Mark Parenteau became synonymous with afternoon radio during his nearly two-decade run at WBCN. Introduced to the medium at an early age in Worcester by his mother, who was part of an afternoon talk show on WAAB, he hosted record hops and wound up on top-40-formatted WORC-AM, where, as a 15-year old, he became known as “Scotty Wainwright.” Three years later, he worked at WLLH in Lowell before moving to Detroit for gigs at WKNR and WABX. “But,” he said, “I always wanted to be at ‘BCN, the great station.”
WCOZ, WBCN, “Dean Of Boston Comedy,” WAAF competition
In 1975, after WCOZ had begun taking on WBCN for dominance in the local rock radio arena, Parenteau left Detroit to return to Boston and worked for the competition. But, after a couple years, he had grown to hate the place. “WCOZ had a corporate mindset, a tight play list,” he says. “I had to sneak records in.” Parenteau met secretly with ‘BCN’s managers, cut a deal and moved to his new home in 1978, staying at ‘BCN for 19 years.
During his tenure, he interviewed most major rock stars on the air, pioneered live remote broadcasting techniques and became known as “The Honorary Dean of Boston Comedy” since he gave shots to dozens of comedians on his show. By the mid-‘90s, however, the veteran broadcaster found himself embattled by the hard-rocking WAAF and its acerbic afternoon team of Opie and Anthony. The ‘BCN jock slipped in the ratings war and soon became vulnerable to the corporate bean counters at parent company CBS.
Criticism Of CBS, Later career, Death
In November ’97, the soon-to-be-unemployed Parenteau honored a promise to appear at a high-profile awards ceremony in Boston. He used his podium time to, as the Boston Globe reported, “get some barbs in, saying, ‘I feel like I have shaken baby syndrome’ and that the CBS ‘Welcome Home’ slogan should be ‘Welcome Homeless.’” Commenting on his statement afterwards, he said he had absolutely no regrets. “It was the right line at the right time,” he chuckled. “It really embarrassed CBS. I was quickly excommunicated and not allowed to do a farewell, show.” Parenteau went on to successful stints at Q104 in New York City and XM Radio. The famed radio jock passed away in June of 2016.
(by Carter Alan)
Carter Alan is a former WBCN deejay now heard on WZLX-FM in Boston. He is the author of Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN (University Press of New England, 2013).
