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Legendary DJ looks back/
iamplify.com
New York radio has had its share of legendary disc jockeys, and right there with the greats is Pete Fornatale.
Fornatale built his reputation as one of the proponents of the late 1960s FM progressive rock sound while working at WNEW-FM.
But Fornatale’s story begins far, far away from the ‘NEW-FM Midtown Manhattan---10 miles to the north --- in The Bronx.
Looking back, Fornatale found proof that he always had an interest in radio. While researching for his latest book “Back to the Garden—The Story of Woodstock,” he discovered a picture of himself at either eight- or nine-years-old.
“I’m holding with my right hand a tone arm of a phonograph. A friend of mine captioned it: ‘Even then he knew.’”
That picture, though, is hard for him to describe to a younger audience. “I have to explain what that thing is. It’s a turntable!” Fornatale quipped.
The legendary DJ didn’t just know at an early age how he would make a living---helped by the fact that he lived only two blocks from Fordham University--- he knew his educational destiny as well.
Around the same age as the aforementioned picture, Fornatale noticed one of the buildings at Fordham had a 200-foot radio antenna with a blinking red light on the top of it to warn airplanes. His lifelong love affair with radio would be cemented.
Fornatale would one day attend the school and work at the radio station [WFUV].
“The real strangeness is that 40 years later going full circle, I’m back there doing my once-a-week live radio show ‘Mixed Bag.’
“It’s the completion of a circle, and since Harry Chapin was one of my friends and favorite artists, I think it’s only appropriate that “Circle”—which is sort of one of his most famous songs---describes the career path that I took,” Fornatale said.
Something else about his career path---he never had to venture to small stations or small markets. Pete Fornatale was home to stay from the beginning, due to a combination of talent and happenstance.
Fornatale graduated from Fordham in 1967 with a B.A. in Communication Arts. He remained at ‘FUV until 1969. During that same time, he also worked briefly at WOR-FM handling off-air projects. Upon leaving Fordham, his professional radio days were about to explode at WNEW-FM.
The story of his hiring is connected to the fate of WOR-FM. After being advised by Los Angeles consultant Bill Drake, station management switched WOR-FM from progressive rock to an FM Top 40 format.
“[It was] the complete antithesis of what the station had set out to be,” Fornatale recalled.
That change was more than veteran DJ Rosko, the night time jock, could take. One shift in October 1967, he quit while on the air.
Fornatale, who met Rosko previously, invited him to his ‘FUV show the following Saturday to discuss why he abruptly walked away.
Unbeknownst to either man, WNEW-FM execs were listening to that broadcast. After a failed experiment where ‘NEW-FM used women announcers to copy the sound of WNEW-AM’s “Great American Songbook,” the FM decided to pick up the void left by WOR.
Almost immediately, Rosko was brought on board to anchor the station’s newly formatted progressive rock sound. Fornatale said Rosko was an immediate success at ‘NEW-FM.
Shortly thereafter, the other pieces to the ‘NEW puzzle would fit into place. “They hired Jonathan Schwartz from Boston. Alison Steele was the one… from the all-women’s format who made the transition … Scott Muni, another ‘OR-FM veteran… had been fired and was operating a disco at the time,” Fornatale documented.
As for his part, Fornatale remembered, “They were definitely looking for some new blood.” When ‘NEW-FM station management heard Rosko that day with Fornatale, they had found their “new blood.”
Fornatale’s audition, however, didn’t go so well.
“I just blew it,” Fornatale remembered. “They put me in a studio next to Ted Brown, who was on the air at the AM station (1130). I played records at the wrong speed and I spoke an octave higher, when I already have a higher voice than was normal for radio at the time.
“I got a lovely letter from the program director saying, ‘You’re a fine young man. Keep doing what you’re doing. We’ll be in touch,’” Fornatale recalled.
Crushed and disappointed by what he thought was a rejection letter, Fornatale was surprised and delighted when the program director did get back in touch.
In the summer of 1969, the stars aligned just right for Fornatale. One staffer was fired, one quit and another was on vacation.
“They needed a warm body to fill an overnight slot… from midnight to 6 on a Saturday night into a Sunday morning. And I got the call.”
Needless to say, that live audition went better than the taped one in 1967. Fornatale was on his way to joining that “Dream Team” of New York radio.
In part two with Fornatale, we’ll look inside the glory days of ‘NEW-FM and explore what was behind his decision to ultimately leave WNEW. And no discussion with Fornatale would be complete without picking his brain on one of his favorite topics ---rock and roll.
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