Mistress Carrie, as she is known by fans, started as an intern at Boston rocker WAAF back in 1991. Three years later she made the payroll in the promotions department, and in 1998, she was on the air covering the night shift. Carrie became Music Director in 2003, worked PM drive and middays, and was promoted to APD in 2017. In all Carrie spent 29 years at the station she loves. That ended in a crash-landing last week when she got that dreaded call to come into the GM’s office.
Radio Ink: Tell us about some of the history of WAAF.
Carrie: We did so much, especially with new artists at WAAF. There are so many bands that credit the station with helping to launch their careers, bands like Sevendust, Godsmack, Disturbed, Slipknot, Kid Rock, heritage artists like Ozzy, Metallica, Foo Fighters. We were always up for doing something out of the ordinary with the artists. The in-studio live acoustic performances were always fantastic. That’s where Shinedown did their first performance of Simple Man which, back in 2004, helped to catapult that band. Brent Smith from Shinedown was on the air with us, this past Friday, talking about the impact, and support from WAAF, and the influence the station had over the trajectory of the bands career. We’ve done a lot over the years with artists. We’ve given bands away as prizes and had them play in people’s backyard.
Radio Ink: When did you get the idea something was going on?
Carrie: To be honest I did not know this was happening until last Tuesday. They brought Joe Calgero in about a year and half ago to spearhead the rebuilding of the brand, that is WAAF, after years of different GM’s having different visions of what they thought it should be. Then post CBS merger when Mark Hannon became our GM, very early on, he would talk about his belief in the power of the WAAF brand. The passion of the audience. Bringing in someone like Joe, to replace a retiring Ron Valeri, who was a pitbull for the format and the station, Joe’s marching orders were, we need to take WAFF and put it back where it needs to be after some questionable decisions about trying to broaden the audience and things that hurt the ratings. Joe being brought in was a sign that WAAF was alive and well and getting ready to chart itself into the future. We started having conversations the middle of last year about how we were going to celebrate WAAF’s 50th anniversary in 2020. Obviously losing a morning show we had for almost 30 years shook everyone to the foundation. The way it was explained to us was that it was a huge opportunity for Greg Hill-Man Hill (who moved over to WEEI in 2019). He’s now on 12 Red Sox stations around New England. But it was also an opportunity for Joe and I to put the reconstruction process in place from the ground up. The Hill-Man morning show hadn’t played music for years, so it was an opportunity to get music back on the morning show and give WAAF a singular focus, no more talk shows. A lot of the syndicated talk stuff we had been running we were getting rid of and everything about the station 24/7 was going to be focused on music. Even when some outsiders started asking questions, after Hill-Man left, we were putting a plan together realizing the operating budget of WAAF wasn’t going to be what it was when we had Hill-Man here. Everyone knew the revenue and ratings were going to take a hit but how could they not when you lose your morning show? But all that revenue was staying in the building. We knew the expenses were going to be trimmed down and that’s why we were looking forward to the fight of bringing WAAF back to the streets and back to the listeners. 2020 was going to be a celebration of our history and our lineage as well as the launch of a new lean and mean stripped down ready to fight WAAF going into the future. When we got brought into the office last Tuesday this was the last thing I expected.
Radio Ink: What was your goal with the format?
Carrie: The plan which was supposed to go into effect March 2, was to shed some of the pure classic music off the station. There is not just one but 2 possibly 3 classic rock stations in the market now so that music is covered. What there isn’t in Boston is an outlet for new rock music. We really wanted to put a spotlight on the fantastic new music that’s coming out as well as the music that’s come out since 1990 or 1995 definitely 2000 because no one in the market is touching it. We were going to be an Active Rock station that harkened back to the music mix there was when I started on the air in 98. WAAF in 98 was playing Sevendust and Led Zeppelin but in 98 Led Zeppelin was 30 years old not 50 years old. There was some room to play heritage artists andsongs but we also wanted to gain our reputation back as being a station that was groundbreaking. A year ago we got our reporting status back. That was step #1. Our vision was live local rock DJ’s, people that loved the music and lived the lifestyle. We wanted to be out in the community with the audience. Lean, mean, music and attitude focused, lifestyle focused and listener driven, that was our vision.
Radio Ink: When you are going to that meeting on Tuesday what are you thinking?
Carrie: It’s never a good sign when you get called into a meeting with the PD and GM. No offense to either one, but the air gets sucked out of the room a bit. You could tell by their faces neither one was happy to deliver this news. Mark Hannon didn’t beat around the bush. He told us exactly what happened, that the stick had been sold and the format was being flipped on Friday at midnight. They explained the future of the call letters would remain with Entercom, and the music would remain on the two HD signals in the city, streaming and on Radio.com, but Friday at midnight the entire staff of WAAF would be gone. In my head I was expecting to get escorted out of the building and that’s when they said take a day to absorb everything and we would meet Wednesday afternoon to figure out how we would send WAAF off on Thursday and Friday. Giving us permission to send off that radio station and having the trust to do that was a gift I will never be able to repay Joe and Mark for. It was so special.
Radio Ink: It had to be bittersweet?
Carrie: Yes. I have been joking with people that the decision got made because they knew if they didn’t let us go on and say goodbye that the building wouldn’t be standing Monday morning.
Radio Ink: What has the reaction been from the listeners?
Carrie: Overwhelming. I’m right now sitting in a TV studio getting ready to do an interview about the loss of a legacy brand in a market. The greater question of what it means for rock radio in the future. How it changes the media and radio landscape of the city. It’s been overwhelming, thousands of texts and social media posts. We haven’t been able to keep up with it. I have always been steadfast in my defending of my beloved radio station because I don’t believe that there has ever been a metric in place that could properly chart and document the ratings of my radio station. I don’t think that active rock in particular is given an even playing field. I’m not making excuses but on duty police, fire fighters, iron workers, cell phone tower workers, anyone wearing an OSHA harness, correction officers, active duty military, none of them are allowed to wear a people meter to work. These are all our P1’s. I have always voiced my concerns that rock stations that play newer music are kind of at a disadvantage because how do you accurately measure the listening audience when huge swaths of the audience can’t participate in the ratings process. The outpouring of support from the audience shows what this brand has meant to people over the last 50 years. Unfortunately, it’s gone now and that’s a tragedy for me personally, for the staff, and everyone that has ever been part of the family as a listener. Once you become part of the WAAF family you never leave.
Radio Ink: What is your opinion on how radio has evolved over your 30 years in the business?
Carrie: First I want to say I am unemployed. I don’t want to give the idea that I don’t want to continue working in this business. Working and living in a place that’s as tribal as Boston is….I’m a firm believer that radio strength has always been live and local. There are plenty of places people can get music nowadays. There are plenty of syndicated shows. What makes radio special is you as the host and the audience are going through something at the exact same time and there’s a bond there. I hope that the importance of being live and local stays with radio. Of all the other forms of media that’s what differentiates us from everything else. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been hugged this last week, at the grocery store, getting gas, at Dunkin Doughnuts. These people have gone through good and bad with us. You could feel the energy when we were getting ready to sign off the air. We were all going through it together, whether you were streaming it in New Mexico or one of the listeners parked in the front part of the building. That’s what makes radio powerful and successful. I hope as our industry is consolidated we don’t lose that because it’s the driving force that makes people love what we do.
Radio Ink: What does someone with all your knowledge about music and experience do next?
Carrie: Right now I’m answering every phone call and taking every meeting. I have had the fortunate situation of being in the same place since I was 18 years old. I haven’t had an updated resume since 1997. The industry has changed so much and there are so many more opportunities. I’m willing to take any conversation. I really want to learn what my skill set can do whether it be in traditional media or the new forms of media. Between my programming experience, the music connections I’ve had with the artists, I refuse to believe there isn’t something I can do to make an impact. People who know me, know I will get something in my teeth and not let go. I want to work in a place where that passion and drive is welcomed and appreciated.
Reach out to Carrie by e-mail at [email protected]
WAAF was sold to EMF last week for $10.75 million. Entercom plans to use the money to pay down debt. The music of WAAF lives on, without live jocks, online and on two HD channels. EMF flipped the format to its national K-LOVE format on Saturday, February 22.