Waking Up With Brian Fuld

"GOOD morning! You're listening to the Daybreak show with Brian Fuld." The Daybreak show is a regular WDCR feature, broadcast five days a week from six until nine every morning. Fuld, the professional-sounding announcer behind the microphone, is a Dartmouth senior from Rolling Hill, California.

7:00 News-time. In an adjoining studio Bob Baum '77 reads the morning report. Periodically he waves his arms like a referee, signaling to Fuld the exact moment to punch in the UPI audio tapes - the observations of national newsmen and newsmaker quotes.

7:02 Brian punches in the tape for the Hanover Food Co-Op commercial. Many of the commercials aired on WDCR are put together in the station's own production studio. Staff members mix the sound effects and music and record the client's sales pitch.

7:10 News is over. "This is Brian Fuld and the Daybreak show . . . ." Fuld says this once or twice every five minutes. "Thank-God-its-Friday . . . It's a rainy day . . . there's a squirrel on the lawn outside .. . some people say there's a squirrel in here... The morning disk-jockey "good morning" banter goes on. Fills time between songs and commercials.

7:11 Cue in a record. Glenn Campbell.

7:13 "It's 36 cold degrees outside and raining...."

7:14 Public Service Announcement: The Great Frat Race. Fraternities are trying to raise money for the Mary Hitchcock Hospital pediatric playroom. Brian urges his audience to sponsor a contestant or simply to come out and stand in the rain and watch. "It's for a good cause. We want to make this into a big thing. We'll see you out there."

7:15 A Christmas commercial - and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. "Fill your home with holiday joy. Fill your home with holiday joy...." Catchy little jingle. "If you're within the sound of my voice, there's a Beneficial Finance office near you...." Fill your home with holiday bills.

7:16 Another commercial. Art Bennett's sports store this time. He's selling ski packages.

7:17 "Weather Across the Nation." Rain and snow almost everywhere. Snow in Atlanta. (We haven't had any in Hanover yet.) Freeze warnings in Louisiana. Flash flood warnings in Maine and New Hampshire. "Today's upper valley forecast: rain."

Every once in a while, during songs and commercials, I manage to exchange a word or two with Fuld. He explains that he tries to run more of a "personality" show, not just music and news. He likes to comment on everything, to talk to his audience.

7:19 "It's raining hard outside. Do drive carefully. Wear your rubber booties on your toesies and carry an umbrella."

7:20 Eaton Oil Co. commercial.

7:21 "This is WDCR . . . you're listening to Brian Fuld on the Daybreak show." Time for a Smith Auto spot. Buy a Buick from them. Sure.

7:22 Time for Campion's daily quiz. First a Campion's commercial. Then the quiz. "It's a tough question. Don't touch that phone yet," Fuld admonishes his audience. "I have my phone off the hook. The quiz number is 646-3211. Who said, 'There's a sucker born every minute?'"

7:24 Fuld plays a song by Art Garfunkel while he waits for quiz callers. During the song, I ask if he has to do much preparation for his show, if it requires much more time than the three hours he spends on the air every morning.

"Well, never as much as I'd like to do. Finding records I want to play doesn't count. I bring in stuff to read from the newspaper, a few clippings. You know, anything that might be interesting. If I've seen a movie, I might give it a review."

The first caller is on the phone. "W. C. Fields? Of course not." (My guess is either Ringling, Lincoln, or Twain.) The next caller has it. "P. T. Barnum? Right. We have a winner...."

7:27 Robert's Flowers ad.

7:28 Weather. Still raining.

7:29 Music filler until the 7:30 news. A girl calls asking to hear her favorite Top-40 song.