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Mark Edwards had been a local
Bridgeport area resident most of his life. Currently residing in Southington, Connecticut,
Mark grew up in Bridgeport's west end on a dead end street named after his great-uncle.
He and his
older brother Larry (unrelated to his Executive Producer), younger sister Vicki and
parents Joe and Arlene enjoyed their modest home near the banks of the Rooster River on
Renwick Place.
Mark attended Bryant Elementary School on Maplewood Avenue from
Kindergarten right through the 8th grade. His class would be the final 8th grade class to
do so at Bryant, as the Bridgeport School System finally adopted a Middle School format,
eliminating 7th and 8th grades at grammar schools.
For two years he attended Notre Dame
HS in nearby Fairfield although he finished his high school education back in Bridgeport
at Central HS. It was there that Mark first got "on the air" at the schools
radio station, WCHS. With this tenure inclusive his complete radio experience encompasses
more than thirty years.
After graduating, Mark entered several different fields,
including recording studio engineer and technician, freelance photographer and restaurant
entrepreneur. From 1981 through 1988 he volunteered his time as a Junior Achievement
advisor and as a J.A. Center Manager from 1981 until 1996.
It wasn't until 1990 that he decided to
return to the air by applying for work at the station he was involved with at J.A. On
January 1, 1991 he began a tenure that lasted nearly 13 years. At the station he also
served for 10 years as the Assistant Chief Engineer. Budget cuts and mixed motives finally
brought about the end on September 11, 2003.
Mark's hobbies include
photography, videography, classic cars, motorcycles, boating, old movies, old music and
computers. He finds little tolerance for current TV or radio programming, which was one of
the catalysts for getting his own show on the radio. Current movies also find little favor
with Mark, who considers then to be "all effects, no plot." He thoroughly enjoys
Marx Brothers movies, the old Sci-Fi monster-on-the-loose flicks of the 50's and 60's, and
other classics from all pre-80's decades.
He is the Alternate Spokesman and co-webmaster
for his car club, the Classic Nights Car Club of Monroe, Connecticut.
LARRY O'NEILL,
Executive Producer
Larry originally hails from Memphis,
Tennessee, a city famous for its pork BBQ and great music. In the days before
television was available in the mid-South Larry spent many hours listening to the radio,
and became a big fan of the various serial radio shows.
The Big Band era slowly gave way to R&B
groups, and Rock and Roll provided a welcome relief to the Country songs that were so
prolific in the area during that time. The armory (where the Memphis Belle sat on
display) was the scene of many dances, and big names rolled through Memphis on a fairly
regular basis.
Sprinkled throughout Memphis and the
surrounding area were various night clubs and road houses where the local talent could try
out their skills. You could stroll down Union Avenue past the Sun Recording Studios
where the careers of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy
Orbison and Charlie Rich were launched.
By the way, Sun’s catalog of Master
Recordings now exceeds 7,000, including Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, The Dixie Cups, Conway
Twitty, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Patti Page, Webb Pierce, the Shangri-Las, Ricky
Skaggs, Randy Travis and many others.
Sam Phillips’ other brother Dewey, took
over WHBQ 560 AM Radio in 1949, and he started the “Red, Hot and Blue” program.
Here’s Dewey with a “Wheelbarrow full of mad dogs.”
In 1954 Dewey played the first Elvis Record ever recorded, “That’s
Alright Mama.”
These were the roots of Larry’s loves
of music, dance and radio. The years beyond those early days in Memphis brought Larry to
New York and eventually Connecticut. Over those years, Larry’s accomplishments
include Ballroom Dance Competitor, award winning amateur photographer, 5 children, and 10
grandchildren. Various careers include IBM, Chase Manhattan Bank, and The NASDAQ
Stock Market.
It was during the Fall of 1994 that Larry
tuned in to “Sock Hop Saturday Night” for the first time. On the other end
of that radio dial, Mark Edwards was slowing turning back the hands of time for
Larry. Acting on impulse, Larry picked up the phone and made his first request,
“Hello Stranger.” It was the beginning of a relationship that eventually
brought Larry to become a part of Mark’s creation. Larry is extremely proud to
be associated with one of the finest radio programs ever to be broadcast.
ROSEMARY CARLSON,
Associate Producer
We can say with great
certainty that Rosemary is the only SHSN staff member to have been hatched from an egg in
Boston, Massachusetts (her mom refuses to accept responsibility). Maintaining a constant
age of 18 due to a time warp she still somehow managed to grow up in the Hartford,
Connecticut area during the 50's and early 60's. It was there that she discovered Gene
Pitney and began a campaign of pestering the WDRC DJ's until they relented and taught her
how to write the programs for the various shows.
Soon it was back to the Bean-Town area where she graduated from Wellesley High
School at age 18, followed by continuing education at Manhattanville College in Purchase,
New York at age 18. Majoring in Psych and English she claims her best papers were done
with oldies blasting and the first draft doubling as the finished project.
She spent the following ten years in White Plains, New York, working in the moving
business and relocation fields. This is where she met Gil and they were married in 1983
when she was 18. Son Timothy and a move to Vero Beach, Florida followed shortly after.
Their second son Andrew arrived on the scene 5 years later when Rosemary was 18 years old.
While in Vero they attended the spring training games of the L.A. Dodgers and summer games
of the Vero Beach Dodgers. Both Tim and Andrew began collecting autographs at age 2 (they
never asked for mine) when Rosemary was 18.
Then came another move, this time to Toronto for seven years where she began to
learn the intricacies of the art of garage sales and thrift shops.
However in 1997, at age 18, she moved back to Virginia where she perfected and
mastered her thrift shopping. Her honors include finding an original Elvis Presley Sun
78RPM disc for a whopping 50 cents on one occasion, and finding herself locked in a thrift
shop after closing hours on another. Yes, she did have some 'splainin' to do for the
police officers who responded to the burglar alarm.
September 8, 2001 was the day she realized one of the dreams of her life....
meeting Gene Pitney. During the performance Gene even mentioned that Rosemary was
there from Virginia, still age 18. Her cousin had sent her son early the morning ticket
sales started to get them aisle seats in the 6th row. On the way home to Virginia she
decided to drive through New York City because her son Andrew had never seen the World
Trade Center buildings. Two days later they were gone.
In March 2003 she took a less-than-elegant swan dive off a ladder shattering her
elbow and requiring surgery. But before consented to surgery she made sure that she would
still be able to attend a Gene Pitney concert the following week. Gil drove up and back
through a horrific, blinding blizzard while Rosemary slept, awakening only for the
concert.
In 2006, on her 18th birthday, she began a second radio career (in addition to
being Sock Hop's Associate Producer) with remotes and studio work at her local Virginia
station.
It was in 2007 after 23 years of being a stay-at-home mom she returned to work full
time at a stockbrokers office while continuing her radio careers, all at age 18.
Although Gil now works in New Market, Ontario, Canada, this doesn't stop her from
maintaining a long distance marriage with several road trips up north, burning up the
highways and byways with the "tunes" blasting all the way.
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