Arnie Ginsburg
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Arnie Ginsburg was a well-known disc jockey in the Boston radio market from the mid 1950s until the 1970s. Following this period, he became involved in the business-side of radio as a business manager, president and owner of WVJV-TV and later Pyramid Broadcasting.
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Arnie started out, in fact, as a Radio Engineer, first at WORL/950 where once in a while he sat in with a prime-time show's host. He then moved to WBOS 1600 AM, where he developed his own on-air Top 40 show, which prepared him for his move to Boston's Top 40 powerhouse (before WRKO), WMEX/1510. He refused a salary from station owner Max Richmond, instead wheeling and dealing for a 25% cut of all commercial revenue Arnie would generate for his show... and that, claimed Arnie, made him "the highest-paid jock on the station."
Some listeners thought Arnie was on the air 7 nights a week. This was plausible because he recorded one of his weekly night shows for playback on Saturday night, and then also record a new show for Sunday during the week. At this time in the radio business, this was highly unusual. The practice became popular only in the 1980s, when Radio network shows more often began doing the same.
As a member of the Radio Hall-Of-Fame, Arnie is perhaps best-known from his days at the WMEX in Boston, though he also spent some time at WRKO. When the business development plan was still coming together for WRKO, management wanted to build the station around a local radio legend, so Arnie became their first choice.
"Woo-Woo" Ginsburg was on the air for less than a month, when his former boss, WMEX owner Max Richmond slapped a court injunction, enforcing a no-compete charge, and Arnie left the "live" airwaves for good. But Arnie got to stay in the business, by staying with WRKO, as they segued him into sales, where he performed magnificently. In fact, he personally sold ALL the time slots for WRKO-FM. He later in 1970 went on to be the General Manager of WBCN and in 1972 the General Manager of WWEL. In 1979 he advanced to become partner of WXKS-FM "Kiss 108" and co-owner of WVJV-TV in 1985.[1]
Arnie became known as "Woo-Woo" Ginsburg because of the train whistle he imitated from time to time while on the air. His theme and style has gone on to be reproduced on classic albums such as Crusin 1961 History of Rock & Roll. [2][3][4][5]
As Arnie grew closer to retirement, he migrated north to Ogunquit, Maine (about 75 miles north of Boston) where he had spent summers in his younger years and developed a hometown affinity for this artists' colony and resort on the coast of southern Maine in York County. Ogunquit residents came to recognize Arnie when he rode his moped into town during the warmer months and in time, he became a fixture in the community. He lives in a small house near Perkins Cove, a small and picturesque tourist attraction visited by many tourists throughout the year.
- ^ Radio Broadcasting History, Radio People. 440 International.
- ^ Cruisin 1961 History Of Rock. Amazon.ca.
- ^ Arnie Ginsburg. WRKO.
- ^ Arnie Ginsburg. WRKO.
- ^ "Motley Crews: A short history of Boston rock", The Phoenix, November 15, 2006.