Host Mary Flynn created “The Blue Side” in 1988 in response to a blues DJ on WGBW that announced one evening that blues was depressing and he was depressed. Mary has always felt that blues was uplifting and positive, so she approached the station and asked to be involved to give a different perspective.
Mary says music of all kinds has always been an important part of her life. As a kid, she was drawn to Motown, Stax, and Atlantic records and the artists they represented. Later, she discovered Muddy Waters and B B King in live performances at concerts and festivals and she felt like a door had been opened and she had found home.
Mary was also a part of the disco wave from 1976 to 1980. She was a DJ at a disco in Manitowoc called Yesterday–owned by Packer Jim Carter. Mary says disco was an extension of R&B and soul. “Sugar Blue, a blues musician out of Chicago, was featured on The Rolling Stones’ disco hit “Miss You”–so blues had a role there, too,” according to Mary.
Year after year, Mary continues to host “The Blue Side” because she says music brings people together and sharing new music or revisiting old classics can be part of that. “The spontaneity of hearing something on radio is always fun for me and I hope I can do that for others with ‘The Blue Side.’”
Mary can be heard on “The Blue Side” on Tuesdays from 10 p.m. to midnight on 89.3 WPNE and 89.7 WHND.