Brother Wease
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Brother Wease is the on-air name of Alan Levin, a radio personality from
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
. He is currently heard on
WAIO WAIO (95.1 FM, "Radio 95.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to Honeoye Falls, New York, and serving the Rochester metropolitan area. The station airs a hybrid hot talk and mainstream rock radio format and is owned and operated by i ...
"Radio 95.1" an
active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
station in Rochester. WAIO serves the Rochester metropolitan area and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.)


Radio career

Levin began his on-air career as a late evening host on 96.5
WCMF-FM WCMF-FM (96.5 MHz) is a radio station located in the Rochester, New York, area. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton, Monroe County, while its studios are located at High Falls Studios in downtown Rochester. WCMF is a herita ...
in 1985. He soon moved to the morning show using the name "Brother Wease." His show, called "The Brother Wease Morning Circus," was among the highest rated shows in the Rochester market. He also hosted a Saturday music show entitled "Radio Free Wease." He was forced out of that show and the station in January 2008 when his contract for lack of listeners ran out as the station was being sold from the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
radio group to
Entercom Communications Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
. Levin and officials from station owner Entercom Communications tried but failed to negotiate a new contract. His co-hosts remained and took over the show, which was renamed "The Break Room." Shortly after leaving WCMF, Levin accepted a job as a sales executive at
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
. He could not go on the air due to a "non-compete" clause in his previous contract. He then returned to the airwaves on November 17, 2008, on WFXF "95.1 THE FOX" with a new supporting cast, including female co-host Lilly Hisenaj (formerly on XM's Ron & Fez Show), Jamie Lissow, a local Rochester stand-up comic and executive morning show producer Anthony Caiazzo. This new incarnation is called "The Wease Show." From March through September 2004, Wease hosted both his WCMF music show and a similar program on
WBUF WBUF (92.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Buffalo, New York. Its studios are located at the Rand Building in downtown Buffalo, with its transmitter on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo. WBUF is owned by Townsquare Media and bro ...
, WCMF's
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sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
in the CBS station group which was using a
hot talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. He was also heard weekends on New York City's
WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...
during its days as a hot-talk station in the middle of the last decade. He hosted a three-hour music show on
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...
's Virus channel in December 2006. BJ Shea, and current syndicated liberal talk radio host
Stephanie Miller Stephanie Catherine Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American political commentator, comedian, and host of '' The Stephanie Miller Show'', a Progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles, California, by WYD Media Management and ...
(then known as "Sister Sleaze") have also worked with Brother Wease.


Lawsuits

Levin was sued twice by former co-workers in the late 1990s over lewd and sexual derogatory comments he made about them on the air. Cindy Pierce, a former co-host, said his lewd remarks about her forced her off the air. Account executive Jodi Strada claimed Wease humiliated her by on-air sexual references. Both suits were settled out of court.


Personal life

Brother Wease came by his stage name from his school nickname, which was "Weasel". Wease is known for his openness with some listeners, including sharing much of his personal life. He is a veteran who completed three tours of duty in
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. Wease served as an emcee for
Woodstock '94 Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was r ...
and
Woodstock 1999 Woodstock 1999 (also called Woodstock '99) was a music festival held from July 21 to July 26, 1999, in Rome, New York, United States. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 196 ...
. In 1997, Wease founded the Wease Cares Children's Fund to raise money for children in need.


Cancer

Wease announced on his February 2, 2005, show that he had been diagnosed with
nasopharyngeal carcinoma Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), or nasopharynx cancer, is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx, most commonly in the postero-lateral nasopharynx or pharyngeal recess (fossa of Rosenmüller), accounting for 50% of cases. NPC occurs ...
, a rare form of sinus
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
. Wease underwent seven weeks of radiation treatment at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
in New York, during which he intended to broadcast from a makeshift studio in his apartment for as long as he was physically capable. Wease never missed a show, despite being able to broadcast for only a few minutes on certain days. During his treatment, WCMF established "Kick Cancer's Ass," a campaign which raised nearly $100,000 for children with cancer. Wease returned to Rochester following his treatment. He learned in August 2005 that the treatment for his cancer had been successful.Wease Returns
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Headquartered at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's ...
, August 3, 2005


References


External links


Rochester Wiki - Brother WeaseBrother Wease Website
- as of April 2009 - Fox 95.1FM {{DEFAULTSORT:Wease, Brother (Alan Levin) Living people American radio personalities Mass media people from Rochester, New York Year of birth missing (living people)