Legendary Boston Radio Man Dies At Dover Home

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England radio personality and may contain the individual's views, opinions or personal experiences.

Sad news for radio.

Back in the day, when I was glued to my radio, there was one station in Boston that I loved above all. It's not on the air anymore, but it was the go-to rock station to which to listen. WBCN was instrumental in rock history. It can not be overstated how important they were to the development of so many bands' careers and I can't overlook my own love of radio, which blossomed with every person who cracked the mic at the mighty 104.1 on the FM dial.

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WBCN had a cavalcade of characters on its morning show, "The Big Mattress with Charles Laquidara." One of the guys on the show was "Tank" on Sports, but he was so much more than the guy who did sports.

Tank did everything at WBCN. Check out this amazing tribute by Chachi Loprete, WBCN's promotions director:

Although I met and worked with several people who graced the airwaves of WBCN, I never met Tank. I didn't know until his passing that he lived right here in Dover, that is according to Legacy.com.

All the stories going around about Tank said that he began his radio career in 1977 by volunteering to answer the "listener line" at the station. At that point, he worked his way up to do a multitude of things. Radio is like that to those who love it. It will take hold of you and never let you go.

Tank maintained, up until he was no longer able, sports reports on his Facebook page. I also didn't know that he was friends with Jonathan Kraft, which made him instrumental to the Patriots broadcasts on WBCN, according to Chachi's tribute.

I wish his longtime partner, Elaine Keating Pridham, and Tank's family all the best.