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WBAB is a rock radio station on Long Island. Located at 102.3 FM, the station is licensed to Babylon, New York and is owned by Cox Radio. The station is also simulcast on WHFM 95.3 FM in eastern Suffolk County. Both WBAB's 102.3 and WHFM's 95.3 signals are broadcast in HD. The station also streams its signal worldwide at wbab.com.

WBAB first went on the air in 1958. It simulcasted with WNYG 1440 AM, then called WBAB AM, until 102.3 FM was sold.

WBAB is best known for playing an album-oriented rock format and is considered one of the pioneering stations in the country to champion the format. Heritage bands like Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen are heard on a regular basis, along with newer bands like Nickelback, Daughtry, Green Day, and Bon Jovi. This music receives a fair amount of play as the station does not limit itself to a strict classic rock format. This can classify It as an active rock format, similar to WXRK (before its switch to a Top 40 format) and northern New Jersey's WDHA.

The radio station is the most listened to rock station on Long Island and scores in the Top 5 with Adults 25–54 years old. As of early 2012 WBAB's morning show of Roger and JP is #2 with Men 25–54 years old and #5 in Mornings with people 25-54. The afternoon show hosted by legendary jock Fingers is continually #1 or #2 with people 25-54.

On-air staff[link]

Current[link]

• Roger Luce / John "JP" Parise "Roger and JP"
• Matt Wolfe - Morning Show Board Op/Voicetracked Nights
• Ted Lindner - News/Traffic on Roger and JP Show
• Donna Donna - Middays
• Fingers - Afternoons
• Joe Rock - Overnights
• Rocky - Overnights

Weekends/Swing

• Joe Rock
• Steady Eddie
• Pete Rizzo
• Rocky

Former[link]

• Bob Buchmann -
• Ray Myers - Former APD/MD WSUL-FM Monticello, NY, WSPK-Poughkeepsie, NY
• Peri Appollo - Bob's first co-host and female newscaster.
• Marc "The Cope" Coppola - Now on Q104.3 (WAXQ-FM) and 106.7 Lite-FM (WLTW-FM) in New York & KGB 101.5 in San Diego, California
• Tracey Burgess - Now On-Air at THE FAN (WFAN)- New York..News/Traffic.
• Ralph Tortora - Now On-Air at Q104.3 (WAXQ-FM)- New York and Sirius Satellite Radio, New York.
• Lisa Ritchie - former fill-in for Tracey Burgess/morning co-host & news. Now On-Air at Cablevision's News 12 Traffic & Weather Channel 61.
• "The Big E" Eric Wellman - Music Director / APD (WAXQ-FM) New York.
• Gerry Martire - Now On-Air at Q104.3 (WAXQ-FM)- New York.
• "Rockyn" Robyn Lane - Now Assistant Program Director/ Music Director On-Air at 95.9 "The Rat"(WRAT-FM)- New Jersey. On air Sirius Satellite Radio 2002-2008
• "Gabrielle Nistico" - Now with Voicehunter.com
• Steve "the Guy" Morris - Now in the Marketing/Community Affairs Department of Long Island daily newspaper, Newsday
• Dennis Daniel -Was DJ on air and Production Director 1982-1990. Did all the great character voices in commercials and Gerry's Gin Joint (Including STAR WRECK). Now works in Advertising
• Doug Yoel - Now performing as a singer/songwriter. President of Kindred Rhythm/Now Forward Music, Inc., an independent record label group. Former WBAB DJ, "Homegrown" programmer, and producer/song parodist for "The Opie Show" (as "Doug & The Ballbusters" & "Bob Dylan Weather").
• Tracy Speed - currently working as the Director of Publicity for Lifetime.
• "Ripley"
• Jeff Levine - former WBAB program Director, now with Tribune publications, Florida.
• Jodi Vale - now Music Director and on-air at WKJY-FM, NY.
• Tony Paige- Former Production Director and Air Personality. Now working in Marketing for Marketing Werks (Chicago, Il and Jersey City New Jersey)
• "Domonique" - Now On-Air at 94.3 WMJC - Long Island, NY.
• Morgan Thomas—National voiceover actor and on-Air at KSON-FM in San Diego, CA
• Ed Banas. Now with 610WIP Sportsradio. Philadelphia.
• AJ Gentile "Axl" -- MTV (XM Satellite) -- Now on Playboy Radio (Sirius-XM Satellite)
• Gregg "Opie" Hughes - Now On-Air/Syndicated-Various Markets/"The Opie & Anthony Show"- XM Satellite Radio.
• Anthony Cumia - Now On-Air/Syndicated-Various Markets/"The Opie & Anthony Show"- XM Satellite Radio.
• Lynda Lopez - Now anchor, WCBS TV, Weekend News.
• David Race - Now Comedian/TV Host, actor and voiceover artist in Los Angeles, CA
• Christina Lang (News & Traffic)- Now heard on 1050 WEPN (ESPN RADIO), afternoon's on "The Michael Kay Show".
• John Klug - Now On-Air at 100.7 "The Bay" WZBA-FM - Baltimore, MD.
• "Kayla" - Now On-Air at Sirius Satellite Radio "Octane" Channel - New York and a fill-in traffic reporter on WCBS-TV - New York.
• Bret Levine (News & Traffic)
• "Ally"
• Jerry Schaeffer - Now On-Air at 103.9 WRCN-FM - Long Island, NY.
• "Captain Kevin" - Now On-Air at 103.9 WRCN-FM - Long Island, NY.
• Barry Floyd
• Joe Taggart - Now Stand Up Comic (Bob's last Morning Show Co-host)
• Brett "The Brain" Fiumara - Now heard on Cablevision's News 12 Traffic & Weather Channel 61.
• Sara Karl
• Bob Stei- Now On-Air at Radio 104.5 (WRFF) Philadelphia.
• Ed Robinson
• Chris Frohne
• Bernie Wagenblast - The station's first Shadow Traffic reporter.
• Annrae Fitzgerald - Now On-Air at 91X (XTRA-FM) - San Diego, CA
• Bernie Bernard - On air in the 1970s - worked for Voice of America, now retired and teaching at C.W. Post College
• Christina Kay - Now On-Air Radio 105.3 (WPTY) in Calverton, New York

Discography[link]

• WBAB Homegrown Album (1981)
• WBAB Son of Homegrown (1984)

Incidents[link]

This section requires expansion.

Signal hijacking[link]

On Wednesday, May 17, 2006, WBAB's microwave studio-to-transmitter link (STL) was jammed for about 90 seconds while the signal jammers aired a song called "Nigger Hatin' Me" by the 1960s-era white supremacist country singer Johnny Rebel. Roger Luce, the station's morning host, said at the time "Whatever that was - it was very racist... 22 years at this radio station - I've never seen anything like this." The station apologized that same day in a news conference outside the station.^[1] The investigation of this matter is ongoing.

The incident made all the local newscasts that night. The next morning, it made the front page on Newsday with the headline "JACKED FM". The station's new general manager, John Shea, said, "I've only been here a week and we get hijacked." Former program director John Olsen said, "This was not some child's prank, this was a federal offense." The FCC's New York field manager Dan Noel made a visit to the Cox Radio Long Island building on May 20 to investigate the matter, which has never been solved.

The same incident had occurred a couple of weeks earlier when the same song aired on sister station WBLI on a Sunday night.

Problems with pirate radio stations[link]

A pirate radio station identifying itself as "Red Hot Radio" broadcasts on 102.3 FM out of Flatbush, Brooklyn, many hours a day (especially after 5pm and all weekend), This plagues BAB's signal in Brooklyn, Queens and western Nassau County.

On November 6, 2007, the FCC, accompanied by U.S. Marshals, made a visit to the Red Hot Studios, based in an apartment complex on East 35th street and Avenue H, and seized equipment. However, the station returned to the air less than a month later from a new location, where it continues to broadcast from today. There are about 30 pirate radio stations on the air in Brooklyn interfering with radio stations on Long Island and the Hudson Valley daily. The investigation and follow up from the FCC continues.

Cox Radio Long Island has warned that it will go after any pirate broadcasters interfering with the WBAB signal on 102.3 or 95.3 FM and sister 106.1 WBLI. New laws take effect in early 2012 that Cox Media Group Long Island hopes will help to put an end to pirate broadcasting on commercial FM frequencies.

See also[link]

• Opie and Anthony - Opie met Anthony when Anthony submitted a song parody while Opie worked at WBAB

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WBAB
• Radio-Locator information on WBAB
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBAB
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WHFM
• Radio-Locator information on WHFM
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WHFM

Coordinates: 40°48′00″N 73°20′06″W / 40.800°N 73.335°W / 40.800; -73.335

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Patrice O'Neal
O'Neal in January 2006
Born	(1969-12-07)December 7, 1969 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 29, 2011(2011-11-29) (aged 41) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up comedy, television, radio
Nationality	American
Years active	1992–2011
Genres	Black humor, cringe humor, observational comedy, political satire
Subject(s)	American politics, racism, race relations, sexuality, relationships
Influences	Richard Pryor, George Carlin
Website	Official website

Patrice Malcolm O'Neal (December 7, 1969 – November 29, 2011), usually credited as Patrice O'Neal, was an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, and actor. He was known for his cutting, often confrontational crowd work during which he often played couples against each other. Originally from Boston, he was a resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, in his later years.

Early life[link]

O'Neal was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 7, 1969.^[1] His mother, Georgia, named him after Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congolese independence movement, and Malcolm X. He was raised by his mother and never met his father.^[2]

At the age of 17, O'Neal was convicted of statutory rape of a 15 year old girl and sentenced to 60 days in prison, served during his summer break, so as not to disrupt his schooling.^[3] The act, which occurred when O'Neal was still 16, would have been legal in most states, but Massachusetts lacks a close-in-age exception, and has an age of consent of 16.^[4] O'Neal said his humor helped him to negotiate the harsh realities of prison.^[3][5]

O'Neal was a star football player at West Roxbury High School, ending his career with 3 letters in varsity football and a state championship his senior year. He turned down football scholarships in order to attend Northeastern University on a public housing grant, majoring in Performing Arts.^[6]

Career[link]

O'Neal began his comedy career in his native Boston at an open mic at Estelle's Bar and Grill in October 1992.^[7] In the late 1990s, he moved to New York City, where he became a regular at the Comedy Cellar, before relocating to Los Angeles, in the hopes of finding greater fame. "I tap danced like you wouldn't believe... trying to get something," he said in a 2008 interview with Ron Bennington . "I'm telling you, if I'd have had a gun back then, I would have shot myself." His inability to achieve success on other people's terms motivated him to prioritize his own integrity first. "At the end of the day I just want to know that I was true to myself."^[8] Later in his career, Patrice would walk away from successful shows like The Office, Arrested Development, Web Junk 20, and a writing position on the WWE. "I'm a professional bridge-burner," O'Neal stated in an interview.^[9]

Unwilling to yield to the demands of American club owners that he change his often confrontational act, O'Neal relocated to the United Kingdom to work on his comedy there. He worked harder as an outsider and a foreigner to gain the respect of his peers. "It took about 5 months... for them to go 'Ok, this guy's not playing around,'" he told Bennington. It was also during this time that he caught the eye of British comedian Ricky Gervais, still early in his stand-up career.^[8] Gervais frequently mentioned O'Neal as a favorite comic.^[10][11][12] He returned to the New York area in 2002 when he got the offer to do his first half-hour special for Showtime. Later that year he joined the cast of The Colin Quinn Show and then Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. The following year, he recorded a Comedy Central Presents special.

O'Neal had many guest appearances on television. His first television appearance was on The Apollo Comedy Hour where he performed his Malcolm XXL bit. From there, he moved on to appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, FNight Videos, and a brief stint as a writer for the WWE. He appeared in guest-starring roles on MTV’s Apt 2F, Assy McGee, Ed, Z Rock, Yes Dear, Arrested Development, Chappelle Show and The Office. O'Neal was a regular on the Fox series The Jury, and he starred in the Comedy Central animated program Shorties Watching Shorties, along with Nick DiPaolo. He supplied the voice of Harold Jenkins on Noggin’s animated program O'Grady High and was featured as Jesus in Denis Leary’s Searchlight. In 2005, O'Neal filmed a half-hour One Night Stand special for HBO, and shortly thereafter became the first host of VH1's Web Junk 20. O'Neal left the show after two seasons, expressing concerns that the show's audience was too different from his own. In 2006 and 2007 he joined Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus Comedy Tour, playing large outdoor concert arenas across the country.

O'Neal at the 2007 O&A Traveling Virus at PNC

Since his move back to New York in 2002, O'Neal became a recognized radio personality as a regular guest and occasional co-host on the Opie and Anthony program. Along with Bill Burr and Robert Kelly, he filled in as co-host for comedian Jim Norton while Jim filmed Lucky Louie. From 2006 to 2008, O'Neal hosted a call-in relationship advice show on XM Radio, which ended when the satellite network merged with rival Sirius. Initially promoted as Bitch Management, the show was titled The Black Philip Show, a reference to Dr. Phil. Dante Nero co-hosted, and a rotating cast of female comedians played third mic. The show aired until the station suspended much of its Saturday night programming when they were unable to reconcile budget concerns with the new management following the merger. O'Neal had also appeared as a guest on other radio shows such as Alex Jones along with numerous political talk shows on the Fox News channel.

Living in the New York area, O'Neal performed at comedy clubs in the area, including headlining appearances at Comix comedy club and Caroline's. He was also popular in Montreal, making five appearances at the Just for Laughs festival, including one of the most memorable in fest history: a one-man, one-week show at Théâtre Ste. Catherine in 2008. O'Neal had also been slated to do five sold-out, one-man shows at Les Katacombes at the 2010 Just for Laughs Festival, but he was refused entry into Canada at the U.S. border and the shows were cancelled.^[13]

In February 2011, Comedy Central aired his first hour-long special, Elephant in the Room. He eventually began a web series and podcast called The Patrice O'Neal Show - Coming Soon!^[14] showing various episodes as of May 15, 2007. He performed with a five-person group—Bryan Kennedy, Dante Nero, Vondecarlo Brown, Harris Stanton and Wil Sylvince—touching on many fictional scenarios. The show was produced by For Your Imagination and can be found on O'Neal's website. He guest-starred in another For Your Imagination-produced show, called Break a Leg, playing Adult-Sized Gary Coleman. O'Neal voiced Jeffron James in Grand Theft Auto IV, on an in-game radio show, Fizz!.

On September 19, 2011, Patrice was one of the many roasters at the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen. This would be his final television appearance before his death two months later. O'Neal's final recorded interview was with Jay Mohr on his "Mohr Stories" Podcast #17, uploaded October 27, 2011, shortly after news of his stroke.

Shortly after O'Neal's death, BSeen Media announced the release of his first album, Mr. P, to be released February 7, 2012. It was recorded at the D.C. Improv.^[15] Although announced after his death, the album had been completed before his illness, with the comedian's full involvement.^[16]

Illness and death[link]

On October 19, 2011, O'Neal reported being unable to move his legs, the first signs of a stroke. He was rushed to Jersey City Medical Center, and later Englewood Hospital where doctors performed surgery to remove a blood clot. He lost his ability to speak, and later his ability to move, for a time communicating by eye movements, before losing that ability as well. Doctors warned that if he survived, he would likely remain permanently paralyzed and unable to speak.^[2]

Initially the family made efforts to keep news of O'Neal's illness quiet. On October 26, 2011, it was announced to the public on The Opie and Anthony Show that O'Neal had suffered a stroke a week earlier.^[17][18] At 7:00 AM on November 29, 2011, he died due to complications from his stroke.^[19] O'Neal had struggled with diabetes and weight issues for several years.^[20] He is survived by his longtime partner, Vondecarlo Brown, whom he often referred to as his wife; mother, Georgia; stepdaughter, Aymilyon, and sister, Zinder.^[1]

O'Neal's funeral was held on December 5 at Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City, and was attended by notable comedians including Chris Rock, Colin Quinn, Nick DiPaolo, Artie Lange, Dane Cook, and Wanda Sykes.^[2]

Reactions and tributes[link]

On November 30, a dozen comedians gathered to eulogize O'Neal on The Opie and Anthony Show, a radio program that O'Neal had appeared on over 100 times. These comedians included Jim Norton, Bob Kelly, Louis CK, Joe Rogan, Bill Burr, Colin Quinn, Amy Schumer, Dave Attell, and Jim Florentine, among others. The channel dedicated its programming that weekend to the comedian by airing a 16-hour special entitled A Tribute to Patrice O'Neal featuring some of his best appearances, along with memories from some of his fellow comedians.^[21]

Always known as a comedian's comedian, O'Neal was one of the best loved acts by his peers. Many comics reacted via Twitter.^[22] "The best comedian in the world has died," proclaimed Norm MacDonald. Dave Attell tweeted "Patrice O. was and is one of the best comics I have ever had the pleasure to watch perform." Ricky Gervais, a long time vocal fan of O'Neal's, said "One of my favourite stand up comedians. So sad. RIP." Denis Leary called him "one of the funniest men who ever walked this earth" and Bill Burr concurred, saying he was "the most purely funny human being I’ve ever met." Doug Stanhope remembered O'Neal as "one of the best ever. Inspiring every time I heard him on anything." Dane Cook, a fellow Boston native echoed "He was 1 of the best ever." Dozens of other comedians echoed similar sentiments on Twitter.^[23][24] Comedian Jon Stewart paid his respects through his "Moment of Zen" bit, in his show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, stating: "Sad News. Once again in comedy we lose somebody, who's too funny, too soon." This statement was followed by a clip of O'Neal's stand up special Elephant in the Room.^[25]

Many entertainers outside of the comedy community reacted as well. Director Kevin Smith said "I shared some air & some air time with the man on O&A & he was always funny & thoughtful. He WILL be missed." Author Chuck Palahniuk tweeted "We lost a great comedian yesterday." Rapper Talib Kweli said "Super funny and I had the pleasure of meeting the man. We will miss you." The Roots drummer Questlove mourned "so grateful I got to see Patrice O'Neal do his last NYC gig. Man, this is so devastating. He truly was one of my favorite comics." Nick Cannon called him "An amazing comedian and an even better person."^[23] Actor Charlie Sheen paid his respects through his blog, saying: "The entertainment world as well as the world at large lost a brilliant man today. Patrice had that rare "light" around him and inside of him. I only knew him for the few days leading up the Roast. Yet I will forever be inspired by his nobility, his grace and his epic talent. My tears today are for the tremendous loss to his true friends and loving family."^[26]

Comedians Nick DiPaolo & Artie Lange paid tribute to O'Neal on their radio show by recounting stories of the late comedian, "As a standup comic, guys like Nick and Patrice are like Babe Ruth, and on a good day I'm maybe Robin Yount," said Lange.

Comedy Central aired O'Neal's special "Elephant in the Room" on November 30 in the wake of his death.^[27]

Comedian Louis C.K. dedicated his comedy special Live at the Beacon Theater to O'Neal's memory. He later commented on Twitter that O'Neal had been his favorite living comedian.^[28]

Rolling Stone ran a four-page article about Patrice's career and passing in the February 16th, 2012 issue.

Comic style[link]

O'Neal's comedy has been described as conversational.^[29] Except during televised appearances, he seldom performed standing up, preferring a relaxed, philosophical delivery.^[30]

Although he would perform prepared material, the wording of this material and the order in which the bits were performed varied greatly from show to show, and was interwoven with a great deal of crowd work, creating the illusion that his performance was improvised, and reinforcing the sense that he was having an individual conversation with the audience.

O'Neal was also known as a provocateur, often inciting audience members to call out, or even leave the club. "I've seen him give people money to leave," recalls Gregg "Opie" Hughes.^[31] At times he would encourage people to call out to the stage in order to set up a punchline. "Ladies, how would you keep your man if you lost your vagina?," O'Neal would ask of his audience. When the women would invariably reference oral and anal sex acts, the comedian would respond "See, I gave you the chance to talk and you qualified yourself as a series of holes."^[29] O'Neal would frequently project his self-admittedly misogynistic ideas onto men in the audience to create uncomfortable situations in order to get laughs. "What's your daydream about how to kill her?," O'Neal asked an audience member sitting next to his wife in his Elephant in the Room special.

In contrast to the observational monologues that are common in most stand-up, much of O'Neal's act consisted of absurd arguments which were internally logically consistent. For example, O'Neal would begin, "It's unfair that I can't harass you [women] in the workplace," and then build his argument with analogies like "Having women work with men is like having a grizzly bear work with salmon dipped in honey."

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Film[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Comedy Central: Comedians: Patrice O'Neal
• March 26, 2009 interview
• Patrice O'Neal at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

The Opie & Anthony Show

Jim Norton, Anthony Cumia, and Gregg "Opie" Hughes
Genre	Talk, Comedy
Running time	6am to 10am, Monday through Friday
Country	United States
Starring	Gregg "Opie" Hughes Anthony Cumia Jim Norton
Creators	Gregg Hughes Anthony Cumia
Air dates	since March 28, 1995
Opening theme	"The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone "Street Fighting Man" by Rage Against the Machine
Website	SiriusXM.com

Gregg "Opie" Hughes (born May 23, 1963) and Anthony Cumia (born April 26, 1961) are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM. It is co-hosted by stand up comedian Jim Norton. Based in New York City, the show was previously on WXRK-FM and WNEW-FM in New York, and prior to that, on WAAF-FM in Boston, Massachusetts.

On April 26, 2006, Opie and Anthony returned to the terrestrial airwaves after a four year absence, replacing CBS Radio's short-lived David Lee Roth Show, which aired mainly on the eastern coast of the United States. The terrestrial portion of the show ran until March 9, 2009. The team was terminated by WXRK-FM when it flipped formats from rock to Top 40.

The Opie & Anthony Show airs weekdays live from 6am through 10am ET exclusively on XM Radio Channel 105 and Sirius Radio Channel 206 "The Opie & Anthony Channel". Replays are available throughout the day on their XM and Sirius channels and on audible.com.