radio station, to do things that
(20:27):
were really kind of you know, different. And the guy
that owned that owned the station. Now there's a person
in between, a guy that he hired after he hired
me as president, a guy named Tom White who hated
me because he didn't hire me. I was kind of
a rebel and did whatever I wanted to and it
drove him crazy. And I had a contract that was
like based on revenues and what have you, which was
(20:51):
which was made when the station was w w L,
and I went so far ahead of our revenues and
bonuses that were owed to me that were over a
million bucks. And the guy, this is nineteen eighty eighty,
and the guy really couldn't afford to pay me, so
he just so I get I kept getting points in
(21:12):
my head to be able to buy the radio station
at some point. But that's another story.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
No, that's anyway.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So what happened was, Yeah, so this guy hoy Tom Hoyt,
the president. He'd come in and he'd go, what are
you doing here? Why are you doing this? Why you
doing that? And I'd say, oh, oh, I don't know,
I won't do it, and then he'd leave and I'd
do it anyway. The thing that I wanted to really
do is I wanted to have you know, I mean,
we had this disco music we were. I hired a
bunch of exciting disc jockeys. Not exciting, but they were.
(21:39):
They were you know, they were interesting. I hired this
one girl from New York by Vacious viv Rowntree. You
ever many stories about her?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
No.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, she was supposedly this beautiful her pictures made her
look beautiful, black female jockey that was on PLJ, and
she was out of a job for some reason. When
I called there for recommendations, I said, oh, she was great,
but they never really said why she left. Well, she
was an absolute train wreck. She was terrible. I mean
(22:10):
she she didn't know how to work a board, and
our DJs had to work with the boards. We didn't
have producers or anything.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I mean they had to be able to And she
and they dropped in vinyls right, and she.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Would have her show, she was on it after she
was on early evening or evening she was on I
guess her shift was like seven to midnight or eight
to midnight. I'm not sure exactly at the time, but
and she would like burn incense and she'd have you know,
candles in the studio and she'd be doing all this
where she'd have, you know, very erotic clothing on. I said, look,
you can't put you can't have fire.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
And.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
She'd do it anyway. So and then she was up
for a contract. I just couldn't wait to get rid
of her. And so she invited she wanted to talk
about her contracts. So she invited me to her house.
And she lived in uh Huntington Avenue. So I went over,
locked in reluctantly, and she answered the door and neglige.
It is incredible. Anyway, I got out of there like
(23:06):
I I tailed it. And then we fired her. And
then the next thing I know that there was a
black newspaper. I think it was called the Base State
Banner or the I don't know, something like that. Next thing,
I know, the paper comes out and Richie, did you
see the paper that the you know, the black blake?
Very what? And there's a picture of her in like
(23:27):
some like pimp outfit on the steps of Kiss right,
and it says viv Brown Tree Kiss and it says
she said she couldn't work there anymore for plantation on her.
Richie balls behind his black slaves, Sonny Joe White. I mean,
it was like crazy stuff. I never ok the early day,
the stories were nuts.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
They were just and Sonny Joe White was black. Oh yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
But the thing was that I wanted to have do
these concerts. That was my thing. I was going to
do concerts, I was going to have things all that.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
When did we balls were decided he wasn't gonna be
the GM anymore and he was going to own the station.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
When when when I decided that I was doing all
the things to make the station valuable and he bought
the station. Aftel bought it for four and a quarter
million dollars. I bought it two and a half years
later from him for fifteen million.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Hold on, so two years later, two nap years later,
you pay fifteen million at the time just for kiss
and this is what they owed you. How much money?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
About a million and a half.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
So that got thrown into the deal kind of.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
That's a that's really a long So it's almost like.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You still paid fifteen million. I did, okay, and now
you own the station.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Oh that's another story. Yeah, there's so many stories within
the stories. The guy was like a real finagler.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That's why we're doing this like two part of a Yeah,
this coming.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And he when he set up, he tried to sell
it out from under me. He tried to renege on
his deal, but he couldn't. I had good lawyers and
I had you know, I had him by the you know,
short hairs, and so he he basically tried to change
the deal and he couldn't. So what he did is
he did it so it was a tax setup for himself.
(25:13):
And I'm not exactly sure because I'm not a financial guy,
but the way he did it, he did some of
the payment as interest going forward. In other words, he
I'm not even but.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But you end up owning the station, right.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
And dollars and I wound up paying net eleven and
a half because the five million that he put is
a tax thing. I prepaid right away because my lawyer
from Boston, Joel Cozl, Oh, Joel, Joel Joel said you can,
you could pay this now for a million and a
quarter and you don't have to pay the five million,
and I did. That's when I raised money from an Joel. Yeah.
(25:54):
But he was smart, very smart anyway. So h yeah,
but the did.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You this is now you're how old at this point,
thirty one? Well, you started twenty eight nine so within
two years you're now owning the station.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yeah, but what happened in two and a half years
of building the station is what really is the story?
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Because that's really what can we have the story? Well,
I'm trying to get there, Okay, just get there.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm trying to get all right, good, I mean, if
nothing's changed, if you want, if you want me to, this.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Has been rich and I for thirty years. Can we
get the story?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
City gets the store in the corners. But the stories,
when the stories are they're fine.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
That's why they should be a movie.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
When we go ahead, the deal is okay. So anyway,
so now I guess I just have to ask you
a question.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm going to go out I ninety five for we're
in your home. It's like, I don't know, twenty five
years ago, let's say, and you, somebody didn't show up
to one of the concerts one night, and that's why
I realized the pow of Richie Bolsba when I don't
know who he said this to with us Ma Donna,
one of them. I will stop playing your music. I
will crush you. Huey Lewis, No, wasn't you listen a female?
(27:03):
Because she didn't show up to a concert that which
you haven't remember, that which you didn't keep the money
for the concerts that was a fundraiser. But she was,
and I looked, I'm I'm in his family, been listening
to this phone conversation, going holy moly. He just said that.
He said, there was also imagine he at that time,
if he's not playing you in Boston. Done well, Charlie
(27:25):
Walks said it best. Everything started in Boston and then
kind of moved its way. We were trend setters. You
you Richie Balls was a trend setter. As Charlie Walks said, there's.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Also like a big story around Kiss eight too. That
because again, these concert are so big and you had
to convince these hours to come and do these big shows.
But I can't remember the artist, but they said I
won't do that. After the Boston Pops performed and you
got the Boston Boston Reform and.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Then that's my favorite story.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Okay, so we'll go back. We'll go back on ninety
five so you can finish what you were saying.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
So, yeah, so I decided to start having the concerts
now the first con.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
But now you all Kiss went away when you stoped
you didn't between.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
This is between I put the station on the air
January fifteenth, nineteen seventy nine, when I put launch Kiss. Okay,
I tried to have the first kiss party on February fifteenth,
fourteenth Valentine's Day at Boston, Boston.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, I was Boston. Boston was a nightclub on Lansdown
Street that Patrick Lyonson and go ahead, which I and
I used to Okay, I'm looking, I'm looking, go ahead.
I had no I can stay hold that thought. All right,
This is Cindy Stumpany listens to Tough hist Nails on WBZ,
We'll be right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails
on WBZ. And I'm Cindy and I'm with the mute
(28:42):
over the blondie. What's up with you? I'm listening? Okay.
So you get in the history of Richie. Yeah, because
you only like you like how well when you met
Richie seven, he became Uncle Richie to you.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
But she was she was hanging out with us. Boy.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
We never left her. I know, we never left her.
I have real fast, like.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
A little different.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, she's beautiful. Growing up, we're all supposed to go
on a golf trip. They get there. Yeah, I don't
want to leave my kids. Okay, So because you can't
make this stuff up for me, No, this is about you.
You're in Mexico. No I. So we literally go to
the airport and I never went on vacation without my kids, right,
and where they all were golf and wasn't like a
kid friendly place? What was it? A Cabo Cabo? I
(29:24):
think Cabo?
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, I think you were. So I said to my grandparents.
Keep driving through the airport. I'm not going. And Joe's
if I was going, women were not going, which he's
waiting for me, needs me. I'm the fourth guy. I'm
not going to kink in the plane. I'm not leaving
the kids. Blah blah blah. We get home. He says,
you got to call Richie and tell Richie or not
we didn't get on the plane. I'm like, all right,
I'll call. So I have to call the hotel, find
(29:47):
out where they sent him for dinner, find the restaurant,
call and they get him in the restaurant. I have
no idea I'm calling, but I just keep following the
doted lines. Richie, He goes, what are you doing calling
he's supposed to be on airplane. They go, yeah, I
turn around and came and we're not click. It wasn't
heavy about it.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Somebody else to play kidding me.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I knew you're gonna pull this. This is why I
want you get on the plane with us when we left. Okay,
go back to you start right.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Well that's interesting anyway, yeah, yeah, I don't know how
we added that in or out, but anyway, the yeah,
So the first concert I had, the first concert was
the party was I had the Tramps And the only
reason I got the Tramps was because they were playing
down at Loocifers and Brian Wallace is my friend, and
he let him come up and play a set. Sister Sledge,
(30:33):
Tasha Thomas, Sarah Dash and a group called Machine that
has sung there.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Before the Grace of God. And when you think about
that song, by the way, no black Snow Juice and
no gays, right, if we played that today.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
No, it's amazing, wouldn't fly. And then yeah, but and
then you know, so like I invite all these people
and you could like you know, you hear a pin
drop and the it was like maybe one hundred and
fifty people. So I was out on the sidewalk begging
people to come in. That was the first party on
February fourteenth of seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And trying to sell tickets. You couldn't sell.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
I didn't Celtic as I it was just that was
a free thing. But I couldn't even get people down.
They didn't know about it.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And for anybody listening to like right now, we're talking
about the beginning of the invention of kiss concert jingle Ball,
these shows that became staples in Boston.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Yeah, that, you know, the thing that people don't understand,
which really is what I'm proudest of in terms of
those concerts and creating them and building them and what
have you. The concept was to have one for the public,
which you would which I basically would raise money for charity,
and then the next night for my friends advertisers, mostly
friends party for me, but.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Comes out.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Well. They were good and so and and basically so
there were two nights of parties. And first of all,
get an artists to play one night lit alone two
nights is pretty tough. Also to get to play for nothing.
I mean I didn't pay any of these artists all
these years.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I'll tell you that game's changed for sure.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
And then hold on, don't forget then someone staying at
the fourth seat in summer, staying at the wharf depending
on your level, if you were eight plus Liz to
b C.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
I remember Richie, So that was also yeah, but that
was also different because I did pay The one thing
that I paid.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
For was their travels dodging and their and their ground trains,
just the ground.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Transportation from there.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
They paid for all the record bes, paid for all
everything else and paid for their travel and the whole thing.
So I did have the uh, the onus was on
me to pay for their hotels and ground transportation. And
what I did was I tried to do trade deals
and the clients. But you know, I mean, like then
it got so big that I did the four seasons
and you.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Know, oh it's huge. Mike Houseless, Rod Stewart couldn't make it.
The one year they said to Richie, I will do
a private concert for you at the wing. My father
catches a soccer ball. Oh I know is Bobby catches
the soccer ball and like knocks four guys down to
catch the soccer ball. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Well they what happened was that he was he was
playing and Share was playing at Great Woods, and he
was coming out to go to the limo to go
because they were changing there to go to the concert,
and Share walk by him and apparently they had no
love loss for each other, and she said, oh right,
I hear you're my warm up act. Oh boy, he
went nuts, got in a limo and told him take
(33:22):
me right to the airport and never showed up. So
he didn't show up. So I got his manager, Randy Phillips,
I'll never forget on stage, sonny. I had him a stage,
and he committed to have Rod play a private concert.
He said he got sick, he felt ill, he had
to do a private concert. Now, Chaer was the one
that got him sick.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
She's she's like so she got right in there. So
when you think of all how many egos you were
dealing with to bring all these dudes in, all these
people in, I.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Mean I I one hundred stories, thousands. You know. Kenny
g was a good friend of mine, you know, and
I'd get him to play the concerts, and he came
one year and he's backstage. I'm like, back you know.
We were good friends, played golf together, did a lot
of stuff together and he said he had a guy
with him and he goes, hey, this is one of
my best friends from ale Goes. He's doing a company
(34:09):
and he want, you know, I'm going to be in
a seed investor. And I told him you were a
great guy if you wanted to be a seed investor.
I said, what's the company? Goes, well, it's a coffee.
It's coffee, and it's it's called Starbucks. I go crazy.
I turned him down. I mean, she's what an idiot?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Yeah, because Boston's donkeys. We didn't think stop about god?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
What what? Well? But you know, I mean, could have,
would have, should have. Those are all the things. But
that was but I got a million anyways.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
But then after Kiss, you started buying up by the
radio stations.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Then you ended up warning, Yeah I had I had
at the end, I had sixteen stations. I had stations
at Chicago, Philadelphia, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, in Boston.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
But in Boston was Kiss one to eight, Chairman ninety.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Four, the best Am three stations.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
And as you were growing, did you have what's that
word when you don't believe that you made did you
have impassless in them at all. You know that when
when you.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Think you don't know what it means, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I never knew what it meant, and it meant either way.
You think that you shouldn't be where you I thought
imposter Sinda meant you're a liar, you're a fraud.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
That you feel like you shouldn't accomplish what your accomplished.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Exactly. I never knew that.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
But how did I get here? I'm not there, like
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
If you ever wanted to lie in bed, I didn't
do this sooner.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Yeah you were only twenty eight thirty? How much sooner old?
But I'm sitting here thinking at twenty eight that's old,
that's old. What do we now ancient?
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, we don't talk about well I did at the
beaut of the show, but no, Yeah, you know, I
have so much, find so many fond memories of the
kiss days and building the company and the people that
work with me, the artists, every the record people. It's
it's it's you know. It fulfills my life because I
can think about it all the time and I'm still
(35:51):
in touch with a lot of these people.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Which is cool, which I'm still surprised. Not a Lifetime
movie and Netflix something something which your life has been.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
People have been working on it that I almost did
a thing with Wahlberg. That thing fell through, and.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I remember that that was.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
All sorts of It's not so easy to.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Do that, by the way, Yeah it is. You just
need to be right queer. And I'll tell you why
you came in on a jenre that was complete disco, party, party, coke,
all that going on, right, I'll get I'll give I'll
give that on that one. But life was in the
fast lane, right, It was a fast lane life we were.
(36:30):
We were growing up fast to.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
What city's saying to like even for somebody like me. Right,
I came up my whole career in radio. I've heard
your name a million. I spend my time on YouTube
watching like videos about you back in the heyday and
like but learning about the history of kiss one Await,
and like it would.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Be a great story.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It wouldn't be a kiss one Await if it wasn't
a richie's brain behind it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
The pro I keep proving is it's not just again
in Boston, we're kind of spoiled. It's not just kissing
a wait that was built. But like constants like jingle
Ball done around the country. Kiss Content's done around the
country now, and that started here. So like we were
the first first city that really had these things that
now are massive tours. And it's not just the shows,
(37:12):
but like the amount of family memories that you've created
through that show, Like everybody the memory of going to
Kiss Content in the summer when they're twelve years old,
of their mom and like that never happens without you
wheeling and dealing these deals and getting Rob Stewart to
do this. And this person knew that.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
He didn't get anybody to do whatever he wanted.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
Look, I mean I was at they had the American
Repertory Theater. They had a one of their galas. No
it wasn't a gallop, but it was a dinner or
big dinner party and it was at the Four Seasons
and they had as the guests Ben Affleck and Matt Damon,
and they were at the table next to me. I
was on the board. They were the table next to me,
and so when I went over to and I hadn't
met them. And Gwyneth Paltrow was dating dating Damon or
(37:54):
dating Affleck at the time. She was at the table,
as well as Affleck's brother Casey. They were all at
the table right, So I came over. I introduced myself
and they said, oh, we know you man. We used
to hang out at the infield of your KIS concerts.
Girls yeah, Ben Ben halfleck A, Matt Damon.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Yeah, and they were kids.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Whoa, you know that's so crazy.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
All that's crazy. You've had a big life.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
Lucky, you know. And you know you go to you
go to uh Strega? Are you so? I used to
go to Straga all the time, but you know the
one in the waterfront when it was opening, and every
time I go there, I'd get like appetizers sent over
to me like free. Oh no, no, it's in the house.
I go, what is going on?
Speaker 1 (38:36):
All that thought was going to go break? I'm Cindy
Stumble and you listen to Toughestnails on WBZ. Won't be
right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ,
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Sandy the Mew tonight,
I'm here with Mike and Richie Wallsma. So Mikey I go.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Today's been a crazy story because from me I grew
up in Boston, grew up listening to Kissing Away, and
now I work there every day, Sindy knows, but everything
I do is because of you and this one story
we always talk about at kiss Went Away. But it
has to do with the fact that, like you were
throwing these big concerts kiss Concert, Jingle Boss, something that
everybody went to and to get artists to come, at
one point you had to convince the Boston pops to come.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
So wait, I know we're run out of time, but
we have you back next week to tell that story.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
No problem, I'd love to.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I'm excited for that one, Sidney.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's perfect. Great every britche I look forward to see
you next Say night. Everybody, have a great, safe weekend.
This is Cindy Stumpo tough his nails on WBZ and
we'll see you next week.
And welcome to Cindy Stumpo tough his nails on WBZ News,
And I'm here tonight with who Samantha? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Is that it?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You haven't You haven't yelled at me today, so I
don't know what's wrong. I haven't seen you, that's why
all day. But you've texted me with like eighty five
group chats and I haven't been yelled at, So something's off.
But somebody just brought this to my attention.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You know, I haven't even seen her for years, or
or you for years, and you sound the same. You
act the same with each.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Other, we do. Nothing's changed, Okay, So hold on. I
I somebody said to me the day you know, you
don't call Samantha Samantha. I call it No, I got
call it Samantha. I call it Samantha. And I'm going
to Florida, so I'm putting ours where they don't belong,
in ours where they should go Samantha. Okay, Sammy, Well
hold on, we got to introduced you so people know
(00:44):
who we're talking to you. No, we've got my TV
here too, Mikey, what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm from Kissing one and H two Capital.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay And then we got the legend in the house,
the legend would there be a kiss one away without
the man in this room tonight? Which is what what
you anybody? Richie balls by Richie Baldba.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I can answer that question. No, there would not be
a kiss from eight without chel.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We're going there, Richie. When you walk into the new
iHeartMedia Studio and you're sitting here, how different does this
place look? Going back from the day with your amazing office,
with your Louis batons and your boxes and.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, that wasn't the first office of the It was
across the street from you that that cinder black building
was over there where that was the original kiss. Yeah,
it was awful. It's like going from a from a
construction site to a spaceship.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's the difference between there and over here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So let's stop from the beginning. You're how old? I'm
seventy six, not now when you start in the business.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, you said you're how old? You just say were you?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Okay, let me, I'm a literal guy. How old were
you when you started? How did you stop? How did
you get into the radio?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
It was twenty nine, Yeah, when I was hired to
be the general manager of a radio station in Boston.
And the radio station I was hired to be the
general manager of was WBCN.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
WBCN Rock and roll.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Right. A guy who was a congressman from Hawaii had
bought WBCN, and he sent his lawyer, a guy named
Jason Schrinsky, to Boston to meet me. For some reason,
he had heard about me. I guess I was had
a reputation in the business of being a young hotshot.
I guess he had this guy come up and meet me,
and he and I hit it off right away. So
(02:29):
he hired me, you know, like almost that day, to
take over and be the manager of BCN, the general manager.
I had never been a general manager before, had only
been a sales manager. And I was like over the moon.
I was working for a company called the Knight Quality
Radio Station. So I went and resigned. And then I
get a call to tell me that the deal fell through.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So you quit, and then you quit? Okay?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
And then the deal fell through, and he said, but
don't worry, he said, we bought an we're buying another station.
Your deal is still good. We're buying w R O
R AM. I said, well, cool, no, I said that
was an FMS.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I thought, oh, ninety eight point five was w R.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, okay, now it's sports.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, now it's sports okay.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But it was ninety eight point five.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So I said, well that's pretty cool. I mean, you know,
it's I'm still in the FM. I still got things
going on. So I waited, and then all of a sudden,
I get another call and that fell through. So I
thought my world had come to an end. I said,
oh my god, I gave up a pretty good family
job and now I don't have one. And they said, look,
we're bound determined to buy a radio station and we're
going to and your contract is still in place.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So how months ago and buy the you know world.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
This all started in September nine of of seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It finally starts.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Buying a radio station called w w e L in Medford,
which I had never heard of, which was in that
cement building across the street. It's called wull U w
e L. What kind of Wellington Circle WWL Wellington Circle.
Judge Woody Tarlow had owned it. The FM was a
beautiful music, and the AM was a beautiful music, if
(04:10):
you can believe that, and there were thirty three stations
in Boston and WWL FM was rated thirty second with
a point one share or point two share, and the
AM had a point one share, so they had an
aggregate point three share point oh three share of the
Boston market. And I thought, oh crap, I'm done. I'm
(04:31):
taking over this thing. And then then you know, well,
I should let you ask questions. But then it really
hit me when I walked when I made my first
trip to the station and I saw that little cinder
block place. I mean, it's a it's a it's a
it's desolate now, I mean there's nothing there. And that's
after I had already redone the building. I mean it
was just a cinder plock building.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That was it. And I said, oh crap, this is
this is the end of the world for me. I mean,
I thought things were going to be the greatest BCN
general manager and all of a sudden, I'm the general
manager of w WVO Medford. How's that Okay?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So you're at the lowest the low in your career
at this point.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Now, well, I mean I had a contract and I
could always sell, so I wasn't the lowest the low,
but I was.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I, well, you had a very small portion offications.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We were we're definitely uh diminished.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
From going from w Back then, WBCN was what that was.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That was rock and roll station. And the deal fell
through because the the other guys that came in kind
of stole it from the guy Heftel, and all of
a sudden, I was, you know, out of luck. But
I was actually hired to become the manager of BCN.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, so now you're working over there.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well so now now.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
W whatever, No I got, yeah, is it still rough?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
But no, no, god no, well yeah, it was kind
of interesting. So so the only good thing that happened
out of it was that my because of all the changes,
my contract basically called for me to be able to
do whatever I wanted to the radio station. And I
had this vision, right, this idea. I mean, at the time,
(06:08):
disco was a big deal, but it was also losing
it's you know, it's ground. But I said, you know,
we're gonna I'm gonna wait.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
We're in nineteen seventy eight, right now, nineteen seventy eight,
and disco was at its prime right now now, but it.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Was starting to it was starting to lose its sizzle
a little bit. I mean I could see it was
you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, but if you remember, sayn I Fever came out,
what's seventy six six, so we're all no.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But disco was like it was a big thing, but
you could tell that it was gonna it was going
to implode at some point, or it was gonna it
was certainly going to wane. And so yeah, so I
knew that.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I thought that about wrapping that never happened.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, I can't even understand rap.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
But that's that's a difficult.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It's always like I don't parents say what, Yeah, I
kind of.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Hate to, you know, show my age. I told good program.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But the truth is, Richie, wrap was out a long
time ago when you still on your radio and just
didn't like it.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Listen, I'm gonna. I was down in Fanuel Hall at
one of the restaurants and that the first song rappers
Delight when we played.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
The hip hop to the.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
What the heck rap was going to be? And here
I am sitting in some restaurant and I look over
and there's like four guys, four stockbrokers or something, singing
all the worst everywhere. And I said oh god, this
is going to be real, and like, well, I'm bouncing
all over the place. But anyway, so that's right to
go back to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And sometimes you go to exit sixteen, then exit nine
and we're back.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I'll I'll just keep talking.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Right, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
To somebody created.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Okay, Well that so that's that is kind of how
the story really starts. So so I the one thing
that I was able to do based on the changes
and what I was hired to do. And you know,
I was hired to run a radio station that was
really going entity in BCN and it was really a hot,
hot stationed then I was going to rr which was
(08:07):
you know, which was an adult contemporary station. It wasn't
it was a music station. It wasn't bad. It was
krko's sister station. And then all of a sudden, I'm
in a station that's like nothing. So one of the
things that I was given the ability to do, much
to the chagrin of the guy that owned it, was
I was able to kind of put the format on
that I wanted. Now they had no real sales, no presence,
(08:28):
no nothing. So I walked into the station. I made
my ma. Well, first of all, the first thing I
did was I decided I was going to be a
disco station.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Okay, now you get to hold that though, because you've
got to go into commercial, like, oh we all right,
I'm Sidney Stumple. You listen to to Hiss Nails on
WBZ News Radio ten thirty. Okay, come right back in
and welcome back to Tavia's Nails. I'm City Stumple on
WBZ and I'm here with who Sammy and mikey.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
V and allowed to say my name?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yes, ye, Richie one and only Richard Balsbag, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
All right. So anyway, so the first thing I did
was when I decided what I was going to do,
and I really kind of kept it to me, but
I went my offices with night stations were in the
Sinesta building on COMAF and there was a little radio
station downstairs. There was a great radio station. It was
a black radio station.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Wild wild yeah, with the best music.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Great station. But it was a daytime AM station and
the guy who was the morning guy and program.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Director was hold on, let me tell you something. For
me to get wild, I had to hit it just
perfectly on my radio or I get into static. Do
you know what I'm saying exactly how to I hit
it like right on the well, you would just getting to.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Actually stopped someplace for about ten minutes, just part of
the songs.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Great music, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
It was great. And Sonny Joe White was the morning
guy in program director, and Sonny and I had had
had a relationship being in the building, and they didn't
even they were such a small station and they couldn't
even afford to buy the arbitron ins the rating books.
So I would, Yeah, so I would get the rating
books for night stations, and i'd get the one from
Boston and i'd go down and go over it with Sonny.
(10:06):
So I kind of, you know, showed him what his
numbers were and everything, and you know, so I said, look,
you're not gonna believe this. I said, but I'm taking
over a radio station in Boston. He goes, which one.
I said, I can't tell you. I go, but I
want you to resign and I want you to be
my program director. He goes, well, what are we going
to do? I said, well, I can tell you that.
I said, We're going to do disco. He goes, You're
(10:28):
taking a you're buying bos I said, no, no, I'm not
buying anything. I've become a manager and I can do
whatever I want to, and I want you to become
my program director. So I said, well, what are you making?
He said, I'll never forget it, twenty three thousand dollars
good morning. I said, I'll give you thirty five thousand.
He said, all right, I'm going to quit this afternoon,
(10:49):
and that's that's it. So I hired Sonny, and so
Sonny was my only hire. So I get Sonny next
to me and we take our first maiden voyage to ww. Now,
nobody in the on the staff was told that there
was going to be this big change that was sold
or anything. But right that morning, I guess they told
(11:09):
the people, well, we Tarlow has sold the station to
a guy named Cecil Half. Tell the new general manager
is going to come here this morning and meet you all,
but there's not going to be any changes. There's no
changes contemplated. And these guys are all older guys, playing
beautiful music. It was hysterical. I walked in and all
of a sudden, I walked in with this with this
flamboyant wearing like a robe, you know, looked like a
(11:34):
he look like he was something or the other night.
But yeah, so we walk in and the places like
they're looking at us like we had two heads. And uh,
we meet, we meet the trip staff, and we lie
through our teeth and basically say, well, there's no changes contemplated,
although I knew what I was going to do anyway,
So we took a tour through the building and the
(11:56):
guy who was a manager was a guy named Joe Krueger,
and he had this this he was had this big
desk and he was little and his head barely came
over the desk and he's sitting there and I was
supposed to meet him, and I'm ready to go in
the office he's going, and so I have. He was
he was negotiating the Medford High School football deal with
Medford High for the station. This was how this is
(12:19):
how big time the station was. I said, oh my god. Anyway,
so we I get a tour and they go in
the back of the building and there's this office which
is no windows. It's just like a little block. It's
like a probably a third of this size of this studio,
maybe even less. And they're sitting there behind the desk
is sitting this guy with white hair, and I look
and I go, oh my god, it's Arnie Woo Woo
(12:41):
Ginsburg and it was yeah, so now, Arnie, you.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Don't even know who that was.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
He could be the dean of radio in Boston. He
was a programmer. He was the original DJ at the
Adventure Car Hop Arnie Woo Woo for you, Ginsburg. He
was the rock and roll DJ. He was big time.
He introduced the Beatles at Suffolk Down's. I mean he
was big. Yeah. He was an engineer, a programmer, a
general manager, brilliant. He knew everything about radio. So I
see him, I go, what are you doing? He goes, well,
(13:10):
they let me have an office here. He had kind
of gone out to pasture. He was his radio days
were over, as they said, so anyway, So I said, well, Geez,
I said, you're going to be here. He goes, I
know where to go. I said, well, look, I said,
after I'm done with this tour, I want to come
talk to you. So I do the tour and so
I go back to the office. I go, Arnie, what
(13:30):
are they paying you here? He goes nothing, They just
let me have an office. I said, all right, and
then I bring Sonny Joe in and he looks and
I said, look, I said, here's what's going on. So
I tell him a story what I want to do,
and he lights up. I said, now, I don't know
if you want to really get re engaged and you know,
work hard, I said, but I need, I need. I'm
(13:51):
twenty nine years old. I've never run a radio station.
I said, look at this guy next to me, Sonny, Joe,
what you think he's ever managed?
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Shore A plan when you got out of school to be.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Oh no, god, no, no no. I wanted to be
NFL quarterback. No we all no, no, I didn't know
what I wanted to do. But anyway, so yeah, so
I uh h, I said, you want to you want
to be my operations manager? And he lit up and
I said, I'll pay you thirty five. That was the
(14:21):
number that everybody, everybody thirty.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Five, everybodys getting thirty five thousand a year.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
He wasn't make it anything, and barn and Sonny was
making twenty three before. So these were my two guys, right,
So so we have these number. I don't know what
it was. I don't maybe I was so naive to
being a general manager that I just thought that was
a good number. I guess I don't know, but anyway,
it worked. And so we had our little you know,
(14:48):
we got our meetings, and I said, well, look we
got to come up with a great, great call letters.
We got to do something. We gotta change for w
w L. So I said, you know, we got to
come up with a hook, something great. And so I
came up with kiss. I said, how about kiss? It's
like sexy is that? And so Arnie went and found
the call letters x ks. You know, you have to
find what letters aren't.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Being used, which is now our current and.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
He and you know, the X for a kiss and
great call letters and so so he goes, this is great.
This is the x K S one O seven point nine.
I go, oh, no, no, no, we're gonna do We're
gonna be one kiss one owaight. He goes, well, you
can't be one away. He says, you got to be
you know, he was a real pure radio guy. But
you're like, you've got to be like one of seven nine,
(15:32):
one of seven seven. You're on the half thing, you know.
I got no. I said, what's after one O seven
nine in the dial? He goes nothing. I go, so
we're one to wait, and that's how we came up.
I came up with that.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Now that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and so we're the first thing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Technically on the dial was one O seven point nine.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Even to this day it's one seven point nine. But
people it's branded as Kiss went Away.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, because it made it. It made it more imited, different,
it made it more easier to remember.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, your DJ and Kiss went Away. That's to me,
I was sitting next to you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
He named it now more than even just that named it.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Arny found the call letters, but I named it and
Sonny programmed it. So we had the that was the group.
And but when we did it, you know, when we
sat down, I said, look, I said, we're gonna have
to wind up being a contemporary station. We're gonna have
to evolve to be a pop station. I don't know
how long it's going to take for disco to die,
but it's gonna it's gonna die. It's gonna be rhythmic,
(16:26):
but it's gonna die. So we already had planned, after
being in the air six months five months, that we
were going to kind of move toward more contemporary.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Music, which was what back then what was contemporary Top forty.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Pretty much, but we always did Top forty. We actually
had one billboard which was the dumbest thing but also
the best. It was said kiss Went Away. I had
the big red lips and it says rock sol disco jazz,
which makes but it's what we did. And I mean,
you know, Sonny would play like the Tramps and then
he played Nina Simon correct. I mean he do stuff
(17:02):
that like was and everybody says, you can't do that.
I said, oh no, we can do whatever Sonny wants.
And that was kind of Sonny was a great music guy.
He was not a good programmer because he wasn't a
good manager and he had a hard time managing staff,
but he was terrific at picking.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Probably it wasn't the most like guy, but he did
is he He wasn't Sonny wasn't like you walk down
Newbury Street and you walked by Sonny back in the day.
So I was just like people say, hi, you know,
Well he wasn't very friendly that way, but he can spin.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Well, Sonny was an odd guy, but Sonny was. He
was brilliant. He was really smart.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
He could spin.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, he was good and that you know, and that
was it. So we you know, we did it. We
started organically and crazy in a crazy way. But that's
that's how that's how we kind of I kind of
got into it. Then I had to, of course going
into making a building a radio station, which was getting
that this jockey's ID if we first started, for the
first three months of being on the air, well.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
What was that word they were called?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What this jockey?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And what do you guys called now, I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
A DJ or on air talent? On air talent.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
What we had when we took over the station is
we didn't have anybody who except for except for Sonny,
and Sonny had a very largely I'll tell you some
stories about Sonny which are mind blowing, but he but but.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
His fiction with the big fur code.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
We got all his spinners, all the guys that were
spinners at all the disco, and we had spinners spinning
record They were actually mixing records on the air. And
that's that's how play started.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I don't don't pay attention to clock. I have to
pay attention to clock.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
That's for the ads have ad revenue.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Man, you started off you know better than anybody that one.
Definitely go ahead Okay, hold, I thought we was going
to break. I'm Sidy stampoint. Listen to Zails on w BZ,
would be right back, come back to toughest Nails on WBZ.
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Sammy, I'm here with
mikey V and I'm here with Richie Balls. Well, Richie,
pick it up.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Go ahead, Okay, Well, let me see, I don't know
where I was. I left off. We were building a
radio station, and I said, you know, we've just went
on the air. In fact, it was it was kind
of funny because we didn't tell anybody. We didn't tell
the market that we were changing, and uh, you know,
I'm sure that there were there were very few people
listened anyway. But I mean, I'm sure that in the
dentist's office when they had their first patient flipped on
(19:15):
Kiss in the Morning and the Disco Inferno came on
instead of Perry Como, the grill probably went went through
somebody's tooth.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
That was your marketing right there.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
To how sid it was. It was, and we had
those big I bought billboards all of the city, the
big black billboards with the red lips and the red
kiss It was they were. It was kind of iconic actually.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And the other thing too that like you obviously built
Kissing Away, which is like what everybody grew up on,
but like people in it's.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Pretty bad that I grew up on it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
That generations have. Right even when I first got my
job by Kissing Await. For me, that was like, oh,
like the legendary Kissing Away, And people in Boston don't
really realize one how legendary it is. But two, not
only did you build the station, but you changed concerts
for the entire country concess.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
We're going to get into that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think that's like, like, but it didn't only change
here in Boston, but what you did in Boston now
is done because of you across the country.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Well, the concept, my concept was I was always like
kind of a dreamer, a big thinker, whether you know,
to be able to perform, make it happen, you know,
you had to get a little lucky in but yeah,
but the idea I had was to do something bigger
than life for Boston, bring Hollywood to Boston instead of
it just being another radio station, to do things that
(20:27):
were really kind of you know, different. And the guy
that owned that owned the station. Now there's a person
in between, a guy that he hired after he hired
me as president, a guy named Tom White who hated
me because he didn't hire me. I was kind of
a rebel and did whatever I wanted to and it
drove him crazy. And I had a contract that was
like based on revenues and what have you, which was
(20:51):
which was made when the station was w w L,
and I went so far ahead of our revenues and
bonuses that were owed to me that were over a
million bucks. And the guy, this is nineteen eighty eighty,
and the guy really couldn't afford to pay me, so
he just so I get I kept getting points in
(21:12):
my head to be able to buy the radio station
at some point. But that's another story.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
No, that's anyway.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So what happened was, Yeah, so this guy hoy Tom Hoyt,
the president. He'd come in and he'd go, what are
you doing here? Why are you doing this? Why you
doing that? And I'd say, oh, oh, I don't know,
I won't do it, and then he'd leave and I'd
do it anyway. The thing that I wanted to really
do is I wanted to have you know, I mean,
we had this disco music we were. I hired a
bunch of exciting disc jockeys. Not exciting, but they were.
(21:39):
They were you know, they were interesting. I hired this
one girl from New York by Vacious viv Rowntree. You
ever many stories about her?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
No.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, she was supposedly this beautiful her pictures made her
look beautiful, black female jockey that was on PLJ, and
she was out of a job for some reason. When
I called there for recommendations, I said, oh, she was great,
but they never really said why she left. Well, she
was an absolute train wreck. She was terrible. I mean
(22:10):
she she didn't know how to work a board, and
our DJs had to work with the boards. We didn't
have producers or anything.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I mean they had to be able to And she
and they dropped in vinyls right, and she.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Would have her show, she was on it after she
was on early evening or evening she was on I
guess her shift was like seven to midnight or eight
to midnight. I'm not sure exactly at the time, but
and she would like burn incense and she'd have you know,
candles in the studio and she'd be doing all this
where she'd have, you know, very erotic clothing on. I said, look,
you can't put you can't have fire.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
And.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
She'd do it anyway. So and then she was up
for a contract. I just couldn't wait to get rid
of her. And so she invited she wanted to talk
about her contracts. So she invited me to her house.
And she lived in uh Huntington Avenue. So I went over,
locked in reluctantly, and she answered the door and neglige.
It is incredible. Anyway, I got out of there like
(23:06):
I I tailed it. And then we fired her. And
then the next thing I know that there was a
black newspaper. I think it was called the Base State
Banner or the I don't know, something like that. Next thing,
I know, the paper comes out and Richie, did you
see the paper that the you know, the black blake?
Very what? And there's a picture of her in like
(23:27):
some like pimp outfit on the steps of Kiss right,
and it says viv Brown Tree Kiss and it says
she said she couldn't work there anymore for plantation on her.
Richie balls behind his black slaves, Sonny Joe White. I mean,
it was like crazy stuff. I never ok the early day,
the stories were nuts.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
They were just and Sonny Joe White was black. Oh yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
But the thing was that I wanted to have do
these concerts. That was my thing. I was going to
do concerts, I was going to have things all that.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
When did we balls were decided he wasn't gonna be
the GM anymore and he was going to own the station.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
When when when I decided that I was doing all
the things to make the station valuable and he bought
the station. Aftel bought it for four and a quarter
million dollars. I bought it two and a half years
later from him for fifteen million.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Hold on, so two years later, two nap years later,
you pay fifteen million at the time just for kiss
and this is what they owed you. How much money?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
About a million and a half.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
So that got thrown into the deal kind of.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
That's a that's really a long So it's almost like.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You still paid fifteen million. I did, okay, and now
you own the station.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Oh that's another story. Yeah, there's so many stories within
the stories. The guy was like a real finagler.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That's why we're doing this like two part of a Yeah,
this coming.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And he when he set up, he tried to sell
it out from under me. He tried to renege on
his deal, but he couldn't. I had good lawyers and
I had you know, I had him by the you know,
short hairs, and so he he basically tried to change
the deal and he couldn't. So what he did is
he did it so it was a tax setup for himself.
(25:13):
And I'm not exactly sure because I'm not a financial guy,
but the way he did it, he did some of
the payment as interest going forward. In other words, he
I'm not even but.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But you end up owning the station, right.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
And dollars and I wound up paying net eleven and
a half because the five million that he put is
a tax thing. I prepaid right away because my lawyer
from Boston, Joel Cozl, Oh, Joel, Joel Joel said you can,
you could pay this now for a million and a
quarter and you don't have to pay the five million,
and I did. That's when I raised money from an Joel. Yeah.
(25:54):
But he was smart, very smart anyway. So h yeah,
but the did.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You this is now you're how old at this point,
thirty one? Well, you started twenty eight nine so within
two years you're now owning the station.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yeah, but what happened in two and a half years
of building the station is what really is the story?
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Because that's really what can we have the story? Well,
I'm trying to get there, Okay, just get there.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm trying to get all right, good, I mean, if
nothing's changed, if you want, if you want me to, this.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Has been rich and I for thirty years. Can we
get the story?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
City gets the store in the corners. But the stories,
when the stories are they're fine.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
That's why they should be a movie.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
When we go ahead, the deal is okay. So anyway,
so now I guess I just have to ask you
a question.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm going to go out I ninety five for we're
in your home. It's like, I don't know, twenty five
years ago, let's say, and you, somebody didn't show up
to one of the concerts one night, and that's why
I realized the pow of Richie Bolsba when I don't
know who he said this to with us Ma Donna,
one of them. I will stop playing your music. I
will crush you. Huey Lewis, No, wasn't you listen a female?
(27:03):
Because she didn't show up to a concert that which
you haven't remember, that which you didn't keep the money
for the concerts that was a fundraiser. But she was,
and I looked, I'm I'm in his family, been listening
to this phone conversation, going holy moly. He just said that.
He said, there was also imagine he at that time,
if he's not playing you in Boston. Done well, Charlie
(27:25):
Walks said it best. Everything started in Boston and then
kind of moved its way. We were trend setters. You
you Richie Balls was a trend setter. As Charlie Walks said, there's.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Also like a big story around Kiss eight too. That
because again, these concert are so big and you had
to convince these hours to come and do these big shows.
But I can't remember the artist, but they said I
won't do that. After the Boston Pops performed and you
got the Boston Boston Reform and.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Then that's my favorite story.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Okay, so we'll go back. We'll go back on ninety
five so you can finish what you were saying.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
So, yeah, so I decided to start having the concerts
now the first con.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
But now you all Kiss went away when you stoped
you didn't between.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
This is between I put the station on the air
January fifteenth, nineteen seventy nine, when I put launch Kiss. Okay,
I tried to have the first kiss party on February fifteenth,
fourteenth Valentine's Day at Boston, Boston.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, I was Boston. Boston was a nightclub on Lansdown
Street that Patrick Lyonson and go ahead, which I and
I used to Okay, I'm looking, I'm looking, go ahead.
I had no I can stay hold that thought. All right,
This is Cindy Stumpany listens to Tough hist Nails on WBZ,
We'll be right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails
on WBZ. And I'm Cindy and I'm with the mute
(28:42):
over the blondie. What's up with you? I'm listening? Okay.
So you get in the history of Richie. Yeah, because
you only like you like how well when you met
Richie seven, he became Uncle Richie to you.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
But she was she was hanging out with us. Boy.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
We never left her. I know, we never left her.
I have real fast, like.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
A little different.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, she's beautiful. Growing up, we're all supposed to go
on a golf trip. They get there. Yeah, I don't
want to leave my kids. Okay, So because you can't
make this stuff up for me, No, this is about you.
You're in Mexico. No I. So we literally go to
the airport and I never went on vacation without my kids, right,
and where they all were golf and wasn't like a
kid friendly place? What was it? A Cabo Cabo? I
(29:24):
think Cabo?
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, I think you were. So I said to my grandparents.
Keep driving through the airport. I'm not going. And Joe's
if I was going, women were not going, which he's
waiting for me, needs me. I'm the fourth guy. I'm
not going to kink in the plane. I'm not leaving
the kids. Blah blah blah. We get home. He says,
you got to call Richie and tell Richie or not
we didn't get on the plane. I'm like, all right,
I'll call. So I have to call the hotel, find
(29:47):
out where they sent him for dinner, find the restaurant,
call and they get him in the restaurant. I have
no idea I'm calling, but I just keep following the
doted lines. Richie, He goes, what are you doing calling
he's supposed to be on airplane. They go, yeah, I
turn around and came and we're not click. It wasn't
heavy about it.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Somebody else to play kidding me.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I knew you're gonna pull this. This is why I
want you get on the plane with us when we left. Okay,
go back to you start right.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Well that's interesting anyway, yeah, yeah, I don't know how
we added that in or out, but anyway, the yeah,
So the first concert I had, the first concert was
the party was I had the Tramps And the only
reason I got the Tramps was because they were playing
down at Loocifers and Brian Wallace is my friend, and
he let him come up and play a set. Sister Sledge,
(30:33):
Tasha Thomas, Sarah Dash and a group called Machine that
has sung there.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Before the Grace of God. And when you think about
that song, by the way, no black Snow Juice and
no gays, right, if we played that today.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
No, it's amazing, wouldn't fly. And then yeah, but and
then you know, so like I invite all these people
and you could like you know, you hear a pin
drop and the it was like maybe one hundred and
fifty people. So I was out on the sidewalk begging
people to come in. That was the first party on
February fourteenth of seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And trying to sell tickets. You couldn't sell.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
I didn't Celtic as I it was just that was
a free thing. But I couldn't even get people down.
They didn't know about it.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And for anybody listening to like right now, we're talking
about the beginning of the invention of kiss concert jingle Ball,
these shows that became staples in Boston.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Yeah, that, you know, the thing that people don't understand,
which really is what I'm proudest of in terms of
those concerts and creating them and building them and what
have you. The concept was to have one for the public,
which you would which I basically would raise money for charity,
and then the next night for my friends advertisers, mostly
friends party for me, but.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Comes out.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Well. They were good and so and and basically so
there were two nights of parties. And first of all,
get an artists to play one night lit alone two
nights is pretty tough. Also to get to play for nothing.
I mean I didn't pay any of these artists all
these years.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I'll tell you that game's changed for sure.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
And then hold on, don't forget then someone staying at
the fourth seat in summer, staying at the wharf depending
on your level, if you were eight plus Liz to
b C.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
I remember Richie, So that was also yeah, but that
was also different because I did pay The one thing
that I paid.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
For was their travels dodging and their and their ground trains,
just the ground.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Transportation from there.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
They paid for all the record bes, paid for all
everything else and paid for their travel and the whole thing.
So I did have the uh, the onus was on
me to pay for their hotels and ground transportation. And
what I did was I tried to do trade deals
and the clients. But you know, I mean, like then
it got so big that I did the four seasons
and you.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Know, oh it's huge. Mike Houseless, Rod Stewart couldn't make it.
The one year they said to Richie, I will do
a private concert for you at the wing. My father
catches a soccer ball. Oh I know is Bobby catches
the soccer ball and like knocks four guys down to
catch the soccer ball. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Well they what happened was that he was he was
playing and Share was playing at Great Woods, and he
was coming out to go to the limo to go
because they were changing there to go to the concert,
and Share walk by him and apparently they had no
love loss for each other, and she said, oh right,
I hear you're my warm up act. Oh boy, he
went nuts, got in a limo and told him take
(33:22):
me right to the airport and never showed up. So
he didn't show up. So I got his manager, Randy Phillips,
I'll never forget on stage, sonny. I had him a stage,
and he committed to have Rod play a private concert.
He said he got sick, he felt ill, he had
to do a private concert. Now, Chaer was the one
that got him sick.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
She's she's like so she got right in there. So
when you think of all how many egos you were
dealing with to bring all these dudes in, all these
people in, I.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Mean I I one hundred stories, thousands. You know. Kenny
g was a good friend of mine, you know, and
I'd get him to play the concerts, and he came
one year and he's backstage. I'm like, back you know.
We were good friends, played golf together, did a lot
of stuff together and he said he had a guy
with him and he goes, hey, this is one of
my best friends from ale Goes. He's doing a company
(34:09):
and he want, you know, I'm going to be in
a seed investor. And I told him you were a
great guy if you wanted to be a seed investor.
I said, what's the company? Goes, well, it's a coffee.
It's coffee, and it's it's called Starbucks. I go crazy.
I turned him down. I mean, she's what an idiot?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Yeah, because Boston's donkeys. We didn't think stop about god?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
What what? Well? But you know, I mean, could have,
would have, should have. Those are all the things. But
that was but I got a million anyways.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
But then after Kiss, you started buying up by the
radio stations.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Then you ended up warning, Yeah I had I had
at the end, I had sixteen stations. I had stations
at Chicago, Philadelphia, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, in Boston.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
But in Boston was Kiss one to eight, Chairman ninety.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Four, the best Am three stations.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
And as you were growing, did you have what's that
word when you don't believe that you made did you
have impassless in them at all. You know that when
when you.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Think you don't know what it means, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I never knew what it meant, and it meant either way.
You think that you shouldn't be where you I thought
imposter Sinda meant you're a liar, you're a fraud.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
That you feel like you shouldn't accomplish what your accomplished.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Exactly. I never knew that.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
But how did I get here? I'm not there, like
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
If you ever wanted to lie in bed, I didn't
do this sooner.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Yeah you were only twenty eight thirty? How much sooner old?
But I'm sitting here thinking at twenty eight that's old,
that's old. What do we now ancient?
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, we don't talk about well I did at the
beaut of the show, but no, Yeah, you know, I
have so much, find so many fond memories of the
kiss days and building the company and the people that
work with me, the artists, every the record people. It's
it's it's you know. It fulfills my life because I
can think about it all the time and I'm still
(35:51):
in touch with a lot of these people.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Which is cool, which I'm still surprised. Not a Lifetime
movie and Netflix something something which your life has been.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
People have been working on it that I almost did
a thing with Wahlberg. That thing fell through, and.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I remember that that was.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
All sorts of It's not so easy to.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Do that, by the way, Yeah it is. You just
need to be right queer. And I'll tell you why
you came in on a jenre that was complete disco, party, party, coke,
all that going on, right, I'll get I'll give I'll
give that on that one. But life was in the
fast lane, right, It was a fast lane life we were.
(36:30):
We were growing up fast to.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
What city's saying to like even for somebody like me. Right,
I came up my whole career in radio. I've heard
your name a million. I spend my time on YouTube
watching like videos about you back in the heyday and
like but learning about the history of kiss one Await,
and like it would.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Be a great story.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It wouldn't be a kiss one Await if it wasn't
a richie's brain behind it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
The pro I keep proving is it's not just again
in Boston, we're kind of spoiled. It's not just kissing
a wait that was built. But like constants like jingle
Ball done around the country. Kiss Content's done around the
country now, and that started here. So like we were
the first first city that really had these things that
now are massive tours. And it's not just the shows,
(37:12):
but like the amount of family memories that you've created
through that show, Like everybody the memory of going to
Kiss Content in the summer when they're twelve years old,
of their mom and like that never happens without you
wheeling and dealing these deals and getting Rob Stewart to
do this. And this person knew that.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
He didn't get anybody to do whatever he wanted.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
Look, I mean I was at they had the American
Repertory Theater. They had a one of their galas. No
it wasn't a gallop, but it was a dinner or
big dinner party and it was at the Four Seasons
and they had as the guests Ben Affleck and Matt Damon,
and they were at the table next to me. I
was on the board. They were the table next to me,
and so when I went over to and I hadn't
met them. And Gwyneth Paltrow was dating dating Damon or
(37:54):
dating Affleck at the time. She was at the table,
as well as Affleck's brother Casey. They were all at
the table right, So I came over. I introduced myself
and they said, oh, we know you man. We used
to hang out at the infield of your KIS concerts.
Girls yeah, Ben Ben halfleck A, Matt Damon.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Yeah, and they were kids.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Whoa, you know that's so crazy.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
All that's crazy. You've had a big life.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
Lucky, you know. And you know you go to you
go to uh Strega? Are you so? I used to
go to Straga all the time, but you know the
one in the waterfront when it was opening, and every
time I go there, I'd get like appetizers sent over
to me like free. Oh no, no, it's in the house.
I go, what is going on?
Speaker 1 (38:36):
All that thought was going to go break? I'm Cindy
Stumble and you listen to Toughestnails on WBZ. Won't be
right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ,
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Sandy the Mew tonight,
I'm here with Mike and Richie Wallsma. So Mikey I go.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Today's been a crazy story because from me I grew
up in Boston, grew up listening to Kissing Away, and
now I work there every day, Sindy knows, but everything
I do is because of you and this one story
we always talk about at kiss Went Away. But it
has to do with the fact that, like you were
throwing these big concerts kiss Concert, Jingle Boss, something that
everybody went to and to get artists to come, at
one point you had to convince the Boston pops to come.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
So wait, I know we're run out of time, but
we have you back next week to tell that story.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
No problem, I'd love to.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I'm excited for that one, Sidney.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's perfect. Great every britche I look forward to see
you next Say night. Everybody, have a great, safe weekend.
This is Cindy Stumpo tough his nails on WBZ and
we'll see you next week.
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