Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to Cindy Stumpo tough his nails on WBZ News,
And I'm here tonight with who Samantha?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah? Is that it? 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.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
But you've texted me with like eighty five group chats
and I haven't been yelled at, So something's off.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
But somebody just brought this to my attention.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You know, I haven't even seen her for years or
you for years, and you sound the same. You act
the same with each.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Other, we do.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Nothing's changed, Okay, So hold on. I I somebody said
to me. You know you don't call Samantha Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I call it. I call it Samantha. I call it Samantha.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And I'm going to Florida, so I'm putting ours where
they don't belong, in ours where they should go.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Samantha. Okay, Sammy, Well hold on, we cant introduced you
so people know who we're talking to you. No, we've
got my TV here too, Mikey, what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
I'm from Kissing one and h two Capital Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
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 namebody,
Richie Balls by Richie Balda.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I can answer that question. No, there would not be
a kiss from eight without rich.
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?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Going back from the day with your amazing office, with
your Louis Vatons and your boxes.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
And 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 2 (01:33):
That's the difference between there and over here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
So let's stop from the beginning. You're how old? I'm
seventy six, not now when you started the business?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, you said you're how old?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You just say, okay, let me, I'm a literal guy.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
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 2 (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 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. I had
only been a sales manager. And I was like over
the moon. I was working for a company called the
Night Quality Radio Station. So I went and resigned. And
then I get a call to tell me that the
(02:50):
deal fell through.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So you quit, and then you quit, okay, And then the.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Deal fell through, And he said, but don't worry, he said,
we bought a 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 FM.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I thought, oh, ninety eight point five was w R.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, okay, now it's sports.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, now it's sports okay.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
But it was ninety eight point five, right.
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, so
(03:37):
how many months ago?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And buy the you know.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
World This all started in September night of of seventy eight.
And finally start 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.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's called wull U w e L.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
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 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
(04:22):
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 taking over
this thing. And then then, you know, well I should
let you ask the 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,
(04:45):
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 2 (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 WO in Medford. How's that?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay? So you 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 2 (05:14):
I well, you had a very small portion of.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Specifications were were definitely uh diminished.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
From going from w Back then, WBCN was what.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That was, 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 lock,
but I was actually hired to become the manager of BCN.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, so now you're working over there. Well so now
now w whatever, No, I've got yea, 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.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
It was starting to it was starting to lose its
sizzle a little bit. I mean I could see.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
It was you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, but if you remember Sagny 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 2 (06:40):
I thought that about Wrapping that never happened.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, I can't even understand rapp.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
But that's that's a whole difficult It's always like parents
say what, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I kind of hate to, you know, show my age.
I told her 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.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
When we played well 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 I like, well, I'm
bouncing all over the place. But anyway, so that's to
go back to.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And sometimes you go to exit sixteen, then exit nine.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
And we're back and I'll I'll just keep talking if.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That's good, you can, yeah, somebody.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Created 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
a really going entity in BCN and it was really
a hot, hot station, Dominus. Then I was going to
(08:06):
r R, which was 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, no nothing. So I walked
(08:30):
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 got to hold that thought because we've
got to go into commercial. Like, oh, all right, I'm
Sidney Stumple. You listen to Tova's Nails on WBZ News Radio
ten thirty. Okay, come right back in and welcome back
to Tavia's Nails. I'm City stump on WBZ and I'm
here with who Sammy and mikey V and.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Allowed to say my name? Yes, yeah, Richie.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
One and only Richard baldsback, okay, go ahead, all right.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
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 Comapp 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 director was.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Remember, hold on, let me tell you something.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
For me to get wild, I had to hit it
just perfectly on my radio, or I get into static.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Do you know what I'm saying exactly how to I
hit it like right on the well, you would just getting.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
To actually stopped someplace for about ten minutes, just part
of the songs.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Dollars two mornings.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I said, I'll give you thirty five thousand. He said,
all right, I'm going.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
To quit this afternoon, and that's that's it.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
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 Wa. 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 the people, well,
(11:10):
we the 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
(11:32):
a robe, you know, looked like a 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 trust staff, and we lie through our teeth
and basically say, wow, there's no changes contemplated, although I
knew what I was going to do anyway. So we
(11:53):
took a tour through the building and the 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
off he's going, and so he was. He was negotiating
(12:13):
the Medford High School football deal with with Medford High
for the station. This was how this is how big
time the station was. I said, oh my god. Anyway,
so 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,
(12:36):
is sitting this guy with white hair, and I look
and I go, oh my god, it's Arnie Woo Woo
Ginsburg and it was yeah, so now, Arnie, you.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
He was.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
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,
they let me have an office here. He had kind
of gone out the pasture. He was his radio days
were over, as they said, so anyway, So I said, well, geez,
(13:19):
I said, you're going to be here. He goes, I
don't 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
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
(13:40):
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
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 a plan?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
When you got out of school to be.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Oh no, god, no, no, no, I wanted to be
a 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
(14:21):
the number that everybody thirty five dollars.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Everybody's going 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 4 (15:09):
Being used, which is now our current and he.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And you know, the X for a kiss and great
call letters and so so he goes, this is great,
is the x K s one oh seven point nine.
I go, no, no, no, we're gonna we're gonna be
one kiss one O eight. 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 got to be like one of seven nine one
(15:32):
seven seven. You're on the half thing. You're not, you know,
I got no no, I said, what's after one O
seven nine in the dial? He goes, nothing, I go,
so we're one O waight, and that's how we came up.
I came up with that.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and so we're the first thing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Technically on the dial was one O seven point nine.
Speaker 5 (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, it
made it different, it made it more easy.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So remember, yeah, your DJ and Kiss went Away. That's
the men I was sitting next to you.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
He named it. Now more than even just that named it.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Arnie 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 2 (16:35):
Music, which was what back then what was contemporary.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Top forty 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
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
(17:01):
do stuff 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 a 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 well.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Probably 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 2 (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 go
into making a building a radio station, which was getting
that this jockey's if we first started, for the first
three months of being on the air, well.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
What was that word they were called?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
What this jockey?
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And what do you guys called now.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I'm 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 2 (18:15):
His friction with the big fur code.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
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 how they started.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I don't don't pay attention to the clock. I have to
pay attention to clock.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
That's for the ads. Have that ad revenue. Man, you.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Started off you know better than anybody that one definitely
go ahead, okay, hold, I thought we're going to break.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm Sidey Stump.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
You listen to his zls on w b Z, would
be right back, come back to toughest Nails on w
b Z.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
And I'm Cindy.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I'm here with Sammy, I'm here with mikey V and
I'm here with Richie Balls.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
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'm sure that in the dentist's office
(19:13):
when they had their first patient flipped on Kiss in
the Morning and the Disco Inferno came on instead of
Perry Como, the girl probably went went through somebody's tooth.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
That was your marketing right there.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Just how sud 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 there were it was kind of iconic actually.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
And the other thing too that like you obviously built
Kissing Away, which is like what everybody grew up on,
but like, I don't people in some.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Pretty bad that I grew up on it.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
That generations have right even when I first got my
job kissing Away. 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 change concerts for
the entire country.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Just we're going to get into that.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
I think that's.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
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 Hohyite 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 ww L, and
I went so far ahead of our revenues and bonuses
that were owed to me that we're over a million bucks.
And the guy and 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 my
(21:12):
head to be able to buy the radio station at
some point. But that's another story.
Speaker 2 (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 are
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 maary stories about her?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I have not, no.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, she 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, 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. I mean they had to be
able to.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And she and they dropped in vinyls right.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
And she 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, which she'd have, you know, very erotic clothing on.
I said, look, you can't put you can't have fire,
(22:43):
and 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 recked reluctantly, and she answered the door and neglige.
(23:04):
It is incredible. Anyway, I got out of there like
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 Bay 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 Rowntree 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 the early day,
the stories were nuts.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
But that when did we she 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. Hatel 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 and a half
years later, you paid fifteen million at the time just
to kiss and this is what they owed you.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
How much money?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
About a million and a half.
Speaker 2 (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 2 (24:49):
That's why we're doing this like two part of.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
A 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
(25:12):
setup for himself. 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 2 (25:30):
But you end up owning the station.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Right and million 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.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
From an Joe.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, but he was smart, a very smart anyway. So
h yeah, but the did you this is.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
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 2 (26:16):
Because that's really what can we have the story?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Well, I'm trying to get there.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Okay, just get there.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm trying to get there. All right, good, I mean,
if nothing's changed, if you want, if you want me to.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
This, it 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 fun.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Have to ask you a question. I'm going to go
out by 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,
but Donna one of them. I will stop playing your music.
(26:57):
I will crush you.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Huey Lewis no wasn't you listen it was a.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Female because she didn't show up to a concert that
we just haven't remember that which you didn't keep the
money for the concerts that was a fundraiser, but she
was and I looked, im, I'm in his family, been
listening to this phone conversation, going holy moly.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He just said that.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Yeah, he said, there was also imagine he at that time,
if he's not playing you in Boston.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Done well.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Charlie Walks said it best. Everything started in Boston and
then kind of moved its way. We were trend setters.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
You you. Richie Balls was a trend setter. As Charlie
Walks said.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
There's also like a big story around Kiss eight too.
That because again, these concerts are so big, and you've
had to convince these hours to come.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And do these big shows. But I can't remember the artist.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
But they said I won't do that unless the Boston
Pops performed, and you got the Boston Boston.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Perform and 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 started,
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 2 (28:22):
Yeah, I was Boston.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Boston was a nightclub on Lansdown Street that Patrick lyons
owe 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.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
All right.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
This is Cindy Stumpany listens to Toughest 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
over the blondie. What's up with you?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I'm listening? Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
So getting the history of Richie yeah, because you only
like you were 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 boys.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
We never left her, I know, we never left her.
I have real fast, like a little different.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, she's beautiful, growing up. We're all supposed to go
on a golf trip.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
They get there. Yeah, I don't want to leave my kids.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay, So because you can't make this stuff up for me, No,
this is about you.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
You're in Mexico. No I.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
So we literally go to the airport and I never
went on vacation without my kids, right, and where they
are golf and wasn't like a kid friendly place.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (29:22):
A Cabo Cabo? I think Cabo right Cabo? Yeah, I
think we 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 kick in the plan. I'm not leaving the kids.
Blah blah blah. We get home. He says, you got
to call Richie and tell Richie we're not we didn't
(29:43):
get on the plane.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I'm like, all right, I'll call. So I have to
call the hotel.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Find out where they sent him for dinner, find the restaurant,
call them. They get him in the restaurant. I have
no idea I'm calling, but I just keep folling the
dotted lines.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Richie.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
He goes, what are you doing calling? He's supposed to
be on an airplane? I go, yeah, I turn around
and came and we're not click.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
That. It wasn't heavy about it?
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Somebody else to play kidding me.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I knew you're gonna pull this. This is why why don't
you get on the plane with us when we left? Okay,
go back to your.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
Story, right, 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 Lucifers and Brian Wallace is my friend,
and he let him come up.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And play a set. Sister Sledge, Tasha Thomas, Sarah Dash
and a group called Machine that has a song there.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Before the Grace of God.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And when you think about that song, by the way,
no black snow hue and no gays, right, 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 invited all these people
and you could, like you know, hear a pin dropping
and there 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 2 (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 5 (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 frien advertisers mostly
friends party for me. But the comes out well, they
(31:41):
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 into play for nothing, I
mean I didn't pay any of these artists all these years.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
I'll tell you that game's changed for sure.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
And then hold on, don't forget.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Then someone staying at the four seat is in summer
staying at the wharf, depending on your level, if you
were eight plus Liz to b C.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
I remember Richie, So that was also yeah, But that
was also different because I did pay. The one thing
that I paid for was their travels dodging and their
and their ground trains, just the ground.
Speaker 4 (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.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And the clients.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
But you know, I mean, like then it got so
big that I did the four seasons and.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
You know, oh it's huge.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Mike Houseless, Rod Stuart 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.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Well, 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, Rod, I
hear you're my warm up act.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Oh boy.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
He went nuts, got in a limo and told him
take 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. No, Cher was
the one that got him sick.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
She's she's like, so she got right in.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
So when you think of all how many egos you
were dealing with to bring all these dudes in, all
these people in, I mean.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
A 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 and I'm 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 a goes
he's doing a company and he want, you know, I'm
(34:10):
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 called Starbucks. I go.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Crazy.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
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
what well?
Speaker 3 (34:31):
But you know, I mean, could have, would have, should have.
Those are all the things. But that was but I
got a million.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Anyways, So then after Kiss, you started buying up by
the radio stations.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Then you ended up warning yea.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I had I had at the end, I had sixteen stations.
I had stations at Chicago, Philadelphia, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte,
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
But in Boston was Kiss, one Awaight, Jam, Chairman, ninety.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Four AM, 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.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Made post syndrome. Did you have impass 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
imposted cinda meant you're a liar, you're a fraud.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
But you feel like you shouldn't accomplished what you accomplished.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Exactly. I never knew that.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
How did I get here? I'm not there, like I'm
not If.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
You ever wanted to lie in bed, I didn't do
this sooner?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
You were only twenty eight thirty? How much sooner old?
But I'm sitting here thinking at twenty eight that's old.
If that's old, what do we now ancient?
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, we don't talk about Well I did at the
beauty 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, which.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Is cool, Whichie, 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's I almost did
a thing with Wahlberg. That thing fell through.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
And I remember that that was there's.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
All sorts of it's not so easy.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
To do that, by the way, Yeah it is. You
just need the right creeer.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
And I'll tell you why you came in on a
jounre that was complete disco, party, party, coke.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
All that going on, Right, I'll get I'll give that
on that one. But life was in the fast lane, right,
It was a fast lane life we were. We were
growing up fast.
Speaker 5 (36:31):
To what the city's saying to like even for somebody
like me. Right, I came up from a 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 be a
great story.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It wouldn't be a kiss one Await if there wasn't
a Richie's brain behind it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (36:50):
The problem 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 conscious like jingle
Ball done around the country, Kiss Continent's done around the
country now, and that started here, Like we were the
first first city that really had these things that now
are massive tours. And 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 concert in the summer when they're twelve years old
with their mom, and like that never happens without you
wheeling dealing these deals and getting Rob Stewart to do this,
and this person knew.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
That 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
(37:54):
Damon or 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 2 (38:11):
Yeah, and they were kids.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Whoa, you know, that's so crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
All that's crazy. You've got 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 Toughest Nails on WBC. Won't be
right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ,
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Samy the Mew tonight,
I'm here with Mike and Richie Waalsba so Mikey, if
you go.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
Today's been a crazy story because for me, I grew
up in Boston, grew up listening to Kissing Away, and
now I work there. But I like every day Sindy,
you know, 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 Balls,
something everybody went to and to get artists to come,
at one point you had to convince the Boston pops
(39:10):
to come.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 5 (39:12):
So wait, I know we're run out of time, but
we have you back next week to.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Tell that story, no problem, I'd love to.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
I'm excited for that one, Sidney.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
That's perfect.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Great every britche I look forward to see you next
Say night, everybody, have a great, safe weekend. This is
Cindy Stumpo Toughest 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?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah? Is that it? 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.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
But you've texted me with like eighty five group chats
and I haven't been yelled at, So something's off.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
But somebody just brought this to my attention.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You know, I haven't even seen her for years or
you for years, and you sound the same. You act
the same with each.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Other, we do.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Nothing's changed, Okay, So hold on. I I somebody said
to me. You know you don't call Samantha Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I call it. I call it Samantha. I call it Samantha.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And I'm going to Florida, so I'm putting ours where
they don't belong, in ours where they should go.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Samantha. Okay, Sammy, Well hold on, we cant introduced you
so people know who we're talking to you. No, we've
got my TV here too, Mikey, what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
I'm from Kissing one and h two Capital Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
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 namebody,
Richie Balls by Richie Balda.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I can answer that question. No, there would not be
a kiss from eight without rich.
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?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Going back from the day with your amazing office, with
your Louis Vatons and your boxes.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
And 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 2 (01:33):
That's the difference between there and over here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
So let's stop from the beginning. You're how old? I'm
seventy six, not now when you started the business?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, you said you're how old?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You just say, okay, let me, I'm a literal guy.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
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 2 (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 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. I had
only been a sales manager. And I was like over
the moon. I was working for a company called the
Night Quality Radio Station. So I went and resigned. And
then I get a call to tell me that the
(02:50):
deal fell through.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So you quit, and then you quit, okay, And then the.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Deal fell through, And he said, but don't worry, he said,
we bought a 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 FM.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I thought, oh, ninety eight point five was w R.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, okay, now it's sports.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, now it's sports okay.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
But it was ninety eight point five, right.
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, so
(03:37):
how many months ago?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And buy the you know.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
World This all started in September night of of seventy eight.
And finally start 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.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's called wull U w e L.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
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 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
(04:22):
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 taking over
this thing. And then then, you know, well I should
let you ask the 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,
(04:45):
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 2 (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 WO in Medford. How's that?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay? So you 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 2 (05:14):
I well, you had a very small portion of.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Specifications were were definitely uh diminished.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
From going from w Back then, WBCN was what.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That was, 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 lock,
but I was actually hired to become the manager of BCN.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, so now you're working over there. Well so now
now w whatever, No, I've got yea, 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.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
It was starting to it was starting to lose its
sizzle a little bit. I mean I could see.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
It was you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, but if you remember Sagny 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 2 (06:40):
I thought that about Wrapping that never happened.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, I can't even understand rapp.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
But that's that's a whole difficult It's always like parents
say what, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I kind of hate to, you know, show my age.
I told her 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.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
When we played well 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 I like, well, I'm
bouncing all over the place. But anyway, so that's to
go back to.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And sometimes you go to exit sixteen, then exit nine.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
And we're back and I'll I'll just keep talking if.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That's good, you can, yeah, somebody.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Created 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
a really going entity in BCN and it was really
a hot, hot station, Dominus. Then I was going to
(08:06):
r R, which was 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, no nothing. So I walked
(08:30):
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 got to hold that thought because we've
got to go into commercial. Like, oh, all right, I'm
Sidney Stumple. You listen to Tova's Nails on WBZ News Radio
ten thirty. Okay, come right back in and welcome back
to Tavia's Nails. I'm City stump on WBZ and I'm
here with who Sammy and mikey V and.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Allowed to say my name? Yes, yeah, Richie.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
One and only Richard baldsback, okay, go ahead, all right.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
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 Comapp 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 director was.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Remember, hold on, let me tell you something.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
For me to get wild, I had to hit it
just perfectly on my radio, or I get into static.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Do you know what I'm saying exactly how to I
hit it like right on the well, you would just getting.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
To actually stopped someplace for about ten minutes, just part
of the songs.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Dollars two mornings.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I said, I'll give you thirty five thousand. He said,
all right, I'm going.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
To quit this afternoon, and that's that's it.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
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 Wa. 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 the people, well,
(11:10):
we the 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
(11:32):
a robe, you know, looked like a 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 trust staff, and we lie through our teeth
and basically say, wow, there's no changes contemplated, although I
knew what I was going to do anyway. So we
(11:53):
took a tour through the building and the 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
off he's going, and so he was. He was negotiating
(12:13):
the Medford High School football deal with with Medford High
for the station. This was how this is how big
time the station was. I said, oh my god. Anyway,
so 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,
(12:36):
is sitting this guy with white hair, and I look
and I go, oh my god, it's Arnie Woo Woo
Ginsburg and it was yeah, so now, Arnie, you.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
He was.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
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,
they let me have an office here. He had kind
of gone out the pasture. He was his radio days
were over, as they said, so anyway, So I said, well, geez,
(13:19):
I said, you're going to be here. He goes, I
don't 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
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
(13:40):
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
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 a plan?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
When you got out of school to be.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Oh no, god, no, no, no, I wanted to be
a 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
(14:21):
the number that everybody thirty five dollars.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Everybody's going 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 4 (15:09):
Being used, which is now our current and he.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And you know, the X for a kiss and great
call letters and so so he goes, this is great,
is the x K s one oh seven point nine.
I go, no, no, no, we're gonna we're gonna be
one kiss one O eight. 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 got to be like one of seven nine one
(15:32):
seven seven. You're on the half thing. You're not, you know,
I got no no, I said, what's after one O
seven nine in the dial? He goes, nothing, I go,
so we're one O waight, and that's how we came up.
I came up with that.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and so we're the first thing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Technically on the dial was one O seven point nine.
Speaker 5 (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, it
made it different, it made it more easy.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So remember, yeah, your DJ and Kiss went Away. That's
the men I was sitting next to you.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
He named it. Now more than even just that named it.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Arnie 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 2 (16:35):
Music, which was what back then what was contemporary.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Top forty 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
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
(17:01):
do stuff 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 a 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 well.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Probably 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 2 (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 go
into making a building a radio station, which was getting
that this jockey's if we first started, for the first
three months of being on the air, well.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
What was that word they were called?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
What this jockey?
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And what do you guys called now.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I'm 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 2 (18:15):
His friction with the big fur code.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
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 how they started.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I don't don't pay attention to the clock. I have to
pay attention to clock.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
That's for the ads. Have that ad revenue. Man, you.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Started off you know better than anybody that one definitely
go ahead, okay, hold, I thought we're going to break.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm Sidey Stump.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
You listen to his zls on w b Z, would
be right back, come back to toughest Nails on w
b Z.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
And I'm Cindy.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I'm here with Sammy, I'm here with mikey V and
I'm here with Richie Balls.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
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'm sure that in the dentist's office
(19:13):
when they had their first patient flipped on Kiss in
the Morning and the Disco Inferno came on instead of
Perry Como, the girl probably went went through somebody's tooth.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
That was your marketing right there.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Just how sud 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 there were it was kind of iconic actually.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
And the other thing too that like you obviously built
Kissing Away, which is like what everybody grew up on,
but like, I don't people in some.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Pretty bad that I grew up on it.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
That generations have right even when I first got my
job kissing Away. 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 change concerts for
the entire country.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Just we're going to get into that.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
I think that's.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
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 Hohyite 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 ww L, and
I went so far ahead of our revenues and bonuses
that were owed to me that we're over a million bucks.
And the guy and 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 my
(21:12):
head to be able to buy the radio station at
some point. But that's another story.
Speaker 2 (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 are
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 maary stories about her?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I have not, no.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, she 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, 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. I mean they had to be
able to.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And she and they dropped in vinyls right.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
And she 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, which she'd have, you know, very erotic clothing on.
I said, look, you can't put you can't have fire,
(22:43):
and 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 recked reluctantly, and she answered the door and neglige.
(23:04):
It is incredible. Anyway, I got out of there like
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 Bay 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 Rowntree 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 the early day,
the stories were nuts.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
But that when did we she 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. Hatel 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 and a half
years later, you paid fifteen million at the time just
to kiss and this is what they owed you.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
How much money?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
About a million and a half.
Speaker 2 (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 2 (24:49):
That's why we're doing this like two part of.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
A 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
(25:12):
setup for himself. 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 2 (25:30):
But you end up owning the station.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Right and million 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.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
From an Joe.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, but he was smart, a very smart anyway. So
h yeah, but the did you this is.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
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 2 (26:16):
Because that's really what can we have the story?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Well, I'm trying to get there.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Okay, just get there.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm trying to get there. All right, good, I mean,
if nothing's changed, if you want, if you want me to.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
This, it 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 fun.
Speaker 2 (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.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Have to ask you a question. I'm going to go
out by 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,
but Donna one of them. I will stop playing your music.
(26:57):
I will crush you.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Huey Lewis no wasn't you listen it was a.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Female because she didn't show up to a concert that
we just haven't remember that which you didn't keep the
money for the concerts that was a fundraiser, but she
was and I looked, im, I'm in his family, been
listening to this phone conversation, going holy moly.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He just said that.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Yeah, he said, there was also imagine he at that time,
if he's not playing you in Boston.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Done well.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Charlie Walks said it best. Everything started in Boston and
then kind of moved its way. We were trend setters.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
You you. Richie Balls was a trend setter. As Charlie
Walks said.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
There's also like a big story around Kiss eight too.
That because again, these concerts are so big, and you've
had to convince these hours to come.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And do these big shows. But I can't remember the artist.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
But they said I won't do that unless the Boston
Pops performed, and you got the Boston Boston.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Perform and 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 started,
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 2 (28:22):
Yeah, I was Boston.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Boston was a nightclub on Lansdown Street that Patrick lyons
owe 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.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
All right.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
This is Cindy Stumpany listens to Toughest 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
over the blondie. What's up with you?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I'm listening? Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
So getting the history of Richie yeah, because you only
like you were 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 boys.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
We never left her, I know, we never left her.
I have real fast, like a little different.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, she's beautiful, growing up. We're all supposed to go
on a golf trip.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
They get there. Yeah, I don't want to leave my kids.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay, So because you can't make this stuff up for me, No,
this is about you.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
You're in Mexico. No I.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
So we literally go to the airport and I never
went on vacation without my kids, right, and where they
are golf and wasn't like a kid friendly place.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (29:22):
A Cabo Cabo? I think Cabo right Cabo? Yeah, I
think we 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 kick in the plan. I'm not leaving the kids.
Blah blah blah. We get home. He says, you got
to call Richie and tell Richie we're not we didn't
(29:43):
get on the plane.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I'm like, all right, I'll call. So I have to
call the hotel.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Find out where they sent him for dinner, find the restaurant,
call them. They get him in the restaurant. I have
no idea I'm calling, but I just keep folling the
dotted lines.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Richie.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
He goes, what are you doing calling? He's supposed to
be on an airplane? I go, yeah, I turn around
and came and we're not click.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
That. It wasn't heavy about it?
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Somebody else to play kidding me.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I knew you're gonna pull this. This is why why don't
you get on the plane with us when we left? Okay,
go back to your.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
Story, right, 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 Lucifers and Brian Wallace is my friend,
and he let him come up.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And play a set. Sister Sledge, Tasha Thomas, Sarah Dash
and a group called Machine that has a song there.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Before the Grace of God.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And when you think about that song, by the way,
no black snow hue and no gays, right, 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 invited all these people
and you could, like you know, hear a pin dropping
and there 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 2 (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 5 (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 frien advertisers mostly
friends party for me. But the comes out well, they
(31:41):
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 into play for nothing, I
mean I didn't pay any of these artists all these years.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
I'll tell you that game's changed for sure.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
And then hold on, don't forget.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Then someone staying at the four seat is in summer
staying at the wharf, depending on your level, if you
were eight plus Liz to b C.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
I remember Richie, So that was also yeah, But that
was also different because I did pay. The one thing
that I paid for was their travels dodging and their
and their ground trains, just the ground.
Speaker 4 (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.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And the clients.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
But you know, I mean, like then it got so
big that I did the four seasons and.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
You know, oh it's huge.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Mike Houseless, Rod Stuart 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.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Well, 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, Rod, I
hear you're my warm up act.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Oh boy.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
He went nuts, got in a limo and told him
take 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. No, Cher was
the one that got him sick.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
She's she's like, so she got right in.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
So when you think of all how many egos you
were dealing with to bring all these dudes in, all
these people in, I mean.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
A 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 and I'm 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 a goes
he's doing a company and he want, you know, I'm
(34:10):
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 called Starbucks. I go.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Crazy.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
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
what well?
Speaker 3 (34:31):
But you know, I mean, could have, would have, should have.
Those are all the things. But that was but I
got a million.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Anyways, So then after Kiss, you started buying up by
the radio stations.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Then you ended up warning yea.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I had I had at the end, I had sixteen stations.
I had stations at Chicago, Philadelphia, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte,
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
But in Boston was Kiss, one Awaight, Jam, Chairman, ninety.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Four AM, 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.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Made post syndrome. Did you have impass 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
imposted cinda meant you're a liar, you're a fraud.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
But you feel like you shouldn't accomplished what you accomplished.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Exactly. I never knew that.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
How did I get here? I'm not there, like I'm
not If.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
You ever wanted to lie in bed, I didn't do
this sooner?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
You were only twenty eight thirty? How much sooner old?
But I'm sitting here thinking at twenty eight that's old.
If that's old, what do we now ancient?
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, we don't talk about Well I did at the
beauty 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, which.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Is cool, Whichie, 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's I almost did
a thing with Wahlberg. That thing fell through.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
And I remember that that was there's.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
All sorts of it's not so easy.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
To do that, by the way, Yeah it is. You
just need the right creeer.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
And I'll tell you why you came in on a
jounre that was complete disco, party, party, coke.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
All that going on, Right, I'll get I'll give that
on that one. But life was in the fast lane, right,
It was a fast lane life we were. We were
growing up fast.
Speaker 5 (36:31):
To what the city's saying to like even for somebody
like me. Right, I came up from a 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 be a
great story.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It wouldn't be a kiss one Await if there wasn't
a Richie's brain behind it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (36:50):
The problem 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 conscious like jingle
Ball done around the country, Kiss Continent's done around the
country now, and that started here, Like we were the
first first city that really had these things that now
are massive tours. And 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 concert in the summer when they're twelve years old
with their mom, and like that never happens without you
wheeling dealing these deals and getting Rob Stewart to do this,
and this person knew.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
That 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
(37:54):
Damon or 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 2 (38:11):
Yeah, and they were kids.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Whoa, you know, that's so crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
All that's crazy. You've got 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 Toughest Nails on WBC. Won't be
right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ,
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Samy the Mew tonight,
I'm here with Mike and Richie Waalsba so Mikey, if
you go.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
Today's been a crazy story because for me, I grew
up in Boston, grew up listening to Kissing Away, and
now I work there. But I like every day Sindy,
you know, 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 Balls,
something everybody went to and to get artists to come,
at one point you had to convince the Boston pops
(39:10):
to come.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 5 (39:12):
So wait, I know we're run out of time, but
we have you back next week to.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Tell that story, no problem, I'd love to.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
I'm excited for that one, Sidney.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
That's perfect.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Great every britche I look forward to see you next
Say night, everybody, have a great, safe weekend. This is
Cindy Stumpo Toughest Nails on WBZ and we'll see you
next week.
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