They're drawing listeners by doing it his way
Ten years after Frank Sinatra's death, his radio career is still on the rise. Not only has the catalog of the onetime Hoboken crooner kept Ron Della Chiesa's "Strictly Sinatra" going for 12 years on "Easy" WPLM-FM (99.1), Saturdays from 7 p.m. to midnight, but one year ago, Sirius satellite radio launched "Siriusly Sinatra," a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week channel devoted entirely to the deceased star.
As this week's anniversary of the singer's death is noted on air, and in the launch of a commemorative stamp from the US Postal Service, Sinatra looks to be unstoppable. But if it seems odd that an artist's radio appeal should continue to grow, even without new material, the minds behind each show are quick to offer sweeping rationalizations.
"He's relevant because of the way he spoke to us, across generations," says Della Chiesa.
"It's universal music with a timeless appeal," explains Lou Simon, format manager for the Sirius channel 75. "He was the great voice of the Great American Songbook, which is our gift to the world."
In 60 years of recording, notes Della Chiesa, the singer went through at least three classic recording periods, making a range of music for a variety of audiences. First, we had the Sinatra of the 1930s and '40s big-band era, during which he sang with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey's bands, with "a lithe tenor bel canto voice," says Della Chiesa.
Following a personal and professional crisis in 1952 that coincided with the end of his Columbia recording contract, Sinatra moved to Capitol and recorded a series of now-classic "concept" albums, such as "In the Wee Small Hours." Then, in the '60s, he reinvented himself again as the "Rat Pack" Sinatra, making movies and singing songs like "Ring-a-Ding Ding," which also launched his own record label, Reprise. From then on, say the hosts, the man was simply a legend.
Both Della Chiesa and Simon play music from all the eras. After all, they have many hours to fill, and Simon in particular expresses his gratitude for the new "Nothing But the Best" compilation, which showcases lesser-known tunes like "Drinking Again." ("Siriusly Sinatra" also broadcasts younger artists covering Sinatra-identified tunes.) But they both agree that the "Rat Pack" period is the one that lures in Sinatra neophytes. That music, with songs like "Luck Be a Lady," gives listeners "a sense of life lived to its fullest," says Della Chiesa. He sees Sinatra's influence in everything from clothing styles to the rise, once again, of the martini, adding sagely, "his lifestyle embodies a lot of what they missed."
Once they're reeled in, says Simon, "everyone's got their favorites." In fact, the Sirius channel has a program called "Playing Favorites" that features guest DJs from Tom Brokaw to Linda Ronstadt spinning Sinatra Mondays 6-7 p.m. and rebroadcast Thursdays at 3 p.m. and Saturdays at noon. "Every week it's different," says Simon. "But there are two or three songs that almost every one of the guests chooses." Those songs? The melancholy "One For My Baby" and the perennial romantic ballad "Witchcraft."
Spinning the dial
It's Orgy time at WHRB-FM (95.3) again. The Harvard station's exam-time programming presents blocks of single-theme music, this month presenting, among others, the music of Mstislav Rostropovich, which runs until 9 p.m. tomorrow, and 40 hours of French Baroque music beginning Sunday at noon. Some regular programming, such as the Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. "Hillbilly at Harvard," does interrupt the block programming. For a complete schedule, go to whrb.org. 