Junior Wins Contest on WRKO

Bobby Darin's music career has gone the way of the bison, but he lives on in the hearts of some Harvard students.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Edward L. Baskauskas '72 of Winthrop House came over WRKO radio revealing that the latest mystery man in the station's Voice of Rock Contest was Darin and thus won the $500 prize.

"Ever since I was a kid I've listened to the radio," Baskauskas said yesterday in explaining his success. "I knew who it was as soon as I heard it."

RKO plays a five-second segment of an interview with a star of yesteryear every hour on the hour, and asks contestants to call to identify the person. The disc jockey specifies that he will take a certain call, the fourth one, for example.

The Darin interview was first played at 11 p.m. Monday. The caller guessed wrong, so it was scheduled to be replayed at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Baskauskas rose at 6, but failed to get through.

"What really pissed me off is this girl who called at 6 a.m. and guessed Paul Revere," Baskanskas said. "What business does she have calling up at six in the morning with an answer like that?" After two more persons guessed incorrectly, Baskauskas finally hit the jackpot.

Baskauskas is better known for his high jumping, but he called the radio victory "more exciting." "This is more than just a medal," he asserted.

Roy Orbison Fan

Though he admires Darin and reminisced a moment about "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," and "Queen of the Hop," Baskauskas's favorite is Roy Orbison. He has about a dozen Orbison albums. Baskauskas says listening to music "takes up almost all my time," since he listens to it while studying, too.

The money will allow him to splurge a bit this summer when he travels to Europe with the track team. It will also enable him to buy a stereo so that he doesn't have to use his roommate's.