Sid Mark was ‘the real deal’

I worked with the legendary Sid Mark at WWDB, and every week leading up to his Friday With Frank program, I would look into the studio and see the light from a lone lamp shining onto the console where Mark would soon preside over what would become one of radio’s longest-running shows, which exclusively presented the recordings of Frank Sinatra.

It was more than just a light. It was also a beacon for a fading component of radio programming — personality and individuality.

This week, that light shone a bit dimmer with the passing of Sid Mark, born Sidney Mark Fliegelman, the 88-year-old son of East Camden who put his stamp on the medium beginning in 1956. Today, little remains of the radio programming that was so prevalent in that era.

In the late 1950s, Philadelphia radio consisted of eight full-time AM stations which normally had a personable host at the helm — whether playing rock and roll, standard music with vocalists of the day, soul music, or just a full-service format that had interviews mixed with music and news. The few FM stations at the time carried classical music or beautiful music (as it was called), the latter featuring instrumentals of popular tunes. But on WHAT-FM, the jazz format was king.

In that WHAT-FM programming filled with Maynard Ferguson, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald, Mark began playing only the music of Sinatra one night each week. And with that, a legend was born.

A following grew rapidly and sponsors began buying the air time. It led to a second show in the late ‘70s, Sunday With Sinatra, after WHAT-FM had evolved into otherwise-all-talk WWDB. His program soon moved into syndication via a two-hour version heard on stations throughout the country. It still is.

I spent years listening to Mark, first as a teenager working in a warehouse after school where a shipper’s radio blared out Friday With Frank each week. Then, I became Mark’s coworker: as an account executive who sold commercial air time for his show at WWDB, then as a consultant who worked for his Orange Productions syndicated show. Throughout that time, I came to love the music of the world’s greatest vocalist and to appreciate the professionalism and decency of Mark.

There are thousands of others who can pinpoint how they came to love the music and the host. It was a combination that worked — and a reminder of how poorly the cookie-cutter shows that now dot terrestrial radio and the internet stations measure up.

Nearly extinct are radio personalities who, in between songs, command attention for their unique styles. Talk stations have them, but most of their performances are hindered by their adherence to particular political orthodoxies. Sports talk radio is often plagued by shallow hosts whose sole purpose is to create controversy on otherwise mundane topics. Music formats have drained the pool of individuality, often utilizing voice-over tracks to substitute for live hosting.

Sid Mark and his shows — on WHAT-FM, WWDB, and later WPHT — were the real deal. They had a host who loved what he did, immersed himself into the product of Frank Sinatra, brought his soul into the live ad copy he read during the show, and always respected the audience that supported him.

Because Mark’s shows have been recorded, some of his light may keep shining. Sundays With Sinatra could continue in some form, to keep alive a popular product and help prevent this type of programming from becoming extinct.

But to me, the real immortality is contained in the memories we all have for Frank Sinatra and for his biggest supporter, Sid Mark. Sixty-five years on the radio is astonishing. It is a run that may never be equaled.

Jeff Hurvitz is a freelance writer and Philadelphia native who worked with Sid Mark at both WWDB and Orange Productions. jrhurvitz@aol.com