RIP Pete Fornatale

[32green]

Pete Fornatale, pioneering NYC rock radio deejay and writer, dead at 66
Bronx native was one of first free-form deejays on early FM rock radio
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By David Hinckley / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 26, 2012, 4:07 PM

Pete Fornatale, a New York deejay, historian and writer who for almost 50 years championed the spirit of musical freedom on the radio airwaves, died Thursday at Beth Israel Medical Center. He was 66.

He suffered a brain hemorrhage on April 15 and been in intensive care for the last week.

A native of the Bronx and a graduate of Fordham, Fornatale started his deejay career Nov. 21, 1964, hosting “Campus Caravan” on Fordham's WFUV.

He continued “Campus Caravan” until 1970, by which time he was also working at WNEW-FM as one of the pioneer free-form deejays on early FM rock radio.

“For the first time, we could play music on the radio the way we played it in our lives,” he said last year. “It wasn't just the top 40 played over and over. You could play longer tracks, you could play older tracks, you could make the music fit together.

“It was magical.”

“My fondest memory of Pete,” said his long-time radio colleague Pat St. John, “was listening to him one Sunday morning when he was doing a show on different songs about life.

“A particular favorite of mine is a very little-known song by Rick Nelson simply called ‘Life.’ After about an hour, I called Pete and suggested this tune, and he told me he'd just cued it up and it’d be the next song he was going to play.

“It goes, ‘Life, what are we here for? / I want to know more.’”

Fornatale worked at WNEW-FM until 1989, when he moved to WXRK. He briefly moved back to WNEW-FM a few years later.

But as commercial radio moved further away from the free-form spirit, he and other free-form advocates became increasingly disenchanted.

In 2001, he returned to non-commercial WFUV, where he hosted a free-form show he had started in 1982 called “Mixed Bag.” He also hosted a weekly in-depth interview show, and he frequently tied both shows to historic or contemporary themes.

His last “Mixed Bag” show on April 14, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

“This is just the right amount of radio to be doing,” he said last year. “I have this show every week where I can say what I want, but I don't have to be scrambling to fill four hours every day. That gets harder as you get older.”

He developed close relationships with artists like Paul Simon over the years and was also active in several charity organizations.

That included World Hunger Year, which was co-founded by his friend Harry Chapin in 1975 and is now run by cofounder Bill Ayres as WhyHunger.

Fornatale raised money and hosted WHY events for many years.

He also wrote a number of books on music, including a history of Woodstock and a biography of Simon and Garfunkel. He often hosted shows on WNET and was a consultant on music projects for MTV and VH1.

He said last year he was always fascinated by “the real stories of what happened with music and songs. So much gets mythologized, but to me the real story is almost always better.”

He won the Armstrong Excellence in Broadcasting Award in 1983 and received AFTRA's Media and Entertainment Excellence Award in February at the Plaza.

Fornatale was born and raised in the Belmont section of the Bronx, known as Little Italy.

He was just a few years behind Dion and the Belmonts, who were one of his favorite artists, and he recalled growing up to the sound of vocal harmony groups, as well as Elvis and early rockers.

The first record he bought, he said, was Elvis’s “Hound Dog.”

He graduated from Fordham Prep before he attended Fordham, and after he graduated he spent two years as a teacher before going into radio full-time.

“Pete was always teaching us,” said folksinger and friend Christine Lavin, “even when we thought we were just being entertained.”

Fornatale is survived by his ex-wife Susan and their three sons, Peter, Mark and Steven.

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[Apache 51]

Good Man, RIP.

[32green]

Grew up listening to him. He was a great "Professor" of Rock and folk in addition to a great DJ.

Emailed him after a few of his Mixed Bag shows and he graciously got right back to me, he loved to talk about music with anyone.

A real gentleman.

:(

[jetlifer]

This news really upsets me. I grew up listening to Pete. He died way too young. RIP Pete.

[Jetworks]

RIP, such a fixture in NYC radio.

[WestCoastOffensive]

RIP

He was the guy when I first heard FM stereo. I think "magical" is the right word; I can't bear to listen to rock radio now.

[jetswin]

Wow, that distinctive nasal This is Pete Fornatell is a memory that will never fade. When radio was great.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

[brady's a catcher]

Have never heard of him but RIP nonetheless.

[2foolish197]

...too bad...way to young...WFUV is one of the best stations in the country...RIP Pete...

[Tennessee_Jet]

Busy day in NY sports yesterday. This story slipped through the cracks.
WNEW-FM pioneer.

[url]http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/pete-fornatale-pioneering-nyc-rock-radio-deejay-writer-dead-66-article-1.1068146[/url]


Pete Fornatale, a New York deejay, historian and writer who for almost 50 years championed the spirit of musical freedom on the radio airwaves, died Thursday at Beth Israel Medical Center. He was 66

[32green]

Vin Scelsa doing a real nice job talking about Pete right now on WFUV.



Old WNEW stuff.


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[32green]

[QUOTE=32green;4452748]Vin Scelsa doing a real nice job talking about Pete right now on WFUV.



Old WNEW stuff.


-[/QUOTE]

And on the bright side...just found out that Marshall Crenshaw is doing a 10:00 show on FUV. 90.7 FM

:cool:

[dickkotite]

sucks he was young.

i remember those days. BETTER times..... pete, carol mller, allison steele, tony pig cranking out rock

[crossfire]

Damn. Great DJ. RIP.