TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1957)

Pied Piper of Bosfon Town Jay McMaster of WMEX addresses teenagers as "ladies and gentlemen" — and that's how they behave! Musical good taste is o matter of education, says Jay. Above, the "teachers" are Jerry Vale and Eileen Rogers. These ore Joy's "students." Their requests prove that, given a chance to hear good music, teens will like it. 14 TEENAGERS in Boston not only follow Jay McMaster — they follow his rules! Known around town as "the Pied Piper," Jay spotted the trend Boston had set in record dances and started his own three years ago. Now, on Saturday nights, some 1200 Bean Towners between the ages of fifteen and nineteen dance to the latest records. Wednesday nights. Jay presides at a dance at a local roller skating rink. Jay's Friday night dances alternate between two large high schools. . . . Jay plays the tunes, and the teenagers pay attention. There are a set of ten "rules and regulations" that apply to all dances at which Jay presides. The young people are screened when they come in. Dances start at 9:30 and latecomers are barred. The last record plays at 11: 30 or midnight, "to enable all to arrive home at a reasonable hour." Boys must wear jackets and ties. Slacks are taboo for girls. The dances are run in sets of four slow numbers, two fast, and then specialties. The supervisors at the dances ban all drinking, show-off dancing and loud, brassy groups. ... If the rules sound strict, nobody seems to mind. The church or school groups that run the dances know the rules insure a successful and good time for all. Parents feel secure knowing that their sons and daughters are at a supervised gathering. And, most important of all, the teenagers love it. They know they can meet their friends and have a good time — and without tiouble. Jay addresses them as "ladies and gentlemen," and treats i-hem as such. In turn, that's how the teenagers behave. . . . Jay's theme for living is "Do everything in good taste." On his afternoon WMEX show, now ten years old, he features "all the music in good taste." Beginning at two, he slants his first hour towards the housewife, with show tunes and ballads. From three to five, it's the "Tops in Pops" — with no rock 'n' roll. Then, for the last hour, Jay offers "Band and Ballads" for everyone. "The young people today can't be expected to appreciate good music unless they have a chance to hear it," he says. But while opening his daily stack of mail. Jay must often think how different his life might have been had he followed his father into the "security" of a civil service job at the post office. Instead, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire boy began to earn spending money by ushering at the local vaudeville theater. Show business seemed to offer more "glamour" than a small town post office. The stage-struck youth headed for Boston and a career in radio. . . . Jay and wife Jenny share a home in West Newton with a houseful of animals. As we go to press, the menagerie is down to two blond cocker spaniels and a budgie bird who informs all and sundry that "Pretty birds don't talk — Hello, Baby." But, at one time, the animal population was up to eleven. . . . Jenny keeps busy during Jay's sixty-hour work-week by raising coclcers under the registered kennel name of "MerriMacs." She also acts as advisor to a Junior Achievement Company of twenty-three high-school juniors and seniors who run an actual business. Weekends, Mr. and Mrs. "Pied Piper" McMaster are quietly at-home.