Sam Kopper at WBCN-FM Boston c. 1969
We had a great Zoom interview with Sam Kopper last week about his long career in broadcasting, both as an on-air personality and as the producer of live-cast concerts by many of the biggest names in the music business. Sam was in the first wave of deejays when Boston Concert Network went freeform and became the genesis of a thirty year reign as the city’s best rock ‘n’ roll station. After a few years, he moved on.
Sam and I had never met, but we crossed paths in Denver in 1972. The staff at KFML-FM had created a quintessential freeform station. It was very successful and also a great concern to ownership, which was freaked by the degree of anarchy in play. The owner, Joe McGoey, hired a well-regarded program director named Les Carter and the recently fired staff of KPPC-FM in Pasadena to replace the KFML team.
They did - for a couple of weeks. The public outcry was so intense, McGoey had to rehire the original staff and send the L.A. replacements packing. I was among the former, Sam the latter. He told me he thought it was karma that it turned out that way. They got what they deserved. So did the audience. It wasn’t just the same music that was getting it done. The people who played it were a big part of the mojo, too.
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