My son Adam told me this morning that he emailed in a request last night to legendary Chicago dj Dick Biondi, who works now on a great oldies station, "94.7, The True Oldies," which arose when Chicago's old oldies-formatted station was changed to horrific "Jack" format, and Biondi and the rest of the dj's were thrown out into the street. Adam told Biondi, in the email, that he was 13, that his father had grown up listening to Biondi's shows, and that he wanted to hear the Byrds' "Mr. Tamborine Man." Biondi played his request and read the email on the air. Adam, telling me about it this morning, pointed out that Biondi must have felt old, hearing that his father (me) had listened to him in his youth. It would have made him feel even older to know that Adam's grandfather (my father), who turned 69 years old this week, also listened to Biondi when he was young.
12 comments:
I think Biondi's toupee is older than Adam.....
You're only as old as you feel, and I feel 109 today...
Just how old is this Biondi fellow?
Is your Jack station really that awful? I love our Dave FM.
I remember Biondi. That was cute that Adam wrote to him! What a career - spanning 3 generations!
That's not old, that's success!
Elk-
A toupee? Next thing you'll tell me William Shatner wears one too...
Skyler's Dad-
After a weekend of baseball practice, games, and carrying new furniture in last night, I'm right there with you, buddy!
Barbara-
According to Wikipedia, he's about 74. Adam talked to my dad yesterday and told him the story and my dad's reply was "My god, I listened to him in high school...
Beth-
Ever the wise-guy, huh?
I don't know if you've got a "Jack" formatted station there, but they suck-- super lame. I read recently that a lot of the stations that switched to that format (it's basically a franchise that plays the same thing on all its stations across the country) are leaving it due to plummetting listenership.
Bubbles-
Good point!
You know who else is on the station? John "Records" Landecker. Remember him? And remember when Chicago had not one, but two great AM rock stations, WLS and WCFL?
Ah, yes!! Landecker is there, too?
And I remember the two A.M. stations, too. I can picture the two assigned push buttons on the Cutlass radio.
Yikes. Now I sound old (again).
I can't think of the name of the younger jock that ended up on morning TV in the late 90s. He was originally a side-kick on the radio - was it with Landecker, or another legend (whose name is also escaping me)? Help me remember. I remember liking his morning show on TV. It was like he wanted to make morning news on TV like the old morning A.M. radio. He was tossed out on his ear from ABC and went to Fox, I think.
You're thinking of Bob Sirott, who grew up in the same neighborhood I did, Albany Park. I loved his "Fox Thing In the Morning" show. He left Fox and went to WTTW, our local public television affiliate, and went back, I think, to ABC news.
He's a very nice guy-- his "smartass" persona is only on television. I've waited on him a couple of times in different places I worked, and he was always a prince.
Yeah, that's him. I was just folding laundry and his name came into my head!! So I came here... and you beat me to it!
Who was he a sidekick for on A.M.? Was it Landecker? Whoever it was, I remember loving his show and missing him when he retired. Sirott referred to him with admiration a couple of times on TV.
Las Vegas, as of a year ago, had a "Jack" station. It was horrible. They pretend that the playlist is just like an ipod shuffle, but it's nothing but another outlet for the dreadful music of Phil Collins.
Bubbles-
Larry Lujack was his rival on WCFL. Are you maybe thinking of "Snot-Nosed Little Tommy Edwars," Lujack's sidekick? Do you remember their Animal Stories?
Tommy Edwards is still on Chicago radio. Lujack actually came out of retirement and worked in Chicago for a few years again! His story was really sad-- he had a son who committed suicide while away at college, and Lujack himself admitted to a drinking problem, which he's since kicked.
Todd-
You know, I loved Genesis-- Peter Gabriel era Genesis, in the seventies. I liked a couple of Phil Collins' songs along the way, but for the most part, yes, he has turned out awful unlistenable commercial tripe.
Yes, sir. You remember it all!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
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