Tuning in to Ray Adell
Ray Adell is a radio man, from his early days broadcasting down in Virginia to his arrival at WGSM (World’s Greatest Suburban Market!) in Huntington in the early 1950s. But perhaps you’ll remember him best as the voice (and mind) behind “About Long Island,” the long-running radio spot sponsored by the Grumman Corporation. For over twenty years Ray and his staff at Adell Media served up snippets of Long Island history in morning drive time to educate and entertain.
In this interview Ray looks back at the people he’s met (Jack Ellsworth and Edmund Hillary to name just two), stations he’s worked at (WCAP, WEST, WKBS, WGSM and WBAB to name just five), and answers the question: is radio dead?
Leave a comment if you have memories of Ray or any of the old Long Island stations. And special thanks to Thom Hoffman for arranging this interview.
BONUS: The Long Island History Project is now listed in iTunes! If you like what you hear, please leave a review or rate us. If you’re not sure how, read this first.
Many great interviews ahead so keep listening! You can bookmark us, use the “follow” button to get email updates, or subscribe in iTunes or your podcast reader of choice.
Further Research
- More samples of “About Long Island”
- Ray Adell Media
- Long Island Radio History
- Weyman “Sandy” Jones (former Grumman VP of Public Affairs)
- Jack Elsworth Memories in Melody on Facebook
- The Airwaves of New York: Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921-1996 (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Then We Set His Hair on Fire by Phil Dusenberry (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Huntington History (blog of Huntington Town Historian Robert C. Hughes)
4 thoughts on “Tuning in to Ray Adell”
We got a nice reply from Sandy Jones who still looks back on his time on Long Island with fondness. He also shared this related anecdote:
“During the 80’s Grumman defended itself from a hostile takeover attempt by the Texas aerospace company LTV. As Ray said in the interview, 25% of Long Island had a stake in Grumman. LTV wanted to reach those stakeholders, but none of the Long Island radio stations — virtually all of which carried “About Long Island” — would sell them time at any price. I think that LTV eventually offered substantial premiums, but LTV never got on the air. The stations were loyal to their long-time customer and, I think more significantly, to their friend, Ray Adell.”
I listened for Ray all the time. He put on our Teddy Roosevelt Day at Meadowcroft , and it helped us a lot.
You have more useful info than the British had colonies prIWIW-e.
Comments are closed.