Vin Scelsa
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Vin Scelsa (born Vincent Anthony Scelsa on December 12, 1947 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is the host of a freeform radio show known as Idiot's Delight.
He attended Upsala College in East Orange, NJ, where he spent his early broadcasting years at WFMU. Scelsa originally considered becoming a Roman Catholic priest before pursuing a career in radio. His eclectic mix of music, reviews, and lengthy interviews with authors and artists has established Scelsa as a fixture in late night New York City radio for decades.
Scelsa went on to work in radio on Long Island in the early 1970s at WLIR and on WBAI-FM in New York City. He became road manager for singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt and also worked for Poppy Records. On February 14, 1971, while he was music director at WABC-FM , the station changed its call letters to WPLJ, an acronym for and homage to the song, performed by The Four Deuces in 1955 and the Mothers of Invention in 1970, called "White Port and Lemon Juice."
In 1981 he was namechecked on The Ramones' "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)".[1]
Scelsa later worked at WNEW-FM 102.7 from 1973 through 1982, and then at WXRK-FM 92.3 K-Rock from 1985 through 1996. His popular show was subsequently named "Idiot's Delight," many fans of which participate in the online "Idiot's Delight Digest."
When K-ROCK decided to solidify its format as all rock (except for Howard Stern in the morning), Scelsa left the station and returned to WNEW. When WNEW changed format in 1999, he moved "Idiot's Delight" to WFUV - 90.7 FM, the voice of Fordham University. Scelsa broadcasts a separate version of "Idiot's Delight" live on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons (12noon - 2pm ET) for Sirius Satellite Radio's "SIRIUS Disorder" (Channel 70). The combined four hours of the Sirius broadcasts are repeated on Sunday nights, 8pm to midnight ET, and at several other times during the week, also on "SIRIUS Disorder".
Scelsa was the music editor of Penthouse Magazine from 1988 to 1992 and was the co-creator of a musical series with the lengthy name In Their Own Words: A Bunch Of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singing at The Bottom Line in NYC..
Scelsa has also appeared on stage numerous times, most notably as Vladimir in the Luna Stage's production of Waiting for Godot.
In 2006 he underwent successful prostate cancer surgery. On his WFUV show of September 16, 2006, he announced a schedule change which he attributed to his health problems. On most weeks for the foreseeable future "Idiot's Delight" will present new programming only from 8-10 pm on Saturdays, with archived material (from both WFUV and his earlier jobs) from 10 pm to midnight.
Scelsa only used this format for a few weeks before deciding to once again change his recording format at WFUV. Scelsa currently records the 10pm to Midnight hours the week before his Saturday broadcast. Then, he records live to tape in WFUV studios with guests on Saturday mornings. Those recordngs air from 8pm - 10pm the same night.
On December 13, 2007 (a few weeks after celebrating his 40th anniversary on New York radio; and the day after his birthday) Vin Scelsa was the recipient of the prestigious ASCAP Deems Taylor Radio Broadcast Award, presented at The Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Vin was praised for "outstanding coverage of music on his long-running show Idiot's Delight" (as heard on WFUV broadcast radio and Sirius Satellite Disorder 70). Songwriter Marilyn Bergman, current President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) stated in her presentation of the award, "Vin Scelsa, a mainstay of New York radio for four decades, is one of the last true free-form radio hosts... He is a champion of new and untested music and, with his devoted listening public, an important tastemaker."
In accepting the award Vin thanked New York radio veterans Bob Fass (an early mentor and role model), Scott Muni (the late WNEW-FM air personality and program director) for trusting Vin with total freedom on a major commercial radio station) and the late great air personality Alison Steele (who taught him about the painful struggle faced by women in broadcasting until well into the 1970s).
Vin thanked the many general managers and program directors who tended to ignore him and pass him along from one to another, rather like an enigmatic "grandfather clause." He tipped his hat to a mysterious "rabbi named Mel" - in thanks for whatever it is the rabbi does or doesn't do to protect him from the harsh realities of 21st Century radio. He thanked his parents for being constant radio listeners; post WWII the radio was always on in the Scelsa household: Mom listening to her soaps and talk shows on WOR and Dad digging Sinatra and Basie and the Milkman's Matinee on the old WNEW-AM.
But most of all he thanked Freddie, the girl he met when they were both 17-year-old seniors in high school. They married in 1970 and have been together ever since. Vin said he enjoyed success, freedom and longevity in his radio career because of Freddie's support, generosity, understanding, patience and love. "Without Freddie there is no way I would be standing on this stage in this beautiful room accepting this remarkable honor tonight."
