Pittsburgh Mayor Spins Discs On Morning Radio Show

   PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) -
He's not your rock 'em sock 'em disc jockey, but Pittsburgh Mayor Pete Flaherty says you don't have to be a teenager to appreciate boogie and rock 'n' roll.
   As a member of radio station KQV's wake-up team for the past several weeks, Flaherty has gone beyond time and weather checks to introducing pop tunes and even interviewing contemporary recording stars.
   The 50-year old mayor is one of the few at the station who wears a tie. He readily admits he prefers Frank Sinatra - type songs.
   "But now I've gotten to the point where I listen to rock music more carefully and I can pick out some gems." he said, ticking off top stars and even some obscure groups as examples.
   "Take BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive) and their 'Rolling Down The Highway' Now that's a really good sound." he said with an air of one who can really name that tune.
   Under a standard 13 week contract that pays $300 weekly. Flaherty does a one-hour show every weekday morning starting at 7:30, giving traffic and sports results and discussing current events. Everything but politics.
   His opening line generally goes like this: "Good morning, Pittsburgh. We're having fun down here. Doesn't it sound like it?"
   As mayor his annual salary is $35,000 and Flaherty says he's not taking on the part-time work for the money.
   "I like it." he says. "Radio is informal and requires little preparation. Beside I like sitting in the studio window and seeing pretty girls walk by outside."
   So far Pittsburghers have learned that their mayor is 6 foot 2 and wears a 42 long coat, that he paints his own house and is pretty good at baseboards and window frames, and that he has a good working knowledge of sports.
   KQV's frenetic pace occasionally causes Flaherty to scramble his grammar as on the day he announced "Here's that song for the girl that asked me from Bloomfield."
   Still, he has his high points.
   Soon after he did a wide-ranging telephone interview with Olivia Newton-John. Flaherty's wife, Nancy called and aid jokingly that if he could talk to female singers, she wanted to talk with Robert Redford.
   "You want to talk with Robert Redford?" he asked. "He's too short for you."
   "Pete does a good job on the air. He certainly adds credibility to the station and works extremely well with the deejays" said Robert Irwin, KQV station manager.
   While ratings for the crucial drive-time show won't be available until June, Irwin says he thinks the colorful mayor can add to the station's appeal.
   Flaherty agrees, even though he had hardly learned to push all the control buttons before political opponents and the local National Organization of Women (NOW) took pot shots.
   "For Pete's Sake, what are Pete Flaherty's broadcasting qualifications." NOW asked. "We are gravely concerned about eroding effects on the dignity of our mayor's office."
   Flaherty shrugs away the complaints, saying he doesn't use the show to his political advantage since any discussion of politics would violate Federal Communications Commission regulations.
   "We just sort of wing it around here." he says.
   On the air the mayor begins another day "Good Morning, Pittsburgh. We're having fun down here. Doesn't it sound like it?"