DICK PACE
August, 1963 - December, 1964

Born in East Hartford on October 11, 1935, Dick attended school in East Hartford and graduated from Southington High School in 1953 where he was a star athlete in football, basketball, track and baseball. He earned a busines degree from Fordham University in 1957. Dick once sold cough drops as a traveling salesman for Vicks. He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, making a number of parachute jumps with the 101st Airborne Division. Charlie Parker heard Dick on the air in New London and brought him to Hartford to replace Jerry Bishop as one of The Swinging Six, hosting 10AM-1PM. His shift included an early-morning news component; he alternated with Joe Barbarette delivering news on the Ron Landry show. Dick left Hartford for Providence, and later was a mainstay for 15 years at WBZ. In 1977 Dick earned a law degree at Suffolk University and was a partner at Hines, Patz and Wolpert, Inc., in West Warwick, RI

PRIOR: WFUV FM Fordham University; WBRY Waterbury, CT; WNLC New London, CT

AFTER: WJAR Providence, RI; WBZ Boston, MA; WHDH Boston, MA

TODAY: Richard L. Patz died on January 23, 2020 at Geer Village Senior Community in Canaan, CT; he was 84. (11/19/21).

GEORGE V. PARISH
1940s

Hartford natives, George and his brother, John, were known as The Harmony Brothers on WDRC during the 1940s.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: George died October 17, 1970, at the age of 60.

JOHN W. PARISH
1940s

Hartford natives, John and his brother, George, were known as The Harmony Brothers on WDRC during the 1940s.

PRIOR:

AFTER:

TODAY: John died January 22, 1966, at the age of 51.

PHYLLIS PARIZEK
prior to November, 1981 - 1982

Phyllis worked for a few months in the WDRC news department. In the late 1980s she worked for the State of Connecticut. After her marriage, she and her husband settled in West Hartford in 1990.

PRIOR: WAVZ & WKCI, both New Haven, CT

AFTER: WHCN Hartford, CT; WVIT TV West Hartford, CT; WPOP & WKSS, both Hartford, CT

TODAY: Phyllis has lived for many years in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands where she is involved in wild bird rehabilitation; see her note (7-8-04). (e-mail)

CHARLES R. PARKER
March, 1944 - August, 1983

Without question, Charlie Parker was the brains behind WDRC's success for many, many years. WDRC was essentially the only job Charlie ever had and he lived and breathed Big D 24 hours a day. He was born in Hartford on March 2, 1925 and his love affair with WDRC began at the age of 15 when he was interviewed by Harvey Olson in a man-on-the-street spot. Olson hired Charlie two years later as a production engineer, running network programs from CBS. He met his wife, also an engineer (see Patty Parker) at WDRC; they were married in Hartford on October 20, 1945. As program director, and later vice president of programming, Charlie had a keen ear for hit music and was a talented writer. His trademark rhyming promotional copy gave the station a distinctive sound. In later years Charlie voiced many station promos and special features, and enjoyed his annual duties as Jolly Old St. Nick for the American Radio Relay League. Billboard Magazine named him 1975 Program Director of the Year. The next year he founded the Greater Hartford Emergency Food Bank. He is largely credited with devising the formatic elements which launched Radio Fun in August, 1960.

In June, 1983, after a period of ill health, he was replaced as program director by Ken Trimble. Charlie was out all summer and returned for just a few weeks in August. His genius at spotting trends allowed Big D to capitalize on many crazes including the wave of Beatles popularity. Charlie was a superb motivator of talent and had a wonderful sense of humor. Many broadcasters credit him with giving their careers direction; read what others had to say.

AFTER: WHCN Hartford, CT

TODAY: Charlie passed away March 14, 1993 at the age of 68.

PATTY PARKER
prior to March, 1944 - after October 21, 1945

Anne M. "Patty" Welch did clerical work at Pratt & Whitney before joining WDRC in a similar capacity. The Hartford resident also did part-time announcing. As the receptionist at WDRC, she gave a young man a studio tour one day. He came to work at the station and on October 20, 1945 became her husband (see Charles R. Parker).

TODAY: Patty passed away February 19, 1964 at the age of 43. She and Charlie left two children: Kathy and Steve (who has his own successful broadcast career).

PAUL PAYTON
July, 1977 - March, 1980

Paul Harry David Payton was born on November 16, 1945. His legend in the 1962 New Rochelle (NY) High School yearbook was prophetic: "college, radio career, music." An alumni of Brown University in Providence, Class of 1969, Paul was active in the student radio station where he experimented with progressive rock music. He co-founded the college station along with another WDRC alumnus, Don Berns, also Class of '69. Country Paul was the afternoon drive voice on WDRC FM during the height of its album rock focus. An accomplished musician, for many years he also pursued a fulltime freelance voice career in Chatham, NJ

PRIOR: WFAS White Plains, NY; WLNA Peekskill, NY; WBRU, WHIM, WICE, all Providence, RI; WSVP West Warwick, RI; WHCN Hartford, CT; KBPI and KFML, both Denver, CO; WHCN Hartford, CT

AFTER: WCCC A/F Hartford, CT; WPLR New Haven, CT; WWYZ Waterbury, CT; WOVV Ocracoke, NC

TODAY: Paul succumbed to cancer after a courageous battle on October 23, 2023. His wife, Bette, planned to scatter his ashes in his beloved Outer Banks of North Carolina (10/25/23).

BILL PEARSON
May, 1979 - April, 1981

Bill worked nights on WDRC AM, 7PM-midnight. He was replaced by Chip Donavon, who left the afternoon shift to make way for Sebastian. He later ran the Atlanta branch of Dick Robinson's Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

PRIOR: WRCQ Farmington, CT

AFTER: WTIC Hartford, CT

TODAY: Bill died on October 17, 2000 while living in Georgia; he was only 48. At the time he was president of the Atlanta Broadcasting Institute. Read a touching tribute from his friend, Bill Stephens.

JIM PETERS
August, 1967 - February, 1968

Born in May 1946, this Chicago native started at WDRC FM during the summer of 1967. He soon moved to the AM side hosting a 9AM-2PM request show. He finished his brief stay at WDRC doing middays on FM. He left radio in 1987 and became a board-certified hearing aid specialist in Orlando, FL.

PRIOR: WLAN Lancaster, PA

AFTER: KPOI, KKUA, KORL, KIKI, KMAI all Honolulu, HI; KULA Waipahu, HI

TODAY: James Peter Gagnon is retired in Weirsdale, FL; see his note (2-22-02) (e-mail).

MICHAEL PICOZZI
December 2014 - present

A Bloomfield native and high school graduate, Michael has a long history in radio - and Hartford. He earned an associate's degree from Mitchell College, then a bachelor's degree from Emerson College in Boston. His on-air career began in 1973 in Fall River, MA. He was named program director at WHCN in August 1977, before leaving for Philadelphia in 1979 where he worked at a pair of rock and roll legends. In 1981 he was appointed morning man and program director at WYSP. In August 1985 he returned to WHCN and by the next year was teamed with Gary Lee Horn each morning as Picozzi and The Horn. In May 1997 the pair split after 11 years when Michael was hired by WCCC where he remained until departing in April 2013. Michael began at WDRC FM as afternoon man.

PRIOR: WSAR Fall River, MA; WHCN Hartford, CT; WMMR FM Philadelphia, PA; WYSP Philadelphia, PA; WHCN Hartford, CT; WCCC FM Hartford, CT

TODAY: Michael moved from afternoon drive to morning drive in January 2017, replacing Chaz & AJ (e-mail).

BRAD PIERCE
prior to July 7, 1989 - July, 1991 ?

Brad was one of the voices on WDRC AM during a period of satellite-assisted programming. The slogan of The Oldies Channel format was "Your Station for the best oldies from the fifties, sixties and seventies." Thus, he didn't actually work at WDRC but was heard on it and other stations around the country affiliated with the service.

PRIOR: WPJB, WGNG and WPRO FM, all Providence, RI

AFTER:

TODAY: Brad is still with The Oldies Channel and does professional voice work; see his note (1-7-00) (e-mail).

WALT PINTO
October 12, 1998 - April, 2002

Walter Clement Pinto had a long association with WDRC, starting on the air in 1967 as "Kent Clark." He returned to WDRC AM as program director in October, 1998 and left in April, 2002 shortly after music was dropped in favor of talk.

PRIOR: WORO Orono, ME; WLBZ & WGUY Bangor, ME; WBBX Portsmouth, NH; WNLC New London, CT; WICC Bridgeport, CT; WAVZ New Haven, CT

AFTER: WCCC Hartford, CT; WRCQ Farmington, CT; WELI New Haven, CT; WWYZ Waterbury, CT; WHYN Springfield, MA; WLIS Old Saybrook, CT; WMEX Farmington, NH; WJMJ Prospect, CT; WLML West Palm Beach, FL

TODAY: Walt died on November 13, 2024 after a long period of declining health.

JEROME PIVEN
February 10, 1941 - May 1942 & September to October 8, 1942

A native of Pennsylvania native Jerry began his career at his hometown station at the age of 14 in 1940. He developed an interest in dramatics at Central High School in Scranton and spent a season working with a stock company at Cape May, New Jersey. In Hartford his duties including announcing and program arranging, for which he earned $35 a week in May, 1941. In May 1942 Jerry moved to the City of Brotherly Love for an assignment at WPEN but he returned to WDRC in early September. A month later he became the fifth WDRC staff announcer to answer the challenge as the U.S. geared up for World War II. He resigned to join the Army and was replaced by Charles Haaser.

PRIOR: WGBI Scranton, PA

AFTER: WPEN Philadelphia, PA

TODAY: Staff Sgt. Jerome Piven was killed in the line of duty in Germany on December 6, 1944 while assigned to the 378th Infantry 95th Division. He was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He is buried in Luxembourg.

ROBERT M. PROVAN, JR.
April, 1935 - September 1942; returned May 1946

Robert Martin Provan, Jr. was born in New Jersey in 1912. He worked for Pratt & Whitney aircraft company before becoming one of WDRC's early staff announcers. He also served as a Hartford alderman, and took his turn at being Mayor For A Day when the real Mayor Spellacy fell ill in 1940. Provan was in charge of promotion and production for W1XPW, Franklin Doolittle's first FM station which went on the air May 13, 1939. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11, 1942. The May 6, 1946 issue of Broadcasting magazine noted that Bob had returned to WDRC as production manager. He later left Hartford for an advertising job in New York City. By 1950 he was living in the Baldwin Park section of Los Angeles.

PRIOR:

AFTER: Standard Brands, Inc., Madison Avenue, New York, NY; West Coast representative of the Arrow-Hart and Hegeman Electric Company

TODAY: Robert was living in Long Beach, CA when he died on November 30, 1976 at the age of 64.