Arnie Ginsburg

It was at WBOS, a station that programmed foreign language shows during the daytime, that he developed his own on-air Top 40 show; this prepared him for his move to a full-time Boston Top 40 radio station, WMEX/1510, in 1958.

Despite not having the traditional deep radio voice, Ginsburg developed an audience that wanted to hear more of him, and he moved to WBOS 1600 AM in 1956 to be a night-time disc jockey.

Arnold William Ginsburg (August 5, 1926 – June 26, 2020), known as Arnie "Woo-Woo" Ginsburg, was an American disc jockey in the Boston radio market from the mid-1950s to the 1970s.

Following this period, he became involved in the business side of radio as a business manager, president and owner of WVJV-TV, and later as an executive with Pyramid Broadcasting and program manager of their Boston station WXKS/1430.

Arnold William Ginsburg was born on August 5, 1926.

He was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Paul Ginsburg, who ran a millinery company, and Sophia (Charak) Ginsburg, who had been a singer prior to marriage.

His family was of Russian Jewish descent.

Arnie graduated from Brookline (MA) High School in 1944.

His first radio job was at the old WORL/950, where he was an engineer for announcer Alan Dary.

He did not intend to be an announcer; but at one point, he sat in on air with Dary and got a good response.

While he developed a following during his time with WBOS, it was at WMEX that Ginsburg's popularity as a disc jockey expanded and he remained Boston's top rated night time personality during his WMEX years from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s.

He was unusual, and not just because of his high-pitched voice; he jokingly referred to himself as "Old Leather Lungs" or "Old Aching Adenoids", but he was best known as "Woo Woo" Ginsburg, for his use of sound effects: his show was called the Night Train, and he used a train horn.

In an era where Top 40 DJs were given non-descript and non-ethnic radio names, Ginsburg kept his birth name and did not change it.

He also refused a salary from station owner Max Richmond, instead making a deal for a 25% cut of all the commercial revenue Ginsburg would generate for his show.

This, he claimed, made him "the highest-paid jock on the station."

According to Billboard magazine, by 1959, he was making an annual salary of $10,000, an amount higher than the median American income at that time.

Ginsburg frequently did on-air testimonials for his advertisers, and perhaps the best-known was his work for Adventure Car Hop, a drive-in fast-food restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus, which promoted the "Ginsburger."

According to the car-hop's owners, Ginsburg's radio commercials brought as many as two thousand teenagers to his restaurant on a typical summer night.

Ginsburg was also known for his ability to create hits by giving them radio exposure on his show.

One good example was a novelty song sung by British vocalist Lonnie Donegan, "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)" It had been a hit in England, but when released in the United States for the first time in 1959, it was not successful.

During the Payola scandal, Ginsburg was among a number of high-profile Boston disc jockeys (including Norm Prescott, Bob Clayton, and Joe Smith) called upon to testify before a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. in early 1960.

Several of the announcers, Ginsburg among them, acknowledged receiving monetary "gifts" from record promoters over the past several years.

In Ginsburg's case, he told the committee that the gifts totaled $4,400 over a three-year period.

But Ginsburg was never implicated in any wrongdoing, nor was it proved that he played certain records because he had been paid to do so.

Reporters covering the hearings were divided in their opinions of whether payola had occurred, or whether the hearings were much ado about nothing.

As for Ginsburg's role, some journalists seemed willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, referring to him as "scholarly" and "soft-spoken", and quoting his assertion that he was never influenced to play songs he did not personally believe in.

But others were more skeptical, and accused him of being evasive and giving "excuses" for why record promoters had given him gifts.

Throughout his Top 40 career, Ginsburg was regarded as a credible voice for reaching the teen audience.

It was said of him that airplay on his show could make a record a hit.

Record companies which asked him to do commercials often saw increased sales.

This was the case for such records as "Roses Are Red" by Bobby Vinton and "Monster Mash" by Bobby (Boris) Pickett.

Ginsburg also reported his weekly "picks" (songs he believed would become hits) to trade publications such as Billboard magazine.

As was the custom in Top 40 radio, record companies would bring up-and-coming singers to do guest appearances, which further helped sales.

Among the local stars Ginsburg promoted were The Rockin' Ramrods and Freddie Cannon.

Cannon subsequently recorded a promotional song for Ginsburg, "Arnie Ginsburg, the guy with the swinging show."

Ginsburg was also known for his record hops, dances that were held at local venues; he often hosted them at the Surf Ballroom in Nantasket Beach.

It was common practice in the Top 40 era for disc jockeys to do their show six days (or nights) a week.

Ginsburg, however, was heard all seven nights.

This was accomplished through audiotape: He recorded one of his weekly night shows for playback on Saturday night, and also recorded a new show for Sunday playback during the week.

Then, in 1961, Ginsburg received a copy from a listener and began to play it, and after several days of heavy airplay, the song took off and became a hit in America.