JUST WHO IS THIS DEAN FARRELL GUY, ANYWAY?
Actually, my last name really isn't Farrell. I adopted a more generic-sounding surname when I got my first commercial on-air job in 1990.
I was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1966 and grew up (for lack of a better term) in Manchester and Storrs, Connecticut. I got my first stereo for my 13th birthday and immediately took to scouting the tag sales, flea markets and thrift stores for vintage vinyl. Today, my collection numbers about 1,500 albums, 2,500 singles and 2,000 CDs--not to mention all the material I have on cassette and MP3. My musical tastes are all over the map, and my collection reflects that. For example, if you go through my LPs, you'll find the Dead Kennedys followed by the DeFranco Family, the Dells, and the Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny!
I first did college radio in the summer of 1988, on WESU, 88.1-FM, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. I hosted a 1950s doo-wop/R&B program, which I called Shake Rattle & Roll. My opening theme was the 1954 classic by Joe Turner.
From 1990-1995, I worked part-time in commercial radio. The Connecticut stations at which I found gigs included WRCH-FM/WNEZ-AM in Farmington, WIOF-FM and WQQW-AM in Waterbury, WINY-AM in Putnam, and a couple of tiny AMs that no longer exist and whose call letters I can't remember.
I became involved with WHUS in 1992 and hosted an overnight free-form show until the fall of 1994, when I premiered The Soul Express on Thursday evenings. A year later, I relocated to Las Vegas (and later to Florida) and did not return to Connecticut until the spring of 1997. I put The Soul Express back on the air at WHUS that fall and, except for a couple of much-needed breaks, have done it ever since. From October 2000-March 2002, I also did The Soul Express on WECS, 90.1-FM, at Eastern Connecticut State University.
From 1996-1997, I lived in Melbourne, Florida and became involved with WFIT-FM, the station at the Florida Institute of Technology. I hosted a jazz show on Friday nights as that was the station's format. Luckily, I had a good working knowledge of the genre, so my program didn't sound half-bad.
From 2002-2004, I returned to my roots and hosted a vocal group harmony show on the Internet radio station, Destination Doo-Wop. I called it Under The Streetlamp.
Finally, in the fall of 2004, I started hosting a live public affairs show on WHUS from 5:00-5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. I call it Naked Lunch Radio, after the infamous novel by William S. Burroughs. All Things Considered, this ain't! (NOTE: As of May 2007, Naked Lunch Radio airs from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Saturdays.)