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Memories of WBRU in the 1960s

Norton Salk Reminisces

I worked at WBRU in the period from Feb '45, when I came up the hill from Classical High School, until I went into the army in the fall of '45.  At that time, the station was wired into the Brown dorms, and I believe thru utility ducts to Pembroke.

Some of the people I remember are Bob Hoskins (?), Abbot "Bud" Yuloff, Bob Grossman, Selma Gold Fishbein and Chris DiMaio.

I was a DJ and also worked as a writer and actor on a weekly variety show.  The variety show was clever, humorous and quite naughty for 1945, with many double entendres and spicy skits. 

As DJ, every hour, on the hour, I had to play a Gruen commercial of the correct time.  These hourly commercials were on a large record, and you had to count the spaces and cuts to get to the time to be played.  Once, I was late with the time break, and in such a hurry and so nervous in counting the the time slots, that, fearing playing the wrong one, I announced the time and sang the jingle: "It's Gruen watch time, la da de la de da".  This didn't go over too well with Dean Walter Wriston, who called the station and wanted to know who "that idiot" was.

Every half-hour I would also announce, in the deepest voice I could muster:  "This is WBRU, the BROWN network", emphasizing BROWN with an even deeper voice.  At that time, commercial radio had a Blue Network and a Red Network. 

After my army service, I went to U of Michigan, where, as a DJ with a Russian accent, I became "Max, with stax of wax and platter fax" on my dorm station. 

Norton E. Salk '48, NSalk27@cs.com   (Posted 5/30/05)

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