John
Masters was the quintessential 20/20 News person. Both his writing and delivery
of the news were clear, authoritative, and sincere. He could have worked at
any major-market station in America. But I'm so grateful that he claimed metropolitan
Boston as his home. And he was a loyal employee, working at WRKO from 1968 through
the end of 1993 yes, even through the first 11 years of WRKO as a talk station!Little-known is that John was a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was talented pianist who loved jazz. He began his radio career in his home state of Delaware, but transferred to WCOP in Boston as Operations Manager in 1963. It was from WCOP where he moved to WRKO, in 1967.
By all accounts, John was a true gentleman. He passed away from cancer on June 25, 1998. I had the privilege of speaking with him by phone near the end of his days. Even then, John was upbeat, and most friendly. His real name was John Burgomaster.
Following are words of kindness that reflect in only a very small way how John Masters showed his love to everyone he touched.
From John's daughter, Betsy...
To me, John Masters was my Dad. He was a big ( 6'5") man with a deep voice, a twinkle in his eye, and a heart of gold. He was intelligent, well spoken, very interested in politics, and a conservative. He loved to laugh, dance, read books, but most of all, he loved playing the piano. He would go to parties and end up being the entertainment, if they had a piano. He played by ear, and loved the Big Band Era with Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. But he could play anything.
I remember when I was in Junior High, I got the lead in a musical . Well, I have a habit of going off key. So Dad came to every show, and played the piano when I had to sing. That way when I went off key, he could just change keys with me, and make me sound OK. And I have to tell you, sitting through three of four performances of a Junior High musical, has to land Dad in heaven. Don't you think?
Dad told a funny story about a newscast. I do not know if it was WKEN in Dover, Delaware, or WCOP or WRKO, but the disc jockey use to laugh at how serious Dad was during his newscast. So once, while he was reading the news, someone came in the studio and lit his newscast on fire. Dad had to read as fast as he could, and finally cracked up at the end. He use to say he had butterflies every time he went on the air, he was nervous, and his leg would bounce up and down. I bet not too many people knew that.
It is interesting that Dad had three kids, put us all through college, under the condition that we not major in music or broadcasting. Thomas, the youngest, always dreamt of being a disc jockey. Dad used to take him to work on early Saturday mornings, Mom had passed away, and he could not leave Tom at home alone. Well, he use to put Tom in an empty studio, and Tom use to pretend he was a disc jockey. Tom use to really look forward to early Saturday mornings, and we are talking 5 am here! Anyway, Tom has a little daughter now, and he made a presentation to her class about what he does for a living. Then one student asked Tom what he wanted to be when he was younger, Tom said a disc jockey. His daughter laughed. But Tom is 34 years old, and still remembers his time in the studio. I think we are talking the Dale Dorman era.
I remember RKO clam bakes in the summer, and the Christmas Parties for kids at Government Center. Remember the elves, and the wonderful presents? To a kid, that was really special.
Well, I may be biased, but my father was the best man in the world. He had ethics, he had morals, and he was a true gentleman. My brothers and I are very lucky to have had him for a Dad. Thanks for letting me carry on.
God Bless,
Betsy Burgomaster MacDonald
From John's son, Tom...
Thanks for all the nice thoughts about my dad, John Masters. When you first contacted him, he told me about it and I immediately checked out your page. It was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of good memories. I called my dad to come over and see it too. We even listened to one of his old air-checks. I think he got a big kick out of it.
I am a bit younger, so my memories are of the tail end of RKO and the rise of KISS 108 and disco. How many people did go from WRKO to KISS? It seemed like everybody. Dale Dorman, J. J. Wright, Bill Rossi . . . others? As WRKO lost its luster with kids, my reputation at school suffered somewhat. And the change happened too soon for me to benefit from the free concert tickets my dad used to get for my brother and sister. But I was always proud of my father and loved to listen to him on the air. It is so nice to hear how much others appreciated him as well.
Tom Burgomaster