WCVB Boston President/GM Bill Fine has some great stories about his early days in broadcasting, but one that didn’t make it into his Fifth Estater profile in the new issue goes back to his days as a radio DJ at Dickinson College. Doing the early A.M. shift, he put the then-new George Carlin album on–the iconic Class Clown record on which Carlin offers up the "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television"–without realizing exactly what was contained in Carlin’s bit.
Albums with questionable material were marked as such on their jacket, relates Fine, and the Carlin album was not marked in any way.
As Carlin’s routine unfolded, Fine realized he’d really stepped into trouble. But not wanting to appear the prude, he let the album continue to spin.
Some time later, the station manager barged into the studio.
"I’m really sorry," said the manager.
"No, I’m really sorry," countered Fine, who then realized it was probably wise to let the manager say what he was sorry for first.
As it turned out, the manager had forgotten to turn on the transmitter, and nobody heard the Carlin routine but Fine.
"I spent over an hour of my life thinking my DJ career had ended," he says with a laugh.
Fine’s got some funny stories. Check out the profile here.
