Less than a week in, the new morning show at Beasley Classic Hits WROR/Boston was already finding its voice. Co-hosts Lauren Beckham Falcone – better known as LBF – and her new partner Adam Chapman – known as Adam-12 – found themselves discussing actor Kyle MacLachlan. Adam thinks of MacLachlan as Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. LBF, however, knows him only as Charlotte’s husband Trey MacDougal on Sex and the City. In a strange way, that dichotomy really sums up the unique clash of cultures represented on their new show.
For LBF, this is the third incarnation of the morning show that she’s been a part of at WROR. Originally a journalist working for The Boston Herald, she joined the legendary Loren and Wally show in 2011. When Loren retired in 2019, she partnered with co-host Bob Bronson. Together, they had an extraordinarily successful run until Bronson also retired earlier this year.
Soon after Bronson left, the new show with Adam-12 was announced. “Yes, I’ve been through a lot of arranged marriages,” says Lauren. “But I’ve been incredibly lucky. To put it in high school terms I’ve had several good lab partners. I was looking for another one and I think I may have found the best.”
Different Backgrounds, Shared Vision
Adam’s radio history includes working at legendary Boston rock station WBCN as well as alternative WFNX. Most recently, he had been producing the Toucher and Hardy show on WROR’s sister station, The Sports Hub. “I’ve known LBF for a while now and I just knew it would be a good fit,” Adam says. “We have the right mix of things in common and things that we don’t have in common. So, we can draw on the former when it makes sense and we can lean into the latter when it makes sense.”
Since they already knew each other, Adam and Lauren took a different approach than most new show pairings. “We had a lunch and that was kind of it,” Adam says.
Continuity also played a role in their ability to launch quickly and effectively. They maintained several benchmarks from the previous show. These included a trivia contest called “Supah Smaht in 60 Seconds” and a listener participation segment called “DM Disasters.” Plus, they could rely on producer Aaron Natti, a holdover from the last show. Known to listeners for his laugh, Natti brings much more to the role. “Our producer is incredible,” says Adam. “Coming from producing in my last job, you know, game recognizes game. I can appreciate someone who is elite at what they do.”
More Than a Continuation
By no means, though, is the show just a continuation. In addition to a local focus, Lauren explains the new team is putting a distinctive stamp on the show. “I hate to say it’s a slice of life, but it is our unique takes on the absurd nature of what is going on everywhere,” she says. “We like to riff on that absurdity.”
Adam explains that their approach differs from the typical argumentative style of many radio shows. “You can take a news story and present it in a point, counter point way but that immediately puts your audience at odds with each other,” he says. “It’s much more unifying to say let’s drill down into a story because there inevitably is going to be some absurdity there to talk about.”
And hopefully, Lauren says, the result is fun. “I hope when people are driving to work they’re laughing and saying, ‘I never thought of it that way’ instead of saying ‘she’s wrong and he’s right.’ We really want people say ‘that is a crazy way to think about something.'”
Growing the Audience
Part of that mix comes from integrating Adam into the WROR audience. He has primarily worked at more male-focused stations, but it’s a transition he’s familiar with. Before his last job, he had never worked at a sports-talk station.
“I went into that environment with a little bit of imposter syndrome but over time I figured out which parts of my personality I could bring to the forefront that made sense in in that context,” Adam says. “That’s what I’m hoping to do here. Different station, different format, different approach but there absolutely are parts of my personality that fit here that you might not have heard on other stations or formats. I’m hoping to bring them out in a way that resonates with the audience.”
But Lauren is careful not to overly focus Adam on any part of the existing audience. “I don’t want to pigeonhole the audience, and I don’t want to pigeonhole Adam. And I want to be constantly growing. So, I don’t want to say that this specific person is our listener, and this is what you have to do, because that’s putting everybody in a cage and I’m not into that. I want everyone to come to the party.”
That sentiment dovetails with her long-term goals for the show of pulling together an even wider, more robust audience. “I’d like to think over time we’ll bring in different ages and types of people who didn’t know the show before Adam or who knew him from other stations and it grows into something that’s recognizable to more people,” she says. “A year from now if we’ve been able to do something that is still enduring and is resonating with people I would consider that a success.”
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
