Phil Zachary, who was named the senior VP and market manager for Entercom’s cluster of D.C. stations last June, came up with the promotion. It would’ve been harder to pull off on a station devoted to music of the ’80s and early ’90s at his previous job.
“I ran our stations in Boston for five years before coming down here, and what I’m about to say is the kind of statement people outside of Boston absolutely hate," Zachary said Friday in a phone interview. “Winning championships there was fairly routine. A lot of duck-boat parades, a lot of championships . . . It was great to see the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, but the football famine was palpable when I came here this past summer.”
Zachary, 64, feels the pain of Redskins fans because, despite growing up in New England, he is one.
“I was the black sheep, the odd duck,” he said. “I grew up in Connecticut, so everyone was either a Giants fan or a Jets or a Patriots fan. I just fell in love with the Redskins. Some of my favorite players were Charley Taylor, Bobby Mitchell and Paul Krause. Back then it was easy to be a Redskins fan. There were many, many seasons of winning.”
And then there weren’t. The Redskins went to the postseason “Time After Time” and won three Super Bowls from 1982 to 1992. Since then, they’ve won three playoff games and been nothing but “Bad Medicine.” This weekend’s programming, which won’t include songs from Washington’s first Super Bowl appearance in January 1973, could be just the cure for the “Achy Breaky Heart” of the Redskins fan who is running low on “Faith” or just “Can’t Let Go.”
“We figured let’s rejuvenate those memories and tie it to the music, which is kind of the fun part of it," Zachary said.
No. 1 Hit Singles From The Redskins' Super Bowl Years
1992: “End of the Road” — Boyz II Men
1988: “Faith” - George Michael
1984: “When Doves Cry” - Prince
1983: “Every Breath You Take” - The Police
1973: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree” - Tony Orlando and Dawn
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