Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Part one.

From 1986 to 1998 I had the pleasure and honor of being part of a very special and groundbreaking radio station that has just turned 40 years old.

I landed a position on the Matty in The Morning show on Kiss 108 FM. Local kid makes good? More like local kid gets incredibly lucky! I was also finally putting my Emerson College degree to good use!

Another Somerville resident, Rich Buono, was Matt Siegel’s producer and he also created the characters of Rocky, Lou from the Sunoco, and the infamous Miss Mellons, Matt’s “secretary” who always called in sick.

Rich, who was also known as Rocky to his friends, was a producer at WFNX in Lynn and we did a couple of bits that were on the air there. I then went to Florida for a year and played with a band called the Hypnotics, and when I returned I found out Rocky had a new gig as Matty’s producer.

He got me in, doing silly phone calls to the show at first, and eventually I was on the show live every day. That was 1986. I created a character named Blanche, who was modeled after my friend Pat’s mother up the street from where I grew up. Somehow that lovable zany old lady launched a 23-year career in radio.

Blanche’s signature catch phrase was, “Son of a B!” Rocky and Blanche won best of Boston in 1987 in Boston Magazine, and by then I had created more characters like Larry the Caterer, Father Mulcahy and the lounge owner from 666 Somerville Ave, Somerville, Mass, Johnny C. (also based on a real person and dear friend).

I did a weekly bit called “Somerville 02144,” which was a spoof on Beverly Hills 90210. Soon I was doing about 20 different voices and characters as well as writing and producing parody songs such as Roger Clemens, Roger Clemens to the tune of Rock Me Amadeus. I was also appearing on Matty Live shows dressed in character, with superstars such as Rod Stewart, Bobby Vinton, Barry Manilow, and Tony Bennett, to name a few.

Matt Siegel and Jimmy dressed as “Johnny C” on the air during a “Matty Live” show around 1988.

But being funny for a living was very stressful and demanding. 3 to 5 “bits”a day, five days a week was, to say the least, grueling. Rewarding, but stressful at times.

As a sidebar, I lost my entire family between 1986 and 1995. Yes, my mom in ‘86, my sister in ‘92, my dad in ‘94 and my brother six months later in ‘95. Being funny for a living was extremely difficult during my grief. My Kiss 108 family, especially Matty, was very supportive at this time, but the show must go on.

I stayed at Kiss until 1998. I spent a great year on The Inside Track radio show, with my St. Clements School friend and Somerville native, Gayle Fee, and the equally talented Laura Raposa. I was also writing and performing with Karlson and McKenzie on Eagle 93.7 for a while. Two great guys!

In 2001, I was hired by Oldies 103 and worked on the morning show with Paul Perry and reunited with my dear Kiss 108 friend, the lovely and talented June Knight, from Medford. Dale Dorman, also a Kiss 108 alum, took over the hosting duties, until I left in 2008.

This past Friday, a bunch of us former Kiss 108 folks were graciously invited to a fantastic 40th Anniversary party at their new state of the art studio, just minutes from the original Kiss 108 near Wellington Circle in Medford. Kiss and several other radio stations in the building is owned and operated by iHeartRadio. It was a night to remember! We were then interviewed live on WBZ’s Nightside with Dan Rea. Dan, who’s a gracious man and a giant in the biz, made us feel like royalty.

Old friends got together, some who hadn’t seen each other in years. The original owner of Kiss 108, the man who started it all, Rich Balsbaugh, was there sharing priceless stories, as was legendary DJ and radio entrepreneur John Garabedian (from Open House Party and V-66). Familiar iconic DJ’s like David Iseman, Ed McMann, Lady D the Real Diana Steele, Joan Quinn Eastman, Lark Logan, JJ Wright and of course my old pal Billy Costa (who is still on with Matty!) were chit-chatting and sharing memories all night.

The current staff, led by Alan Chartrand, President of Boston Region iHeartMedia Markets, and Dylan Sprague, Senior Vice President Programming, Boston Region, hosted a heartwarming reception for all of us former Kiss 108 on-air personalities as well as past sales, production, and secretarial friends who were there from Kiss 108’s beginning.

We were smiling ear to ear most of the night telling stories and also fondly remembering the friends we lost like Vinnie Peruzzi, Rich (Rocky) Buono, Lisa Lipps , Dale Dorman, and of course the one and only Sunny Joe White.

Also at the celebration with precious stories of the origins of Kiss 108, were former sales, music, corporate, promotions, production and front desk friends. Sales giant Joe DiDonato, and production genius Jeff Berlin , both very much still in the radio/TV business attended. Jeff could always somehow magically make me sound way better. Former Kiss music and programming ace, and my good pal, Jerry McKenna, and past promotions innovator Beverly Tilden were at the soirée. RenéeMaria Barry who was our gorgeous front desk receptionist, and current connection to Sunny Joe White’s family was there. She is the glue that gets us old pals together these days for beach parties etc. Former Corporate Assistant Lisa Peterson had some very funny and inside stories. The vivacious Joan Quinn Eastman, who was also on Kiss 108 radio right from the beginning and still in radio, was very instrumental in making a lot of our special Kiss 40th party plans happen. Thanks Joan! A lot of us still hang around together occasionally because, after all, we are a family.

This lucky, lifelong lad from Davis Square, Western Junior High School and Somerville High School was given the chance of a lifetime and will forever be grateful for my incredibly fortunate radio career that defined my very being. Thank you Rocky, Matty, Billy and my whole Kiss 108 family, past and present for giving me a chance to live a dream. Kiss 108 FM! 40 years young and still number one!

To be continued.