DOUG TAYLOR
December 31, 1990 - after July 8, 1996 and January, 1997 - October 10, 2008

Born in Milwaukee, Doug got a taste of living the gypsy life while a child. He spent time in Cleveland, then Detroit where he earned a degree in telecommunications from Michigan State University in 1986. His first radio job was at the college station. Doug did the FM night shift and afternoon drive during his first stay, leaving in 1996 to do morning drive at a Springfield station. He returned as a part-timer and later took over the afternoon drive oldies shift formerly held by Frank Holler. See his note (4-25-00). Doug was let go during an economic budget cutback in 2008.

PRIOR: WRIF, WKSG both Detroit, MI; WKGW Utica, NY; WSRS Worcester, MA; WODS Boston, MA

AFTER: WPKX FM Springfield, MA

TODAY: Doug Taylor Thiel is an account executive with Comcast in Enfield; read his LinkedIn profile (4-26-14).

EMILY TAYLOR
summer, 2001

All Taylor's all the time? Emily joined Doug weekday afternoons with traffic from 3-7PM on DRC FM.

PRIOR: ?

MIKE TAYLOR
May, 1974 - August, 1976 and April 11, 1977 - May 25, 1979

Mike was a veteran before he arrived in Hartford - a military veteran who served two tours in Vietnam (1968 & 1969). He was the midday personality on WDRC FM during his first stint at Big D. He left for NBC's FM station in the nation's capital. When the FCC reduced the amount of permissible simulcast time to only 25%, Charlie Parker decided to simulcast overnights, and split the morning shows. Charlie called Mike who returned to do mornings on DRC FM (Album Rock). When he left the second time, he was replaced in morning drive by Roscoe.

PRIOR: WGRO Lake City, FL; WHYN Springfield, MA

AFTER: WKYS FM Washington, DC; KYA FM San Francisco, CA; KOPA FM, Phoenix, AZ; WEZI FM, Miami, FL; WTVJ TV, Miami, FL; WMJJ FM, Birmingham, AL; WUSA-FM, Tampa, FL; WWRM St. Petersburg, FL; WLVU FM Tampa, FL; WYUU St. Petersburg, FL; WKTK FM/WSKY FM, Gainesville, FL; WLTY Columbia, SC; WRGO Crystal River, FL; WYKE FM/TV Lecanto, FL

TODAY: Mike retired after 43+ years in radio. He has lived in Dunnellon, FL since 1997 where he and his wife continue to compete with their pure bred dogs (Vizslas) ; see his note (3-1-15) (e-mail).

STEVE TEFFT
February 14, 1982

Steve Tefft was born in West Warwick, RI in 1958. After moving several times his family settled in Killingworth, CT in 1966. Steve attended The Morgan School (Clinton, CT) and graduated from The University of Connecticut in 1980. His first radio job out of college was as a newscaster/sportscaster in Old Saybrook. He was a one-hit wonder, working just one day at Big D. He did a live news audition for Ken Trimble on Valentine's Day 1982, but didn't get the job.

PRIOR: WLIS OLd Saybrook, CT

AFTER: WELI New Haven, CT; WHJJ Providence, RI; WQRC FM Hyannis, MA; WCRB FM Boston, MA

TODAY: Steve is a news writer at WCVB-TV 5 in Boston, MA, and lives on Cape Cod with his wife, Donna (e-mail)(5-28-21).

LOU TERRI
July, 1958 - July, 1959

Born in Massachusetts on July 14, 1927, Lou's prior broadcasting experience was in northern New England. He was hired to take over the mike in the early morning slot, but towards the end of his year at WDRC he hosted the all-night show.

PRIOR: WWNH Rochester, NH; WBMS Boston, MA; WEIM Fitchburg, MA

AFTER: WPOP Hartford, CT; WHYN Springfield, MA; WRCH A/F Farmington, CT; WIOF Waterbury, CT

TODAY: Lou died in a car accident on October 23, 1989; he was 62.

BRYANT THOMAS
February 12, 1970 - after January 21, 1971 and summer, 1974 - late 1977

A Connecticut native and graduate of Bristol Central High School, Bryant was also one of the earliest graduates of Dick Robinson's Connecticut School of Broadcasting. He racked up lots of call letters and experience in just a couple of years before doing a tour of Southeast Asia with the U.S. Air Force. His first stay in the WDRC news department lasted about a year. Four years later he began a full-time assignment that lasted more than three years.

PRIOR: WPOP Hartford, CT; WBMI Meriden, CT; WINF Manchester, CT; WHCN Hartford, CT; Armed Forces Thailand Network

AFTER: WATR Waterbury, CT; WNHC New Haven, CT; WPOP Hartford, CT; WRCQ Farmington, CT; WATR Waterbury, CT; WWYZ Waterbury, CT; WTIC Hartford, CT; AP Radio, Washington, DC

TODAY: In November 2012 Bryant retired after 16 years as a Washington-based reporter/anchor for AP Radio; he lives in Rochester, New Hampshire; see his note (e-mail) (8-25-18).

LEN THOMAS
October, 1976 - July, 1977

Born Leonard Edwin Ham on September 5, 1946, this Norwich native entered the U.S. Army before beginning his broadcast career. A Connecticut School of Broadcasting graduate, he went to work in his hometown before joining WDRC AM to host 10AM-3PM. He later spent several years in Boston, first on WBZ Radio, and later as the voice of WBZ Television for several years.

PRIOR: WICH Norwich, CT; WCOD Hyannis, MA

AFTER: WBZ AM/TV Boston, MA; WGST Atlanta, GA

TODAY: Len passed away at a hospice facility in Hudson, FL on July 4, 2013; he was 66.

CEDRIC G. THOMPSON
prior to July 15, 1944 - after August 6, 1949

Cedric was a graduate of Hartford Public High School in the Class of 1927A, where he served both as assistant editor and editor of the Owlet newspaper. He also graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He lived in Newington when he was a staff announcer in the 1940s. He was the regular news reader at 7:55 and 8:30 a.m., Monday through Saturday. While at WDRC he was active in community theater, landing the lead role in a Hartford Mark Twain Masquers production of The Man Who Came To Dinner. During and after his tenure at WDRC, Cedric chaired Hartford's annual cancer campaign and was on the board of the Connecticut Cancer Society.

AFTER: His post-broadcast career was spent in the woodworking industry, including the family business, C.H. Dresser & Sons of Hartford.

TODAY: Cedric died in Hartford on June 2, 1981; he was 71.

CHIP THOMPSON
August, 1963 - October 31, 1964

A native of Albany, NY - and a 1960 graduate of Albany Academy - Chip attended the University of Vermont where he was bitten by the radio bug. He replaced Wayne Hickox as the utility man on The Swinging Six which meant he hosted regular Saturday and Sunday shifts, did news during the week, and was on call to fill in for the full-timers. He later returned to Vermont where he was general manager at a Burlington station for many years.

PRIOR: WJOY Burlington, VT

AFTER: WVMT Burlington, VT

TODAY: Using his real name, George Goldring, Chip is general manager of classical station WCVT Stowe, VT (12-28-99) (e-mail).

GEORGE TOMLINSON
November 30, 1944 - prior to January 16. 1945

George had prior radio experience in the south when he joined WDRC as a staff announcer on the last day of November 1944. He was married and had one child; they lived at 2423 Main Street in Hartford. His stay was short; by mid January he was working in Springfield. That job didn't last much longer. By mid June 1945 George had relocated to Oklahoma. In May 1946 he relocated again, this time to Mansfield OH.

PRIOR: WBTH Williamson, WV; WHLN Harlan, KY; WOPI Bristol, TN

AFTER: WHYN Springfield, MA; KOMA Oklahoma City, OK; WMAN Mansfield, OH

TODAY: ?

KEN TRIMBLE
January, 1978 - May 1985

Ken was born in Washington, DC on February 7, 1943. He began his broadcast career while serving in the U.S. Army. Known as J. Paul Roberts in his earlier career, Ken was a longtime Buckley Broadcasting employee, working at their Philadelphia and Minneapolis stations before moving to Hartford. He arrived at Big D to replace Walt Dibble as news director and morning news anchor on the Brad Davis show. When Charlie Parker's health required him to step down as program director in August, 1983, Ken took over his duties as vice president for programming. Ken left Hartford for Indiana where he briefly worked in the banking industry before serving for 12 years as general manager of WKID.

PRIOR: WVLK Lexington, KY; WKLO Louisville, KY; WIBG Philadelphia, PA; WQXE Elizabethtown, KY; WWTC Minneapolis, MN

AFTER: WIEL/WKMO Elizabethtown, KY; WIKI Madison, IN; WKID FM Vevay, IN

TODAY: Kenneth R. Trimble passed away in Madison, IN on April 12, 2012; he was 69.

CHARLIE TUNA
April 2010 - July 6, 2014

The voice of Charlie Tuna is one of the best known in radio. Born Art Ferguson, he grew up in Kearney, Nebraska where he joined the local radio station staff at the age of 16. In 1966 he headed to Oklahoma, followed by a short stint in Boston in 1967. Charlie spent most of his career as a Los Angeles personality. During those years he was an active partner in the Alan/Tuna Production firm which syndicated radio programs and specials. He has served as morning man at many of his posts, as well as program director. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990 and has been the announcer on several television shows including The Mike Douglas Show and Scrabble. Charlie was also heard on Armed Forces Radio between 1971 and 1996. In the spring of 2010 his syndicated 70s music show began airing Sunday nights on WDRC FM from 6-11PM. He also provides the imaging voice for WDRC's station IDs and promos.

PRIOR: KOMA Oklahoma City, OK; WMEX Boston, MA; KHJ AM/FM Los Angeles, CA; KCBQ San Diego, CA; KROQ, KKDJ, KIIS, KTNQ, KHTZ, KBZT, KRLA, KODJ/KCBS, KMPC/KABC, KIKF, all Los Angeles, CA

TODAY: Charlie's syndicated show ended when the Buckley family sold WDRC to Connoisseur Media. Visit Charlie's web site.

UNKNOWN NEWSMAN
summer, 1968

This individual's identity has been lost in the ether! The webmaster once asked the late Walt Dibble, who was hired as WDRC news director in mid-May 1968, who this man was. Walt couldn't remember his name but said the station was relying on some part timers to get through that summer. Newsmen didn't identify themselves by name under the format at that time. Recordings exist of this individual from June 22, June 30 and July 13, 1968. Beyond that we know nothing else about him!

PRIOR: ?

AFTER: ?

TODAY: If you can solve the mystery, please drop a note to the webmaster!

JOEY VOGEL
November, 1981 - October, 1982

Joey was born in Manchester, CT in 1947. She was a member of the Class of 1965 at Manchester High School, and graduated in 1969 from the University of Hartford. She was one of several women to make their mark in the WDRC newsroom. After leaving radio, in 1991 Joey moved to Arizona and sold computers. She and her husband later moved to Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where she died.

PRIOR: WCNX Middletown, CT; WMMW Meriden, CT; WKND Hartford, CT; WPBS, the public radio station at Trinity College, Hartford, CT

AFTER: WPOP Hartford, CT; WRTT Rockville, CT; WTIC TV Hartford, CT

TODAY: Jo Anne (Reynolds)(Vogel) Gelinas died in Ecuador on May 30, 2023 at the age of 75. See her note (9-2-00).

LEE VOGEL
prior to December 24, 1966 - August, 1967

Born March 3, 1927 in Pittsburgh, Lee spent 1945-46 working for the U.S. Navy on a destroyer escort ship. After the war he was hired as a high school literature and composition teacher in Pittsburgh. To help make ends meet he took a part-time job at a local radio station and got hooked. The "Voice of Vogel" replaced Joel Cash as host of the 9AM-noon show on WDRC. He arrived at Big D the same week as Joey Reynolds; they had worked together in Buffalo. Lee once gave away a "Date With The D.J." Mary Dwaid, of Windsor, had dinner with him at Hotel America, then off they went to see Louis Armstrong at the Bushnell! Lee finished his Big D assignment in the summer of 1967 by hosting 7AM-12noon on WDRC FM.

PRIOR: WMCK Pittsburgh/McKeesport, PA; WAMP, KQV & WJAS all Pittsburgh, PA; CKEY Toronto, ONT; WKBW Buffalo, NY

AFTER: WNBH New Bedford, MA; WLIF Baltimore, MD; WBNY Buffalo, NY; the Power Authority of New York; the City of Niagra Falls

TODAY: Leo Francis Vogel spent many years in retirement in Charleston, SC; he died in Charlotte, NC on August 28, 2016 at the age of 89 (3-24-21).

WILLIAM H. von HACHT, JR.
prior to September 3, 1943 - before March 6, 1944

Perhaps the tallest individual to ever grace the corridors at 750 Main Street was Bill von Hacht. The California native was born on November 21, 1921 and attended Kenyon College in central Ohio. He found himself announcing at WDRC during World War II; because of his 6'9" height, he was rejected for service by both the Army and Navy. Some listeners complained that his name sounded too German so management asked him to change it. He considered Bill Hart or Bill Ford (from Hartford), but decided it would be tough to read a commercial for Chevrolet if his name was Ford. So, for the remainder of his tour at WDRC, Bill von Hacht was Bill Hart (not to be confused with the Bill Hart from the 1970s). His height earned him the nickname Longwave at his next stop in Schenectady. In 1945 Bill began a 40-year career with the CBS affiliates in Philadelphia. He was primarily a newsman on radio, though his TV work included a long stint as a circus clown. He was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2006.

PRIOR: ?

AFTER: WGY Schenectady, NY; WCAU AM/TVPhiladelphia, PA

TODAY: On December 4, 1998 William H. von Hacht, Jr. died of esophageal cancer in Canandaigua, NY at the age of 77.