Ray Peterson interview, 2000

Ray Peterson's RCA teen tragedy "Tell Laura I Love Her" topped the charts in 1960. Many radio stations refused to play "Tell Laura I Love Her", fearing the song would incite teens to commit suicide. It was songwriter Jeff Barry's first big pop success. Ray's other hits included "The Wonder of You" (later covered by Elvis), "Missing You," and "Corinna, Corinna" (produced by Phil Spector). "Tell Laura I Love Her" was a CISL listener favourite, and every time I played it the song got great reaction. When I retired from day-to-day radio and CISL's Wakeup Club in 2000, Ray was nice enough to take part in the celebrations from his home in Tennessee. Ray passed away in 2005. He was three months shy of his 70th birthday.