18 Facts About Pete Fornatale

Peter Salvatore Fornatale was a New York City disc jockey and author of numerous books on rock and roll.

Pete Fornatale is considered a "pioneer of FM rock", who played an important role in the progressive rock era of FM broadcasting.

Pete Fornatale was the first person to host a rock music show on New York City's FM band, commencing November 21,1964, on WFUV.

Pete Fornatale gave early exposure to country-rock bands like Buffalo Springfield and Poco, and did one of the first American interviews with Elton John.

Pete Fornatale was a key figure in this trend with his weekly program, "Campus Caravan," which was heard on Fordham University's WFUV from 1964 to 1970.

Pete Fornatale began professionally in 1969 at WNEW-FM and held shifts there until 1989 when he moved to K-Rock: WXRK.

Pete Fornatale returned to WNEW-FM in January 1997 for the "Classic Rock and Classic Jocks" format and stayed until the Summer of 1998.

Pete Fornatale returned to WFUV in 2001 and was heard weekly on his shows, "Mixed Bag" and "Mixed Bag Radio," the latter of which was broadcast on XM Satellite Radio.

Pete Fornatale won the Armstrong Excellence in Broadcasting Award in 1983.

Pete Fornatale was a member of the board of World Hunger Year.

Pete Fornatale wrote several books, including The Rock Music Source Book, Radio in the Television Age, The Story of Rock 'n' Roll, and All You Need Is Love.

Pete Fornatale was helped write The Elvis Collection trading card series.

Pete Fornatale hosted rock-related programs on WNET, PBS's station in New York City, and was an on-air consultant for rock music shows and specials on VH1, MTV and HBO.

In June 2010, Pete Fornatale joined the crew of The Voice of Peace Network with his show "Back To The Garden" in support of WhyHunger.

Pete Fornatale's show features Pete reflecting on some of his favorite friends and musicians.

Pete Fornatale was working on a book on the Rolling Stones at the time of his death.

Pete Fornatale died at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City at age 66 on April 26,2012.

Pete Fornatale's legacy show "Mixed Bag" on WFUV is still on the air on Saturday afternoons and is currently hosted by Don McGee.