Judges

Charles Laquidara

Charles Laquidara is an iconic radio disc jockey whose show, "The Big Mattress" was broadcast in the Boston, Massachusetts area for nearly 30 years on WBCN. He spent four years doing The Charles Laquidara Radio Hour on WZLX.

Laquidara worked part time as a classical music announcer at KPPC-FM in Pasadena, and (after several moves back and forth to his home state of Massachusetts) he eventually ended up working at KPPC full time. By then the station had adopted the new "Underground Radio" rock format. Laquidara's classical music background helped him get somewhat of a reputation as "the radio guy who segues Bach into the Beatles and somehow gets away with it.

In 1972, Laquidara took over the morning shift on WBCN - dubbed the show "The Big Mattress" - and stayed there for almost 25 years, before moving to WBCN sister station WZLX in 1995. He drew national attention in 1988 for leading anti-Apartheid protests and a boycott of Shell Oil.

After his retirement in August 2000, Laquidara moved to Hawaii.