Tearson Bites the Dust at WMGK
There's a time honored, but not so honorable tradition in broadcasting. On-air talent hardly ever gets to say "so-long" to listeners or viewers when they're being canned. Today, the ax fell on WMGK's Michael Tearson. But will you hear the tree fall?
Tearson Bites the Dust at WMGK
There's a time honored, but not so honorable tradition in broadcasting. On-air talent hardly ever gets to say "so-long" to listeners or viewers when they're being canned. Today, the ax fell on WMGK's Michael Tearson. But will you hear the tree fall?
One of Philly's true pioneers of progressive rock radio, Tearson broke into the biz with his late 1960s years at a then student-run, all-volunteer WXPN, then moved to WDAS-FM, for many moons to WMMR and later back, briefly to a now professionally steered XPN. Tearson has been holding down the fort at WMGK since April 2002 with a two hour (6 to 8 a.m.) "Saturday Morning 60s" heritage music show that he put together with amazing first hand knowledge and a great record library from his South Jersey home studio.
But this morning, MGK program director Charlie Lake told Tearson the party is over after this Saturday's show. And since that episode (and several more) are already in the can, M.T. won't get to say his farewells. A pity. This isn't just "another one bites the dust," it's one of the classic rock outlet's true "keeper of the keys" getting locked out, no longer to share his small insights and big picture perspective, or what veteran reporters like to call our "institutional knowledge."
Tearson is sanguine about the whole thing, joking that doing his show from home kept him out of the line of fire (and firing) for much longer than most. And he's got gigs going on Sirius/XM satellite radio, heard regularly on the Blues channel and often doing fill in (including today) on Classic Vinyl.
Still, as Leonard Cohen wrote and sang, "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye." Wonder if Tearson wasn't being prescient the other day, when he posted the survey question on Facebook "What's your favorite kiss-off song?"
Contact Daily News staff writer Jonathan Takiff at takiffj@phillynews.com.
sad news to hear about but.......who?— Handsome B. Wonderful- I grew up with Michael and Ed Schaiky. Great memories. Best wishes...— the3rdrail
- I remember rolling a doobie in my basement bedroom in '69 listening to Tearson playing a Hendrix song. Those day are way gone. Most of us from the 60's are now in their 60's. Tearson - keep on rockin'.
— johnny rotten - Why not let him tape one last episode? Are they that desperate to clear out the early morning Saturday block that they can't give him an extra week?— ConverseB24
Comment removed.- Hey I'm in my 50s and grew up on local FM rock during its early days in the 1980s and to be perfectly honest, He was yesterday's news then. Don't like to hear anyone losing their job but this was probably long overdue.— CrisK
- Early days in the 80s? You are about 15 years off. — mike l
- MT is a good guy with encyclopedic knowledge of his medium. I hear him often on XM radio--many stations--and enjoy seeing him at Haddon Lake Park and elsewhere around our great music area.
Book this: he will never be without a meaningful gig (or several). Sad commentary on our society in which the Cataldis and Eskins get a microphone, but Michael does not (for now). Good luck Michael.— Temprock - Michael I have enjoyed hearing you, with so much knowledge and enthusiasm for the music, for decades. I look forward to continuing to hear your programs on Sirius.— Bob1
- ...good...this frees them up to play more Fleetwood Mac and Elton John...— flank steak
- One of my all-time favorite shows that Michael Tearson did in the early 80's on WMMR was "Gorilla Theater", a crazy mix of punk, new-wave and just not the typical music you heard in Philly. Micheal, you may be off the air, but you are certainly not fogetten.— Hoc-a-mania
- ...more likely Foreigner and Loverboy. MGK has become unlistenable most of the time.— Palestra Jon
- The planet of Tearson...a true pioneer. You will be missed.— vodge
- Anyone following radio over the past 10 years should not be surprised, least of all Tearson. With the emergence of stations like Ben FM where the music is pre-loaded in to a music player program and put on auto pilot. It's so much cheaper to pay some entry level staffer or use an intern to load the digital files then it is to pay a jock to open the mic, queue up the record (or start the digital file) and keep the time. The bigger irony is Tearson's work at Sirius, the digital satellite platform that got it's foothold by pushing the concept of no-talk and no commercial radio stations.— amg
- He played the music I grew up with from my Woodstock days until today. Besides that, I know him and he's a nice person. You can't buy that. Good luck, Michael.— Sportyrider71
