Severin coming back to Boston
Turns out night time is not the right time, at least not for Jay Severin. Less than a year after signing a syndication deal that put him on the air from 7-10 p.m. in some 50 markets nationally, Jay's coming back to Boston. Greater Media Inc. is announcing today that the libertarian loudmouth is giving up his much-ballyhooed syndication deal with CBS Radio to again do drive-time at 96.9 FM Talk , a.k.a. WTKK. And Severin's so committed to Boston this time that he's signed a seven-year contract, and is even selling his Sag Harbor, N.Y., home and moving to the North Shore. ``This is where I want to be," the highly rated talk jock told us yesterday. ``This is where I do my best work. I am greatly excited about becoming a `legal alien' of Red Sox Nation." Starting Oct. 9 , Severin's show will be broadcast from 3-7 p.m. -- the time slot he occupied before moving to nights last January. Entertainment lawyer George Tobia, who negotiated Severin's new deal, said nights just didn't agree with Jay. ``He's ready to start talking at 3 p.m.," said Tobia. ``He's digested all the day's news and he's torqued up and ready to go." CBS Radio wasn't eager to let Jay walk, Tobia said, so Greater Media made it worth their while, buying out the balance of his contract for $500,000. ``We're looking forward to Jay producing the most exciting, locally based talk radio show ever," said Greater Media GM Phil Redo. ``Jay's going to be a major part of the WTKK family for a long time." Of course, Severin's second act will have consequences for some of the station's other hosts, including Michael Graham, who'll be bumped to nights, and there are whispers that others in TKK 's line up, including morning man Mike Barnicle, may not be long for the job.
Tyler discloses battle with hepatitis C
In an interview airing tonight on "Access Hollywood," Steven Tyler reveals he's been battling hepatitis C, a nasty viral infection most often associated with intravenous drug use and, in an earlier era, with tainted blood transfusions. Tyler tells Nancy O'Dell that he's been receiving interferon treatments, and they seem to be working. "It is nonexistent in my bloodstream," said the Aerosmith screamer. "I've been pretty quiet about this. The band took a break about three years ago. . . . [My doctor] said now is the time, and it's 11 months of [interferon] so I went on that, and it about killed me." Tyler said the treatments coincided with the collapse of his marriage to Teresa Barrick. ``I had a little problem at home, to say the least," he says, "and I would run upstairs at night, you know, to put the kids asleep and wake up at 3 in the morning with a nosebleed you know, just passed out from the interferon. It's a shot and pills and all of that. But the good news is I stood the test of time." See for yourself when Aerosmith plays at the Tweeter Center tonight and Thursday. . . . And Tyler's bandmate Joe Perry will be on WZLX DJ Chuck Nowlin's show this afternoon spinning whatever he wants as part of the station's 21st birthday celebration.Perrotta’s new book movie-bound
Belmont author Tom Perrotta's new novel won't be out until sometime next year, but Warner Independent Pictures has already picked up the movie rights. Called "The Abstinence Teacher," the novel's about a divorced sex-ed teacher who's forced by religious conservatives to teach abstinence. So, you say? While fighting for the freedom to tout the joys of sex, the female teacher falls for a born-again soccer coach. The movie based on Perrotta's last book, "Little Children," stars Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly. It opens in Boston Oct. 20. . . .A crew of Red Sox players' wives and spouses of the front office types have been working overtime leading up to today's ``From Fenway to the Runway" charity fashion show at Excelsior to raise money for the Women's Cancers Program at Dana-Farber and the Red Sox Foundation. Among those who were on hand the other day to help Excelsior's chef Eric Brennan plan the menu were Kathryn Nixon, Tiffany Ortiz, Ashley Papelbon, and Juliana Ramirez.
Filming continued yesterday at the Cutler Majestic Theatre for the Disney pic "The Game Plan" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. . . . Twenty theaters in Boston will join more than a dozen communities across the country in holding a night of free theater Oct. 19, StageSource's Jeff Poulos announced yesterday. . . . Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was spotted yesterday afternoon on Newbury Street. . . . Lennie Sogoloff, the 82-year-old club owner and booking manager of Lennie's on the Turnpike, was honored by a panel of colleagues and friends as he prepared to hand over his expansive musical archives to Salem State College. Halfway through yesterday's event, a speaker phone mounted on the podium broke in with the voice of a fresh young talent named Jay Leno, who had started his career at Sogoloff's club. ``Every musician I talk to always speaks highly of you, Lennie," Leno said. ``Thanks, Jay," Sogoloff responded. "You said that just how we scripted it!"
Globe correspondent Matt Robinson contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
