Nichols rides the airwaves with community DJs

by Susan Veshi

Bob Guyette may be 100 percent French Canadian, but he has polka music in his blood. In the early ’60s, when other teenagers were bopping to the Beatles, he was begging his older brother to tag along at polka dances. It’s a passion he has fully and proudly stoked for 57 years.

Barry Wilson, on the other hand, is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. He has deep roots in the music industry, with a career as a prolific promoter, a drummer in multiple bands, and a disk jockey for clubs and commercial radio that dates to the ’60s.

They are the living legends of WNRC Radio — community DJs who have delighted local audiences for years — 30 for Guyette and 14 for Wilson – with their passion, playlists, and perspectives. Now, in the age of streaming, they claim devotees across the country, bringing the Nichols name on the airwaves with them.

Guyette, also known as Polka Bob, hosts two live shows a week, “Polka Festival” on Monday evenings and “Polka A-Go-Go” on Wednesday evenings, and can be heard daily from 6 to 7 a.m. on a pre-recorded show. His WNRC odyssey began in 1990 as a co-host of a polka program launched by his son Jeffrey when he was a freshman at Nichols. “There was peer pressure and he received prank calls,” says Guyette of his son, a fan of the genre since the age of 5. “But he said, ‘I love my music. I don’t care what they say.’” He and Jeffrey, who graduated in 1993 and received an MBA in 2001, continued to cohost until 2006 when the younger Guyette married and moved away. By then, Polka Bob had long established another polka program on his own.

Wilson’s first contact with the college may have been in 1979 when, as a music promoter, he brought Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show to campus for two sold-out performances. His daughter Cynthia graduated from Nichols in 1983 — and is believed to be the first female president of the Radio Club — but Wilson’s WNRC debut was still yet to come. The radio veteran worked at several stations in Worcester and Boston until an attack of sudden retinal degeneration rendered him legally and instantly blind at the age of 59.

“I dropped out of everything completely and was at the height of depression,” says Wilson. He reconnected with the college, staging concerts through the Fischer Institute and serving as a guest speaker for arts and entertainment classes before finding a home on WNRC.

“Nichols was a savior to me, giving me back what was left of my sanity,” he says. With just a little bit of sight in his left eye, he learned to operate the board, with labeling assistance from Justin Dolan ’09 MBA ’14, a student at the time who is now assistant director of campus services at Nichols and co-advisor to the Radio Club.

Wilson relies on a contingent of drivers to get him to and from the studio. “Running the station isn’t the hardest part, it’s getting there,” he jokes. On Tuesday afternoons he hosts “Groovers’ Paradise,” a show dedicated to all types of Americana music, and on Saturday mornings it’s the “Country Hall of Fame Show.” He also hosts the “The Time Capsule!” which airs on WXRB 95.1, the former home of Nichols radio still located at the top of Academy Hall.

Both Wilson and Guyette provide a unique service...for their listeners and for the college.

“We are like the liaison between Nichols and the senior people in the community,” says Wilson, who, now at 79, calls himself “the oldest kid on campus.” “A lot of people wouldn’t know about Nichols then, all of a sudden, there’s the connection to polka music and old-time music. It’s funny that a college is presenting music that some of these older people couldn’t find anywhere on the dial.”

That’s a definite part of their appeal, notes Dolan. “Their shows are popular because you can’t find it anywhere else on FM radio,” he says. “Barry is cognizant of that, having worked in commercial radio. If you go up and down the dial and listen to country music, you hear the same 40 songs over and over. He is playing stuff that you don’t find on the dial.”

In addition to playing “deep cuts,” Wilson gives extensive background on the songs he plays from a lifetime of experience in the business.

“Barry is a walking encyclopedia on music,” adds Andrea Becker ’96 MSOL ’10, assistant dean for academic affairs and co-advisor to the Radio Club.

Guyette’s shows are driven by listener requests, for which he taps into his vast collection of 2,500 albums, 2,000 CDs, and 1,500 cassettes. If he doesn’t have the requested song in the studio? “I’ll find it,” he says. “It might take a week, but I write it down, and play it. That’s the extra mile I do.” Guyette has been nominated in the top 55 radio and internet disk jockeys of the year by the United States Polka Association for three years. Though he’s never won, he’s come close to the top 10.

“People who like polka music are really dedicated,” he says. “They will go above and beyond to listen to the music.” Dolan can attest — during a recent power outage on the campus, he received a number of calls from fans who were missing their morning jolt of polka.

And sometimes, it’s more than just the music that keeps them coming back. Becker received a letter from a daughter whose mother listened to polka and has since passed. “For her, it keeps her mother’s spirit alive,” she says. “It was a beautiful and touching letter that shows there is history here and a tendency for some of the next generation to be interested. I don’t think polka is going away.”

In fact, when the 100-watt station began streaming in 2004, the fan base exploded for both Guyette and Wilson, whose shows can generate upwards of 100 clicks. “I have regular listeners from Maine, Amarillo, Texas, and Chicago. It’s amazing and helps put the college on the map so to speak,” Wilson contends. Guyette boasts followers from California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, New York, and even Canada.

Their impact is also economic. When WNRC holds its annual radiothon in March, the bulk of donations are made in honor of Guyette and Wilson. Together, they have raised thousands of dollars among listeners to support station operations, such as licensing and streaming fees.

And they are here to stay. Though Guyette laments that interest in polka may be waning, he is committed to promoting the music he loves for as long as possible. “To put it bluntly, they are going to have to carry me out of here,” he quips. Wilson approaches his work with the same zeal: “It’s been 14 years and I haven’t missed a day.”

Polka Bob Guyette (page 10) and Barry Wilson (above) give WNRC listeners a unique blend of beats and background.