Boston top-40 radio legend Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsburg died Friday night at his home in Maine. He was 93.
No disc jockey of the 1950s or ’60s was more popular in Boston than Ginsburg, according to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame, in which he was inducted in 2008.
“Ginsburg was one of a kind: With his unique voice, self-deprecating personality and a collection of bells, whistles and sound effects, his ‘Night Train’ show was not to be missed,” his Hall of Fame biography says. “First on WBOS and then continuing on WMEX, Ginsburg put the fun into ‘Top 40.’ He even put humor in the commercials, something not done much in the early ’60s. Whether singing along with the ‘Adventure Car Hop’ jingle or going to his record hops at the Surf in Nantasket, listening to Ginsburg was a major part of many lives.”
In an obituary Carlos Alberto Vega, Ginsburg’s partner of 44 years and husband of four, wrote, according to allaccess.com, that Ginsburg’s first love was radio.
“By the age of eight, Arnie had built his own short-wave radio,” Vega said. “Arnie had originally no intention of being a disc jockey. He imagined himself as a technician and a producer, not an on-air broadcaster. He didn’t think his voice had the timbre of the classic radio announcer.”
Ginsburg was working as an engineer at WBOS in the mid-1950s, when the manager at the time asked him to start rock-and-roll programming, Vega said.
“The offer was that Arnie host a morning show to be called ‘Get Up With GINSBURG,'” Vega said. “Arnie refused, claiming morning was not his best time of day, and suggested doing an evening show and calling it ‘Go To Bed With GINSBURG.’ In the end, Arnie won, and the show began — but not with the title Ginsburg suggested.”
After Ginsburg’s move to WMEX, he became the most famous New England disc jockey, Vega said. He introduced the then-novel sounds of such noisemakers as a cow bell, a carrot that squeaked, a cuckoo clock and a horn, he said. But his signature sound was made by the multi-tubed train whistle that, when blown, sounded like a train enunciating, “woo woo.”
Ginsburg’s show was called “The Night Train,” and a fan who came to the station one night gave him the whistle, thinking it would be perfect for the show.
“And the rest is history,” Vega said.
Ginsburg’s years at WMEX coincided with the growing emergence of rock and roll and the British Invasion, and he introduced The Beatles at both their Boston concerts at the time, as well as the first concert in New England by the Rolling Stones, Vega said.
Since 1986, Ginsburg devoted most of his time to enjoying life, keeping up with long-time friends, and travel, he said. He sold his properties in Boston and moved full-time to his beloved Ogunquit, Maine.
Ginsburg was one of two former radio hosts who died recently. James “the famous Jim Sands” Samprako died suddenly on June 19. He was 86.
He began his career in Maine at WLOB, WJAB and WLBM, according to his obituary. At one time, he worked at WNBC in New York, WBZ in Boston and most recently at Koffee FM on Cape Cod. He was best known for his “Oldies by Request” radio show on WHDH.
