Darren DeVivo

Our Midday Man: Weekdays, 10am-2pm

WFUV's Hometown Favorite:

Darren DeVivo

Even a casual listener of FUV's midday hours likely knows of Darren DeVivo's passions: The Beatles. The Mets. The Bronx. But speak to him one-on-one, and you'll find out just how passionate he is about his job.

A local boy raised on good ol' rock n' roll, DeVivo has grown up along with WFUV. He discovered the station while in high school and began working there as a college freshman in 1983. In fact, DeVivo chose to attend Fordham in the first place because of its "great radio station," which fascinated the young music buff.

"Everything about WFUV reminded me of what I vaguely remembered FM radio was like when I was a kid," DeVivo says, citing the time he stumbled across a WFUV student DJ playing the new King Crimson album in its entirety. Once a student DJ at WFUV himself, DeVivo was exposed to the station's large record library and was able to explore artists he had only read about in the past.

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, DeVivo returned to WFUV to host a weekly Friday night rock show and basically never left. By 1991 the former business major was a professional DJ, living his dream and hosting the afternoon drive on the newly public WFUV. He later became the weekday morning host, then took over the midday shift in 2001.

It's the station's wide-open approach to music that has kept DeVivo enthralled with his work over the years. "We're cutting edge," he says. "There's a ton of music -- hundreds of artists -- that are as good, if not better, than what's commercially successful, commercially accepted. They find a home here. Plus, we're still playing the artists who have lost their home: the Dylans, the Van Morrisons... the new and the old, side by side."

DeVivo's show epitomizes this philosophy. His on-air interviews have included such rock icons as David Crosby, Ringo Starr, and Roger McGuinn along with modern singer-songwriters like Dar Williams and Corey Harris and mainstream superstars such as Sting and Peter Gabriel. At noon each weekday he features an "Under the Covers" set, in which he plays the songs of one writer as recorded by other artists... or, on occasion, one artist performing the songs of others.

Darren now lives in Westchester County with his wife and their kids, Emily and Dylan. Sometimes he can't believe he works alongside veteran DJs like Dennis Elsas, Vin Scelsa and Pete Fornatale, to whom he listened as a kid.

"It really is kind of a dream come true, a perfect situation that's a mere stone's throw from where I've lived my whole life, here I am doing what I've always wanted," DeVivo muses. "To some extent, I guess I have it all."

Darren DeVivo can be heard weekdays from 10am to 2pm.

Write to Darren DeVivo

Extra:

About: FUV Weekday Music
Darren's posts on the 'FUV Blog
Article from Westchester Magazine on Darren (12/07): Loves Music, Loves the Bronx...