Over the past 20 years, Rochester NY radio deejay Brother Wease, a/k/a Alan Levin, has become a regional institution. Holding the reigns on the madness that is the morning show on WCMF-FM, the daily “Radio Free Wease” broadcast offers up your typical “shock jock” fare, but with a very important twist – whereas radio entertainers like Howard Stern are largely persona, playing shallow, mostly fictional characters for the benefit of their listeners, Brother Wease is a character, a 100% straight-shooting wiseguy that walks it like he talks it…even if he sometimes puts his foot in his mouth and has to pay the price.

Wease is a legendary figure in the radio biz, one of the few true larger-than-life deejays that remain on the air in an industry fraught with corporate homogenization and watered-down playlists and personalities. A Vietnam vet, cancer survivor and self-professed capital-L Liberal, Wease’s local charity work is legend, especially on behalf of children. The list of radio personalities that Wease has mentored is lengthy and includes liberal talk show host Stephanie Miller (known as “Sister Sleaze” while on WCMF) and Gregg “Opie” Hughes of The Anthony and Opie Show. Wease also hosts a straight music show on Saturday mornings and has, I might add, pretty decent tastes in music.

Brother Wease has been off the air for three days now, and it’s a damn crime. The deejay’s contract with the station ran out at the end of December and Levin is currently negotiating with the station’s new owners, Entercom Communications, a large broadcasting conglomerate based in Pennsylvania. Corporate affiliate Entercom Rochester LLC bought WCMF and WPXY-FM from CBS Radio in December 2007 and promptly terminated the contracts of five veteran on-air personalities, including WCMF's Dave Kane, another 20-year+ local radio veteran. The firings created a minor controversy, but nothing compared to the firestorm that will erupt if the company fails to reach an agreement with Wease.

The Reverend loves radio – I grew up listening to Top 40 radio on WJET-AM in Erie PA before moving to Nashville in 1971. Living in the Music City suburbs, I latched onto WLAC-AM’s late-night R&B programming and the old WKDA-FM’s freewheeling rock music format. I’d listen to Pittsburgh Pirate games on KDKA-AM, the Grand Ole Opry on WSM-AM, and when tooling around in the car while in high school, I would often tune in deejay John Records Landecker on WLS-AM out of Chicago. While living in Detroit, I listened to WWWW-FM (W4) and CKLW-AM in Canada. Radio is a great medium, a welcome voice in the dark and a friend that’s always available, as well as providing a fine showcase for music and opinion.

Since moving to Western New York a year ago, I’ve turned on Radio Free Wease and listened whenever I could, and I’m excited that the station is going to begin streaming the daily morning broadcast online so that I can listen while working. Brother Wease is a true original and the program an entertaining mix of humor, commentary, guests and good-natured hijinx. At issue here, I’m guessing, is money – Wease is reportedly asking for a mid-six-figure salary and obviously Entercom doesn’t want to give it to him. The company made its bottom-feeding intentions quite clear when cleaning house of its high-priced veteran deejays a month ago. Entercom knew that Levin’s contract would be expiring at the end of the year – what corporation in America buys a property from another company without looking over the contracts of its key personnel? None. Not one.

So listen up Entercom – pay Wease what he wants and get his ass back on the air making you money. I guarantee that he’s worth his weight in gold to advertisers, and if you don’t cough up the change, another (competing) station just might. If the bottom line is your only concern, simulcast Radio Free Wease on one or two of the other zillion stations that you own in the region and spread the cost around. There are too few truly entertaining personalities on the airwaves these days; don’t let Brother Wease be a casualty of corporate stubbornness and stupidity. You’ve been warned, so don’t make the Reverend tell you this more than once….

Look At:
Interview with Brother Wease in Rochester City Newspaper