Cha-Chi's Back

WZLX didn't waste any time looking for a replacement to host Breakfast with the Beatles after former host John Laurenti's abrupt departure.  The new host is actually the former host, Cha-Chi Loprete, the Promotions Director of WZLX and WBCN.

Cha-Chi did his first show the week after John Laurenti did his final show.  Not bad at all.  I first met him back in 1994 when I started volunteering at WBCN on the weekends.  He always gave a movie pass.  Boy, how I miss those passes!

My best memory of Cha-Chi was during the spring of 1995 when I went to the WBOS Earth Day concert on the Esplanade and saw him in the VIP section next to the stage.  I asked the security guard if I could go in because I was also with WBCN like Cha-Chi.  She looked at me surprised when I explained to her that Cha-Chi isn't an employee of WBOS-FM and that he worked for a rival radio station.

"Wait-a-minute!  I thought he showed me a pass!  You're saying that man is with another radio station?" she asked me.

"Yes, he works at WBCN, the Rock of Boston," I replied.

People were gathering around us as we talked about him.  One person asked me for his name.

"That's Cha-Chi, the Promotions Director," I answered.

The whole crowd exclaimed, "That's Cha-Chi!"

The security guard went over to Cha-Chi and he showed her his VIP pass.  She told him that I was asking for him.  He went over and said "Hi" to me.  Unfortunately, he didn't have an extra pass to give me.

While we were talking, one of the celebrity guest hosts, Christopher Reeve, walked around the Hatch Shell stage.  The concert was several weeks before he had his tragic horse riding accident.

I came so close to meeting the actor who played Superman.

Btw, the other Cha-Chi, Scott Baio, is now on Arrested Development.