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New Bedford Standard Times
Real Talk Radio with Sean Fensel of Rainbow's End
Sean Fensel offers talk-show fans an alternative to right-wing thunder.
"When I told my 88-year-old mother I was getting back into talk radio, she said, 'That's nice dear,'" Sean Fensel says switching from basso profundo to a mischievous falsetto, before pausing theatrically.
" 'You have a good face for radio.' "
The Wareham resident delivers his punchline with an engaging, self-deprecating laugh, and as he leans back in his chair to talk in measured, resonant tones, it's easy to see why he works in this particular medium.
In spite of the jokes he makes at his own expense, clearly this 60-year-old has a good voice for radio, as well.
"Ah, I'm just an old hippie," Sean laughs. "And my talk show" -- "Rainbow's End." 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday through Friday -- "is named for the communal 'Rainbow Family.' I was an active part of the family in the 1960s when we did the sound stage and the murals for Woodstock, for example."
Indeed, talk to Sean Fensel for more than a few minutes and you learn this is one talk show host who has been around the block more than a few times.
This incarnation of "Rainbow's End," for example, is his fourth stab at as many radio stations. Interestingly, however, much of his working career has been away from the microphone, and his journey through life has been as varied as it has been interesting.
As a post-grad at Emerson College in the late '60s, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Henry "Fonzie" Winkler -- AAYYYYYY!!! -- and Jay Leno. He even has some after-school stories about the Jaymeister that you might not have heard anywhere else.
Seems they were both "motorheads" and worked together after school as mechanics at a famous Mercedes dealership in Boston.
"Jay got fired for taking, shall we say, an 'extended' test ride one day, trying to pick up girls all along Commonwealth Avenue," Sean laughs.
"But, he always had a pretty quick sense of observational humor," he quickly adds. "So, I guess I can see why he made it big."
After grad school -- and a stint as a "speech coach for the guys who eventually started WBCN" radio -- the Vermont native found himself in Plymouth for a second time ... all thanks to a chance meeting with a Plymouth woman at a New Jersey party years earlier.
"I followed her from Princeton to Plymouth on my motorcycle," Sean laughs. "That was way before grad school ... but after Emerson I drifted back there again, although the girl was out of the picture by that time."
It was in that town, after years of working at everything from social work and editing the Cape Cod Guide to owning his own repair shop, that he discovered radio.
Or should I say radio discovered him.
"In the 1960s and '70s, I was a big political activist ... anti-nukes, all that type of thing, and I became known for my speechifying," the one-time storyteller says. Indeed, he's quick to add he is still the vice president of PICNIC, the Plymouth County Nuclear Information Commission.
"Ed Perry, who owned WATD in Marshfield, was impressed by a speech I gave and told me, 'You have an FM radio voice.' "
Just like that, Sean found himself on radio the following Monday night.
"Well, I'd always imagined myself as a spokesperson for people," he laughs. "So I said why not?"
Truthfully, he concedes, it wasn't such a leap. He'd been planning "Rainbow's End" in his mind for a number of years.
"With that show -- as I do today -- I set out to destroy any preconceived notions about talk radio anyone might have," he says, launching into an unflinching -- and unflattering-assessment of the current medium.
He knows his words will be controversial, but doesn't shy away from them.
"Since 1980, talk radio has become a different animal from what you and I remember growing up with. That was when the right-wing, neo-fascist, super-Christian, conservative Republicans took over AM radio, nationwide, trying to find balance for what they perceived was liberal bias in the media."
He cites Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North as the most vocal of the talk show hosts he feels "tell people how and what to think."
"Since when does it take any intelligence to tear people down and take something apart? I knew there was a vacuum out there. I know there are many people who get frustrated because they think they don't have a voice. I give them one. So my talk show is just the opposite of all that. I base my show on the old Jean Shepherd talk show."
Humorist, novelist, columnist, Mr. Shepherd is his professional role model, he says, because he always involved his listeners with discussing solutions to problems.
As examples, he cites two typical recent topics. One was how justice gets buried in bureaucracy, while another was how common sense gets lost in the shuffle when counting dollars.
As for his 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. time slot, while acknowledging it is considered a tough one by most radio insiders, Sean cheerfully disagrees.
"I'm the only guy who does what I do in my time slot outside of Boston," Sean says proudly. "The best time, day or night, for talk radio is that slot," he insists.
"Figure it out. The first shift of workers has come home, relaxed and had their dinner, and are looking for something to entertain them before bedtime."
He figures the second shift is in the middle of its mid-day break.
"And the third shift has just gotten up to go to work. So you can see this slot is the only chance to capture all three shifts."
And capture them he has, if the latest numbers are an accurate indication.
"The show has taken off," he says. "It's a geometric explosion, judging by our feedback. When I started in August WSAR had 8,800 listeners, total. Now indications are that we've got 22,000 listeners."
One of the primary reasons for this success is the technical wizardry of his producer Gil Amancio, Sean is convinced. "Gil's always been a raving lunatic when it comes to promoting 'Rainbow's End.' He's absolutely indispensable."
Consequently, Sean Fensel is excited by the possibilities of going national, a prospect that has been in the works for some time at general manager Rodney Rainey's WSAR.
"Here we are, this little 5,000 watt station, but we've got an uplink to a satellite, and that means we can get national syndication."
It is only a matter of time, Sean Fensel says confidently.
Hank Seaman paints "Portraits" for you every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Telephone: 508 979 4504. E-mail: hseaman@s-t.com
This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on January 14, 2003.
Sean Fensel offers talk-show fans an alternative to right-wing thunder.
"When I told my 88-year-old mother I was getting back into talk radio, she said, 'That's nice dear,'" Sean Fensel says switching from basso profundo to a mischievous falsetto, before pausing theatrically.
" 'You have a good face for radio.' "
The Wareham resident delivers his punchline with an engaging, self-deprecating laugh, and as he leans back in his chair to talk in measured, resonant tones, it's easy to see why he works in this particular medium.
In spite of the jokes he makes at his own expense, clearly this 60-year-old has a good voice for radio, as well.
"Ah, I'm just an old hippie," Sean laughs. "And my talk show" -- "Rainbow's End." 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday through Friday -- "is named for the communal 'Rainbow Family.' I was an active part of the family in the 1960s when we did the sound stage and the murals for Woodstock, for example."
Indeed, talk to Sean Fensel for more than a few minutes and you learn this is one talk show host who has been around the block more than a few times.
This incarnation of "Rainbow's End," for example, is his fourth stab at as many radio stations. Interestingly, however, much of his working career has been away from the microphone, and his journey through life has been as varied as it has been interesting.
As a post-grad at Emerson College in the late '60s, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Henry "Fonzie" Winkler -- AAYYYYYY!!! -- and Jay Leno. He even has some after-school stories about the Jaymeister that you might not have heard anywhere else.
Seems they were both "motorheads" and worked together after school as mechanics at a famous Mercedes dealership in Boston.
"Jay got fired for taking, shall we say, an 'extended' test ride one day, trying to pick up girls all along Commonwealth Avenue," Sean laughs.
"But, he always had a pretty quick sense of observational humor," he quickly adds. "So, I guess I can see why he made it big."
After grad school -- and a stint as a "speech coach for the guys who eventually started WBCN" radio -- the Vermont native found himself in Plymouth for a second time ... all thanks to a chance meeting with a Plymouth woman at a New Jersey party years earlier.
"I followed her from Princeton to Plymouth on my motorcycle," Sean laughs. "That was way before grad school ... but after Emerson I drifted back there again, although the girl was out of the picture by that time."
It was in that town, after years of working at everything from social work and editing the Cape Cod Guide to owning his own repair shop, that he discovered radio.
Or should I say radio discovered him.
"In the 1960s and '70s, I was a big political activist ... anti-nukes, all that type of thing, and I became known for my speechifying," the one-time storyteller says. Indeed, he's quick to add he is still the vice president of PICNIC, the Plymouth County Nuclear Information Commission.
"Ed Perry, who owned WATD in Marshfield, was impressed by a speech I gave and told me, 'You have an FM radio voice.' "
Just like that, Sean found himself on radio the following Monday night.
"Well, I'd always imagined myself as a spokesperson for people," he laughs. "So I said why not?"
Truthfully, he concedes, it wasn't such a leap. He'd been planning "Rainbow's End" in his mind for a number of years.
"With that show -- as I do today -- I set out to destroy any preconceived notions about talk radio anyone might have," he says, launching into an unflinching -- and unflattering-assessment of the current medium.
He knows his words will be controversial, but doesn't shy away from them.
"Since 1980, talk radio has become a different animal from what you and I remember growing up with. That was when the right-wing, neo-fascist, super-Christian, conservative Republicans took over AM radio, nationwide, trying to find balance for what they perceived was liberal bias in the media."
He cites Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North as the most vocal of the talk show hosts he feels "tell people how and what to think."
"Since when does it take any intelligence to tear people down and take something apart? I knew there was a vacuum out there. I know there are many people who get frustrated because they think they don't have a voice. I give them one. So my talk show is just the opposite of all that. I base my show on the old Jean Shepherd talk show."
Humorist, novelist, columnist, Mr. Shepherd is his professional role model, he says, because he always involved his listeners with discussing solutions to problems.
As examples, he cites two typical recent topics. One was how justice gets buried in bureaucracy, while another was how common sense gets lost in the shuffle when counting dollars.
As for his 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. time slot, while acknowledging it is considered a tough one by most radio insiders, Sean cheerfully disagrees.
"I'm the only guy who does what I do in my time slot outside of Boston," Sean says proudly. "The best time, day or night, for talk radio is that slot," he insists.
"Figure it out. The first shift of workers has come home, relaxed and had their dinner, and are looking for something to entertain them before bedtime."
He figures the second shift is in the middle of its mid-day break.
"And the third shift has just gotten up to go to work. So you can see this slot is the only chance to capture all three shifts."
And capture them he has, if the latest numbers are an accurate indication.
"The show has taken off," he says. "It's a geometric explosion, judging by our feedback. When I started in August WSAR had 8,800 listeners, total. Now indications are that we've got 22,000 listeners."
One of the primary reasons for this success is the technical wizardry of his producer Gil Amancio, Sean is convinced. "Gil's always been a raving lunatic when it comes to promoting 'Rainbow's End.' He's absolutely indispensable."
Consequently, Sean Fensel is excited by the possibilities of going national, a prospect that has been in the works for some time at general manager Rodney Rainey's WSAR.
"Here we are, this little 5,000 watt station, but we've got an uplink to a satellite, and that means we can get national syndication."
It is only a matter of time, Sean Fensel says confidently.
Hank Seaman paints "Portraits" for you every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Telephone: 508 979 4504. E-mail: hseaman@s-t.com
This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on January 14, 2003.