Remembering Dick Biondi
• UPDATED with Art Vuolo tribute video — Legendary air personality Dick Biondi, whose remarkable 67-year career included memorable stints at WLS-AM & FM, WCFL, WMAQ, WBBM-FM and WJMK/Chicago, died peacefully at home on Monday, June 26 at the age of 90, according to his family. Biondi had most recently done weekend mornings on Cumulus Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM until he was sidelined by health issues in April 2017.
The late consultant Mike Joseph once called Biondi the single best DJ in rock radio history, saying, “He sounds and sounded like a rock jock should.”
Who better to recap Biondi’s lengthy career, the bulk of which was spent in Chicago, than former longtime Windy City media journalist Robert Feder, who contributed a special Sunday column to the Chicago Sun-Times. In that coverage, Feder notes that Biondi claimed to have been fired from 25 radio stations over his lifetime, never wanted to retire and rarely took vacations.
At his peak as the night jock on Top 40 powerhouse WLS-890 from 1960-63, Biondi commanded an unheard-of 60 share, attracting millions of listeners in 38 states and Canada. During that time, he was twice voted the No. 1 disc jockey in America by Billboard. In addition to his influence on the careers of rock n’ roll pioneers Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, among many others, Biondi was the first disc jockey to play The Beatles on American radio, debuting “Please Please Me” in February 1963. He also emceed The Beatles and Rolling Stones in concert.
Born Richard Orlando Biondi on September 13, 1932 in Endicott, NY, Biondi landed his first on-air gig in 1950, two weeks out of high school, as a sportscaster on WCBA/Corning, NY. After stops in Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Biondi was hired at WEBR/Buffalo, NY, where he became known as “The Big Noise from Buffalo.” Yes, he was later fired, and two weeks later Biondi got a call from Sam Holman, PD of WLS/Chicago, inviting him to help launch a new rock ‘n roll format, dubbed “The Bright New Sound.”
On May 2, 1960, Biondi signed on as the 9pm-midnight personality at WLS, where he quickly became a superstar. Known as “The Screamer,” among other nicknames, fans loved Biondi’s fast-paced, high-decibel delivery, his crazy antics on and off the air. His personal appearances at high schools and clubs became mob scenes. And yet, exactly three years to the day after he started, Biondi left WLS in a dispute with management over the commercial load on his show.
Biondi later spent four years in Los Angeles, where he worked at KRLA and hosted a nationally syndicated show, before returning to Chicago in 1967, hired by WLS’ competitor WCFL. He later spent a short time at WMAQ before leaving Chicago again in 1972 and embarking on another multi-city radio odyssey.
As Feder reports, “Biondi’s career had stalled in North Myrtle Beach, SC, when Bob Sirott came calling in 1982. A former Chicago DJ whose career had been influenced by Biondi, Sirott was working as a feature reporter for CBS-owned WBBM-TV and tracked down Biondi for a “Where Are They Now” profile. Response to the interview was so impressive that Top 40 WBBM-FM (B96) brought Biondi in for a fill-in stint and wound up hiring him as morning host.” That gig lasted less than a year, but Biondi was back in Chicago for good — in 1984 he was hired to launch the Oldies format at WJMK (Magic 104), where he spent the next 21 years. A format change there in 2006 sent him back to WLS — this time on the FM side. He moved from late nights to Saturday and Sunday mornings in 2015.
In addition to the Radio Hall of Fame, Biondi is enshrined in the radio exhibit of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Illinois Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
Biondi is survived by his wife Maribeth, and sister Geraldine Wallace.
• HUGE thanks, as always, to the talents of “Radio’s Best Friend” — and ours — Art Vuolo, who spent the weekend pulling together an amazing video tribute to Dick Biondi using the miles of footage he shot in 1987, 1997, 2004 and 2007. The tribute also includes a segment with Bob Hale, now the only surviving original WLS personality.
