Remembering Dick Biondi on WLS

I still adore Dick Biondi and can fondly recall listening to his D.J. broadcast on WLS-Chicago. I often would lie in bed at night with my little Rocket Crystal Radio's speaker in my ear. Sometimes, at night, it could pull in faraway rock music, including WLS, with the incomparable Biondi's zany commentary and cool music. My crystal radio required no power source and had one wire for an antenna that I clipped to the steel chain of my cast iron horse's bridle and another for the earpiece. To find a radio frequency, I would move the rocket's nose cone very slowly until its carbon rod receiver flooded my brain with Biondi's music and dialogue. I often fell asleep listening to the music. Later, my electronic whiz, Uncle Gordon, visited and gave me my own transistor radio, a Heathkit he assembled that ran on six 'D' cell batteries. It offered better sound and channel tuning without needing an ear jack. I often wish Dick’s program would be available today. Those were special times.

 Three years ago, I published my first book, Distant Dreamer. It is about two teen boys who get a summer job as assistant guides, working in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) of northern Minnesota. The boys face rough portages, learn camp cooking from an incarnate French-Canadian voyageur, and are trained to be fishing guides. They work for an Ely, MN, wilderness outfitter who has set up a backcountry experience for a group of clients with disabilities. I bring my own experiences into the novel with the incredible influence of our first male teacher at the venerable Quinnesec School.  The two excerpts below are fictionalized accounts of myself and a classmate as they rested in the outfitter bunkhouse before their first BWCAW trip begins. They are based on my memories of listening to The Man, Dick Biondi.

Excerpt 1:

 Mark had noticed a radio antenna atop the bunkhouse roof.   He checked behind the radio and found a wire connected to the antenna screw then snaked up the wall into the ceiling. This just might allow him to bring in stations far away!  He moved the tuner arrow directly to his old favorite oldies station 970KC, WLS in Chicago.  All at once, he hit a clear channel and heard a very familiar and welcome voice, Dick Biondi!  Biondi was a maverick D.J. on WLS.  He was often in trouble because of his on-air comments, but his loyal fans loved him because he played the best music.

“Yahoo!" Mark shouted.  "We are in high clover, my man!"

                Mark turned up the volume and adjusted the bass level, just as the next platter began to spin on Biondi’s magic turntable.  Clear as a bell came Elvis' rich voice belting out Heartbreak Hotel. The large speakers, which filled the bottom of the console, had a sound like a Wurlitzer jukebox. As Elvis sang, the room vibrated and they both began gyrating in their version of American Bandstand.

Excerpt 2:

    After chatting awhile about their day and the coming trip, Mark got up and wandered over to the old Zenith radio. His finger turned the massive volume knob. After the initial humming faded, it was replaced by the strains of WLS, Chicago's golden oldies station.  The beginning notes of one of the greatest duos, The Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody, pulsed wonderfully through the big bass speakers.  Both of them lay back to enjoy it with the lights out.  Except for the soft glow from the lighted radio dial, darkness prevailed. The old hit songs flowed magically, along with zany commentary from Dick Biondi. The Tokens sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight, while Bob and Mark hummed along with the strange, primitive lyrics.  It may have been their only hit song.   “One-hit wonders” were common in the ‘50s and ‘60s.  There was more opportunity for an unknown singer to break into the pop charts, unlike the present where fewer “name” artists monopolized the music. Mark had followed some of the singers’ success stories, such as how Elvis Presley cut his first record while employed as a truck driver.  His meteoric success as “The King” forever changed rock and roll.   Another unusual success was Rick Nelson.  He had his start as a young boy on a TV sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.   This was his real family!  Rick and brother Dave Nelson and their parents were a weekly series hit.  Rick would always play his guitar and sing during the episodes.   It was appropriate that the next song featured Rick Nelson’s hit, Poor Little Fool.

    With a maestro of spinning discs of rock and roll music and the influence of my innovative, creative role model teacher in Ray Mariucci as my life guides, my future was well-plotted. I write from the heart and try to infuse my characters with some of the marvelous attributes I gleaned from these extraordinary life mentors. I will always be in their debt.  

Barry D'Alberto     

No Fear of Heights

Guest blogger Connie Jeffrey wrote this poem in 2014. She says, “Dick is every bit as much appreciated and thought of today as always.”

All his life he’s known about airwaves
Reaching so far
There’s no limit to his imagination
He climbs so high

Skipping school he climbs the radio tower
Boldly signs his name at the top
He must know bending rules
Being his own self, will get him everywhere.

He loves ladders
And climbs the 105 ft fire ladder now
Incorrigible, finding the rush of air again

He stands at the edge of a high buildings roof ledge
And there’s no more natural place
He should be, seeing everything

Somehow it seems it’s more than
No fear of heights
You can’t keep a brilliant DJ
A skilled talker down

Just like music
He’s going to soar in the world
Every time.

The First Time I Heard Dick Biondi on the Radio

I was 12 years old in the spring of 1960 when I turned on the radio to listen to the Farm Report on WLS.  For almost 40 years the Prairie Farmer station had featured recipes, hog calling contests, the Saturday night National Barn Dance, and other homespun entertainment for the farm community. But on May 2,1960 the Prairie Farmer vanished, and in its place was a new 24-hour Top 40 station known as The Bright New Sound.  Loyal listeners got the shock of their lives, but for Baby Boomers like me, it was the answer to our prayers.  At last we had our own music station and cool deejays known as the Swinging Seven—and they were playing OUR music! Radio historian Scott Childers of WLSHistory.com recalls the ruckus it caused.

“They would get calls from people saying,  “What’s this Elvis Presley, and all this crazy rock ’n roll on the air?”

And who was this new voice that came blaring out of my transistor radio?

“This is the Wild I-Tralian, Dick Biondi!” 

Dick Biondi was so unique, so goofy, and so sincere, I was instantly hooked! From that night on, I was glued to my transistor radio from 9-midnight listening to the Wild I-Tralian slurp his coffee, sing off key, and crack corny knock knock jokes.  And later I started a fan club for him.  I’d never heard anyone so outrageous, and so exciting as the self proclaimed, “world’s ugliest disc jockey.” 

While we kids loved him, Biondi was our parents’ worst nightmare. This screaming wild man was keeping children awake on school nights.  Some banned him.  Others threatened to withhold batteries. But nothing could stop the waves of youthful listeners from hiding transistors under our pillows, pretending to be asleep, afraid we might miss a moment of Biondi’s crazy antics.

 “And it was not just in Chicago,” says former WLS disc jockey Bob Sirott.  “All across the country kids grew up listening to Dick Biondi.” 

Dick was so popular that in 1961 his boyhood dream came true and he became the most listened to disc jockey in America. I met Dick that year, and it was the beginning of a 50 year friendship that led to my decision to make a movie about it. 

I’ll never forget the excitement, the fun, and the joy that was and still is Dick Biondi. And it all started the moment I heard his voice on the radio. A year later I’d meet the famous Dick Biondi at a local shopping center. But I’ll save that story for another time.

Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice is Director of the independent documentary film about the legendary radio personality. “The Voice That Rocked America: The Dick Biondi Story” is streaming on Amazon Prime and major streaming platforms.  Learn more at www.DickBiondiFilm.com.