Longtime WBAB DJ Keith Fingers has retired

Keith Fingers, WBAB's veteran afternoon DJ and host of the long-running heavy metal program "Fingers Metal Shop," has retired from the station. His last day was Friday.

A fixture of Long Island's once-booming heavy metal club scene from the 1980s on — he was, for example, the house DJ of Bay Shore's Sundance, which closed in 1991 — Fingers is also one of local radio's best-known supporters of the genre. "Fingers Metal Shop," which launched on WBAB in 1985, was a Sunday night fixture for years, until finally ending in 2016.

For fans, his departure comes not as a complete surprise. On its website, WBAB has been streaming "Fingers Presents 40 Years in 40 Days" since early November, when he told listeners he was planning to leave the station.

In September, Atlanta-based Cox Media Group — which owns WBAB and sister station WBLI — began a round of layoffs at its radio stations including those on Long Island. Asked about last week's departure, Fingers said in a text message, "I can't comment until after ... [Dec.] 31st."

The 63-year-old Medford native — also known as Keith Nutting — joined WBAB in 1982 and was named the Monday-Saturday 7 p.m.-to-midnight host in 2000, then afternoon host in 2002, when he replaced another WBAB veteran, Ralph Tortora. When Fingers got the weeknight show, the station program director at the time, Ted Edwards, told Newsday, "I was surprised to find someone who had been here so long, was heard so infrequently and yet was so loved by the audience."

In his first "40 Years in 40 Days'' video post last month, Fingers recalled that his favorite band in high school was KISS, for which he was "ridiculed and bullied," then added, "wherever the haters in high school ... [are], I sure hope you love your job as much as I do because mine is awesome." And in his final one, posted Friday, he closed with a shoutout to his fans: "I could not have done it without you. May God bless you and hold you in His rock and roll heart."