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Pete Fornatale, N Y Times Obit
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tr...@iwvisp.com
Apr 27, 2012, 11:06:18 AM4/27/12
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nytimes.com...
Pete Fornatale, a disc jockey who helped usher in a musical
alternative to Top 40 AM radio in New York in the late 1960s and early
1970s, presenting progressive rock and long album tracks that AM
stations wouldn’t touch and helping to give WNEW a major presence on
the still-young FM dial, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 66.
The cause was complications of a stroke, his son Mark said.
FM radio had been around for a while but did not come of age until the
1960s, when, amid the whirlwind of a growing counterculture, the
federal government mandated that FM stations carry different
programming from that of their sister AM bands. Enterprising D.J.’s
grasped the chance to play longer, fresher, rarer music and give voice
to the roiling political and social issues of the day.
Mr. Fornatale was at the forefront of the FM revolution, along with
WNEW-FM colleagues like Scott Muni, Rosko, Vin Scelsa, Dennis Elsas,
Jonathan Schwartz and Alison Steele (who called herself “the
Nightbird”). They played long versions of songs, and sometimes entire
albums, and talked to their audiences in a conversational tone very
different from the hard-sell approach of their AM counterparts.
WNEW-FM may have been the most influential experimenter. When the
station dropped rock music for talk radio in 1999, Billboard called it
“a legend, affecting and inspiring people throughout the industry.”
Mr. Fornatale (pronounced forn-a-TELL) had actually beaten WNEW to the
punch. As a sophomore at Fordham University in 1964, he persuaded the
school’s Jesuit leaders to let him do a free-form rock show on what
was officially an educational station. He continued that show for a
few years after he graduated, and for a while could be heard on both
WFUV and WNEW.
WOR-FM became the first commercial station in New York to adopt the
format, in 1966, but abandoned it after about a year. WNEW, with the
slogan “Where Rock Lives,” adopted it in 1967.
Mr. Fornatale came on board in 1969 and quickly moved to the center of
New York’s music scene. He gave early exposure to country-rock bands
like Buffalo Springfield and Poco. He did one of the first American
interviews with Elton John, and got a rousing ovation when he brought
a rented surfboard to Carnegie Hall for a Beach Boys show. He
introduced Curtis Mayfield to Bob Dylan at a Muhammad Ali fight.
In 1982 he started “Mixed Bag,” a program that emphasized singer-
songwriters, on Sunday mornings. His regular guests included Suzanne
Vega, who introduced herself to him by sending a fan letter.
One of Mr. Fornatale’s signatures was playing songs that followed a
theme. It might be colors, with a playlist including the Beatles’
“Yellow Submarine” and Joni Mitchell’s “Blue.” Or it might be great
inventions, as when he celebrated the 214th anniversary of the United
States Patent Office. Or the theme might simply be radio.
Peter Fornatale was born in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 1945, and graduated
from Fordham Preparatory School, on the campus of Fordham University.
His introduction to rock ’n’ roll came in 1956 when his father
summoned him to the television to see “this crazy guy” — Elvis
Presley. The first record he bought was Presley’s “Hound Dog.”
Mr. Fornatale graduated from Fordham with a degree in communications
in 1967 and taught English at a Roman Catholic high school before
joining WNEW. His voice drew praise for its mellow, almost
professorial tone, although some listeners may have chosen to describe
it as nasal.
By the early 1980s, stations specializing in what had been known as
free-form radio were bringing in business consultants who urged less
variety in records and more control over the disc jockeys. Mr.
Fornatale later complained that he and his colleagues had been demoted
from chefs into waiters, “and fast-food waiters at that,” as he told
The Record of Bergen County, N.J., in 1999.
He left WNEW in 1989 to follow the station’s program director to WXRK-
FM (K-Rock), which followed a more conventional approach to pop music.
Mr. Fornatale’s show came on after Howard Stern’s. Mr. Stern, whose
shock-jock format was becoming radio’s new wave, called Mr. Fornatale
the “anti-Stern.”
In 1997 Mr. Fornatale returned to WNEW-FM, which had decided to go
back to album-oriented rock after a succession of owners and formats.
But within a year the station had changed formats again, to talk. In
2001, Mr. Fornatale returned to where he had started: WFUV. “I love
the idea I’ve come full circle,” he said.
Mr. Fornatale wrote several books, including one on the making of
Simon and Garfunkel’s 1968 album “Bookends,” and one on the Woodstock
music festival. He was also the main writer for a series of 600
trading cards on the life of Elvis Presley.
He had lived for six years in Rockaway, Queens, and the previous four
decades in Port Jefferson, N.Y.
Mr. Fornatale’s marriage to Susan Kay Flynn ended in divorce several
years ago. He is survived by his sons, Peter, Mark and Steven, and his
brother, Robert.
His WFUV show, which like his earlier WNEW singer-songwriter show was
called “Mixed Bag,” ran from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
“If you give me the right idea for a program,” Mr. Fornatale said in
2004, “I can give back to you a three-hour journey where, if you tune
in at any time, you’re likely to hear something that will entertain
you. But if you take the ride with me, when we get to the end, you’ll
say, ‘Wow, what a long, strange trip it’s been.’ ”
Ray Arthur
Pete Fornatale, a disc jockey who helped usher in a musical
alternative to Top 40 AM radio in New York in the late 1960s and early
1970s, presenting progressive rock and long album tracks that AM
stations wouldn’t touch and helping to give WNEW a major presence on
the still-young FM dial, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 66.
The cause was complications of a stroke, his son Mark said.
FM radio had been around for a while but did not come of age until the
1960s, when, amid the whirlwind of a growing counterculture, the
federal government mandated that FM stations carry different
programming from that of their sister AM bands. Enterprising D.J.’s
grasped the chance to play longer, fresher, rarer music and give voice
to the roiling political and social issues of the day.
Mr. Fornatale was at the forefront of the FM revolution, along with
WNEW-FM colleagues like Scott Muni, Rosko, Vin Scelsa, Dennis Elsas,
Jonathan Schwartz and Alison Steele (who called herself “the
Nightbird”). They played long versions of songs, and sometimes entire
albums, and talked to their audiences in a conversational tone very
different from the hard-sell approach of their AM counterparts.
WNEW-FM may have been the most influential experimenter. When the
station dropped rock music for talk radio in 1999, Billboard called it
“a legend, affecting and inspiring people throughout the industry.”
Mr. Fornatale (pronounced forn-a-TELL) had actually beaten WNEW to the
punch. As a sophomore at Fordham University in 1964, he persuaded the
school’s Jesuit leaders to let him do a free-form rock show on what
was officially an educational station. He continued that show for a
few years after he graduated, and for a while could be heard on both
WFUV and WNEW.
WOR-FM became the first commercial station in New York to adopt the
format, in 1966, but abandoned it after about a year. WNEW, with the
slogan “Where Rock Lives,” adopted it in 1967.
Mr. Fornatale came on board in 1969 and quickly moved to the center of
New York’s music scene. He gave early exposure to country-rock bands
like Buffalo Springfield and Poco. He did one of the first American
interviews with Elton John, and got a rousing ovation when he brought
a rented surfboard to Carnegie Hall for a Beach Boys show. He
introduced Curtis Mayfield to Bob Dylan at a Muhammad Ali fight.
In 1982 he started “Mixed Bag,” a program that emphasized singer-
songwriters, on Sunday mornings. His regular guests included Suzanne
Vega, who introduced herself to him by sending a fan letter.
One of Mr. Fornatale’s signatures was playing songs that followed a
theme. It might be colors, with a playlist including the Beatles’
“Yellow Submarine” and Joni Mitchell’s “Blue.” Or it might be great
inventions, as when he celebrated the 214th anniversary of the United
States Patent Office. Or the theme might simply be radio.
Peter Fornatale was born in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 1945, and graduated
from Fordham Preparatory School, on the campus of Fordham University.
His introduction to rock ’n’ roll came in 1956 when his father
summoned him to the television to see “this crazy guy” — Elvis
Presley. The first record he bought was Presley’s “Hound Dog.”
Mr. Fornatale graduated from Fordham with a degree in communications
in 1967 and taught English at a Roman Catholic high school before
joining WNEW. His voice drew praise for its mellow, almost
professorial tone, although some listeners may have chosen to describe
it as nasal.
By the early 1980s, stations specializing in what had been known as
free-form radio were bringing in business consultants who urged less
variety in records and more control over the disc jockeys. Mr.
Fornatale later complained that he and his colleagues had been demoted
from chefs into waiters, “and fast-food waiters at that,” as he told
The Record of Bergen County, N.J., in 1999.
He left WNEW in 1989 to follow the station’s program director to WXRK-
FM (K-Rock), which followed a more conventional approach to pop music.
Mr. Fornatale’s show came on after Howard Stern’s. Mr. Stern, whose
shock-jock format was becoming radio’s new wave, called Mr. Fornatale
the “anti-Stern.”
In 1997 Mr. Fornatale returned to WNEW-FM, which had decided to go
back to album-oriented rock after a succession of owners and formats.
But within a year the station had changed formats again, to talk. In
2001, Mr. Fornatale returned to where he had started: WFUV. “I love
the idea I’ve come full circle,” he said.
Mr. Fornatale wrote several books, including one on the making of
Simon and Garfunkel’s 1968 album “Bookends,” and one on the Woodstock
music festival. He was also the main writer for a series of 600
trading cards on the life of Elvis Presley.
He had lived for six years in Rockaway, Queens, and the previous four
decades in Port Jefferson, N.Y.
Mr. Fornatale’s marriage to Susan Kay Flynn ended in divorce several
years ago. He is survived by his sons, Peter, Mark and Steven, and his
brother, Robert.
His WFUV show, which like his earlier WNEW singer-songwriter show was
called “Mixed Bag,” ran from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
“If you give me the right idea for a program,” Mr. Fornatale said in
2004, “I can give back to you a three-hour journey where, if you tune
in at any time, you’re likely to hear something that will entertain
you. But if you take the ride with me, when we get to the end, you’ll
say, ‘Wow, what a long, strange trip it’s been.’ ”
Ray Arthur
Brad Ferguson
Apr 27, 2012, 4:21:09 PM4/27/12
to
In article
<2a56a86d-e988-4ad7...@s7g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
> before joining WNEW.
<2a56a86d-e988-4ad7...@s7g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
<"tr...@iwvisp.com"> wrote:
> Mr. Fornatale graduated from Fordham with a degree in communications
> in 1967 and taught English at a Roman Catholic high school
Maria Regina in Uniondale, in Nassau County. Went on-topic in 1987.
> Mr. Fornatale graduated from Fordham with a degree in communications
> in 1967 and taught English at a Roman Catholic high school
> before joining WNEW.
BobF
Apr 27, 2012, 5:48:36 PM4/27/12
to
On Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:06:18 -0700 (PDT), "tr...@iwvisp.com"
<tr...@iwvisp.com> shouted from the highest rooftop:
Link with headline, writer's byline, publishing date, Fornatale photo
and correction you would otherwise miss without the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/arts/music/pete-fornatale-a-pioneer-of-fm-rock-dies-at-66.html
Pete Fornatale, a Pioneer of FM Rock, Dies at 66
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: April 27, 2012
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
peterpuck86
Apr 27, 2012, 11:26:17 PM4/27/12
to
marti...@yahoo.com
Apr 28, 2012, 8:56:48 AM4/28/12
to
This is a tribute Richard Neer did this morning for Pete Fornatele on
WFAN radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Ty--PWqLo
WFAN radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Ty--PWqLo
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