RS: I understand you used to host your own radio station. Tell us about it.
WH: My first commercial radio job was at WBOS (Disco 93) in 1978. It was Boston's first all dance radio station and hadn't yet been fallen prey to the "slick" sounds of the stations being bought and programmed by big business. I'm happy to have experienced REAL radio. I tried my hand at a few of those slick-sounding stations but got bored easily as they told you what to say AND what to play. I fill in occasionally at an all-volunteer station here in P'town, WOMR, and play everything BUT dance music. It's nice to be able to share the music that I listen to, when not listening to dance stuff, with an audience!!
RS: You had a brush with cancer a few years back; how did that affect your DJ career?
WH: I couldn't work much while in treatment but that didn't really effect my career. It effected my finances much more than my career. It was the beginning of my financial woes which, ultimately, has triggered my departure from P'town.
RS: What brought you to your decision to retire as a DJ after so many years in the industry?
WH: In addition to what I said when you asked why I decided to give up DJ'ing, it would be the recycling of the same DJ's for all of the main events. I don't want to infer that ALL promoters do this because I've had some great opportunities and am grateful for each and every one of them. But there are many who still hire within their comfort zone thereby leaving a lot of good talent out of the loop. Now, in their defense, the ones who HAVE tried someone different based on feedback from attendees of other events, have often found themselves with empty rooms, a big loss of money and no support from the suggestive complainers. So they're given a reason not to gamble and the DJ's waiting patiently to take the next step in their careers are left in limbo.
RS: What's next for Wendy Hunt? What are your plans post Labor Day?
WH: I'm leaving my options open for now. I have opportunities from which to choose but, since I'm not leaving town until the first week in October, I want to be open to whatever else may come my way. Until then, a HUGE yard sale to rid my life of the "clutter" and "stuff" I've accumulated over the years in addition to working the parties I haved booked thru September. Then, off I go to see what's next on the agenda of my life!
