Peter ("Pete") Fornatale (born August 23, 1945) is a New York City disc jockey who played an important role in the progressive rock era of FM broadcasting.[1]
Starting with WOR-FM in 1966, FM was demonstrating a large rift from AM broadcasting. Fornatale was a key figure in this trend with his weekly program, "Campus Caravan," which was heard on Fordham University's WFUV from 1964 to 1970. He began professionally in 1969 at WNEW-FM and also worked at WXRK (née WKTU). He returned to WFUV in 2001 and is heard weekly on his current shows, "Mixed Bag" and "Mixed Bag Radio," which is also on XM satellite radio. He won the Armstrong Excellence in Broadcasting Award in 1983.[2][3]
He is a native of the Belmont section of the Bronx and attended Fordham Preparatory School and Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in Communication Arts in 1967. He is a member of the board of World Hunger Year.
Fornatale has also written many books on popular music culture. He has hosted many rock-related programs on WNET, PBS's station in New York City. He has been an on-air consultant for rock music shows and specials on VH1, MTV and HBO.[3]
As of the Summer of 2011 (and, at least, through Spring 2012), Pete Fornatale will continue to tour the Northeast area with two different multimedia programs to support his most recent book releases. The show titled "Back to the Garden: The Story of Woodstock" focuses on Pete's experiences as an on-air personality during that period, and it is highlighted by Woodstock-related anecdotes based on events that occurred throughout the DJ's lengthy career as an interviewer, DJ and author. The program titled "How Terribly Strange to be 70" looks at the tumultuous history of Simon & Garfunkel, beginning with their early years when they performed as the duo 'Tom and Jerry'.
As co-author: