WIXQ could never be complete without the Saturday 4-7 p.m. show by Doc and Mama Roc, otherwise known as Dr. Ralph and Judy Anttonen. It is here the listeners can hear trivia questions, music from the '50s and '60s, and appreciate a family oriented show.

Doc and Mama were 'high school sweethearts' who attended Fitchberg High School in Massachusetts. After graduation, Doc received an academic scholarship and attended Tufts College. Mama didn't go straight to college. it was promised that "she would be sent to school later." Doc and Mama were married between his junior and senior year at Tufts.

They lived in Boston and, according to Doc, "went to 25 Boston Celtics games because one of his professors had free tickets." He graduated from Tufts University in 1963.

He then went to the University of Minnesota. "We were two scared little people when we arrived. But, as luck would have it, I landed a graduate assistantship and Mama got a job as a secretary in the child psychology department.

Mama got pregnant and had their first child - a daughter Cricket - on election day in 1964. "It was the first time that I could vote. I had to miss it and wait another four years."

In 1966, Doc received a full time job at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He taught statistics, measurement, and research design. He received his doctorate in 1967.

Besides becoming a doctor, Doc became a father for the second time when Eric was born.

In 1971, they left Ohio to come to MSC.

Mama said, "We had to be near a big city. And here, we're near a lot. We can see three teams. We can see the Redskins, Orioles, and Phillies."

Mama, who was taking classes at Case Western, transferred to MSC. She graduated in 1973 with a B.S. in early childhood. She is currently teaching special education at Elizabeth Martin while Doc is the director of education research at MSC.

Doc became volunteer advisor to WIXQ seven years ago when the other advisor left and the "students talked me into it." His advisor job can be like "walking on eggshells. You have to walk a line between the administration and the students. You have to let the creativity of the students emerge without stifling good things."

And on Sept. 8, 1979, Doc and Mama did their first radio show together. Mama said, "I started out engineering and after two years, he gave me a half hour show."

Doc interrupted, "She took it actually."

Mama said that it really wasn't that shocking to go on the air. "We used to do record hops together. We used a stereo and I would run the turntables."

Doc said he pinned the name "Doc Roc" on himself. An old program for WIXQ, J.J. Williams, who called himself the Duke of Soul, heard him doing a record hop. Doc said, "He asked me if I would do a half hour show for WIXQ. It led to a full show. We used to challenge each other so I called myself the Doc of Roc and then cut it to Doc Roc."

Doc and Mama say their show is "family-oriented. We're a close family and a lot of our listeners are family. We have little kids that call up and they're obviously being pumped by their parents. One little kid called and I asked where's your mom. He said she was in the hospital. I said is she sick. He said she's real sick. She just had a baby."

A big feature of their show is their trivia questions. "We get a lot of phone calls on trivia questions. Sometimes we get up to 20 phone calls on one question."

Doc and Mama are both runners. They ran the Reading Bear Chase on Sunday.

Doc said that Mama has won prizes for her age group. "I win a couple of times, but she usually will place."

Mama said, "Doc is very fast. They're a lot of skinny 40-year-old men and they're going to take the first three places. There aren't as many women."

Doc and Mama are thinking of doing some publishing. Mama said, "We'd make a good team. He is a statistician and I'm a teacher. We could get data and analyze it."

As for MSC students, Doc said, "MSC students are the kinds of people that I enjoy. Most of them don't come from a lot of money. I want people to be harder workers and I like dedication."

Caption: Doc and Mama Roc

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