Tag: Rick Kaempfer
Media: April 2018
I was 23 years old the day I walked into the Loop offices for the first time. After getting rejections from the other rock stations in Chicago (and there were quite a few at the time), I had thrown a Hail Mary pass to the biggest of them all, The Loop. I wrote a letter […]
Media: February 2018
When I called Chicago radio legend Fred Winston (WLS, WMAQ, WFYR, WCFL, WPNT, WJMK, WLUP, and just about every other station on the dial), the gentleman farmer now living in Southwest Michigan, was in the middle of a project. āYou caught me repairing a doorknob. Thank God for the internet. There are scores of YouTube […]
Media: January 2018
If youāve listened to rock and roll radio for the last three decades, youāve undoubtedly run across the work of Steve Seaver. Heās been rocking Chicago since 1991 at stations like The Blaze, The Loop, and currently The Drive (97.1 FM). Heās one of those rare personalities who can be identified by one name, […]
Media: December 2017
Itās become a year-end tradition in this space to honor some of the broadcasters we lost in the past calendar year. All of them touched countless lives in the Chicago area, maybe even your own. The Chicago media community is diminished by their absence. JOE COLLINSĀ ā Collins was a veteran traffic reporter in Chicago best […]
Media: August 2017
Itās been ten years since I wrote my first novel $everance (ENC Press, 2007).Ā That book was a satire about what had become of the media business since the original deregulation in 1996. It was intended to shine a light on the dangers of entrusting so much control over news and information in the hands […]
Media: July 2017
When Len OāKelly was working in Chicago as a music director and disc jockey for radio stations like WJMK (104.3), academia was the furthest thing from his mind. At the time he was a college dropout and working in one of the top markets in the country. He thought heād be doing that the rest […]
Media: June 2017
When WXRT night jock Ryan Arnold says he grew up on WXRT, he doesnāt just mean that he listened to the station. His mom Marge Arnold worked there when he was growing up, and he spent a lot of time in the hallways. āI literally grew up in the bowels of WXRT back when it […]
May 2017: Media
When Wally Phillips retired from WGN Radio, the afternoon man Bob Collins replaced him. When Bob Collins died in a plane crash, the afternoon man Spike OāDell replaced him. When Spike OāDell retired, Steve Cochran was doing the afternoon show at WGN. āThey offered me the job, and it was the worst deal offered to […]
Media: April 2017
Charlie Meyerson has been a part of the Chicago media landscape now for four decades as a newscaster for WXRT, WNUA, WGN, the Chicago Tribune and more. Just last year he brought home an Edward R. Murrow award for a report he did at Rivet Radio. āOne night at Rivet,ā he explained, āwe had a […]
Media: February 2017
Bill Cochran was drawn to music radio for the same reason most people are. āI just love music,ā he admits. āIām a music fan ā almost a music geek. Since childhood discovering new music was always a joy for me. I grew up in Oklahoma, listening to a radio station with a format, as […]
Media: January 2017
2016 was a rough year. We lost some of our favorite musical and pop culture icons. But we also lost some beloved members and former members of Chicagoās media community. I had the opportunity to interview a few of them, and for those I never met, I reached out to some of their former […]
Media: November 2016
Patti Haze remains one of the iconic radio voices from the rock and roll era in Chicago. Her sexy alto voice and friendly demeanor graced the airwaves of every major rock station in Chicago (save WXRT). She was on WLUP (twice), WMET, WCKG, and CD 94.7. Despite her incredible pedigreeāas arguably the Queen of Chicago […]
Media: June 2016
WGN-TV sports anchor Rich King is signing off for the final time on June 15th after a 40-plus year career in Chicago media. Rick Kaempfer talks to him about his days covering Michael Jordan and Walter Payton, and sharing the booth with Harry Caray…
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