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Legendary New York DJ & Author
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Pete Fornatale was one of the architects of Progressive Rock FM in the '60s, and he has one of the most recognizable voices in rock radio. He has been a fixture on the New York dial for four decades, starting his career at WFUV in November 1963 at WFUV as a Fordham undergraduate hosting "Campus Caravan," and then moving on to WNEW-FM in 1969 and K-Rock in 1989. Pete currently hosts "Mixed Bag" on Saturdays from 4-8pm on WFUV 90.7 in New York. The long-running show started as a Sunday morning program in late December of 1982 on WNEW. On a humorous note, Pete remembers getting a fan letter the following week from a then unknown singer-songwriter named Suzanne Vega. She would eventually become a recurring guest on the show.
Pete is the author of several books about media, pop culture and music, including "The Rock Music Source Book," "Radio in the Television Age," The Story of Rock 'n' Roll" and "All You Need Is Love." He was also the primary writer of "The Elvis Collection," a 600 trading card series on the life of Elvis Presley.
Pete conceived, wrote and narrated the nationally syndicated radio feature "Rock Calendar." He also wrote seven episodes of the MTV series "Rock Influences," and served as a consultant, writer and voice-over announcer for "Deja View," a series of specials distributed internationally by All-American Television in 1984-1985. Pete co-hosted the 1991 HBO telecast of "Paul Simon Live in Central Park," and he has regularly served as an expert guest commentator on PBS specials featuring The Bee Gees, Bobby Darin, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and The Papas, The Moody Blues, Roy Orbison, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor and The Weavers.
Pete has won numerous awards during his lengthy and diverse career: The New York Council of Churches Award for Broadcast Excellence (1976), the coveted Armstrong Award for Excellence in Musical Programming (1983), The New York Folk Festival Special Folks Award (1984), The World Folk Music Association Award for Making a Difference in Broadcasting (1992) and The New York AIR Award for Achievement in Radio in (1998). He is a proud Board member of World Hunger Year, the organization co-founded by Harry Chapin, and he has served as a co-anchor of the annual Hungerthon broadcasts for many years. He also serves on the Honorary Board of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
For additional information, including rates and package pricing for multiple
programs, contact Tony Traguardo at [email protected] or call
(516) 385-4730