Remembering “Uncle Buck”
• We were saddened to learn that that West Michigan radio legend Ed Buchanan, a longtime fixture on Cumulus Classic WLAV/Grand Rapids, died Thursday, June 28 at the age of 69. Buchanan, also known and loved as “Uncle Buck,” celebrated his 50th year in West Michigan broadcasting in 2017 and was regarded as a “founding father” of WLAV’s Classic Rock brand. Buchanan had co-hosted The Tony Gates Morning Show with Michelle McKormick and Uncle Buck until last fall, and he had still hosted Uncle Buck’s Basementon WLAV Sundays from 7-9am.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Buchanan and was bitten by the radio bug in the mid-’50s during the Top 40 era of WLAV and WMAX. In the summer of 1967, Buchanan got his first job at WMAX 1480. Between 1967 and 1990 he worked at several heritage West Michigan stations including WERX, WGRD, WAFT-AM, WFFX, WMUS and, most significantly, at WLAV, which, according to a tribute page post at WLAV.com, he joined in 1970, left in 1979 to work at WCUZ, and returned for good in 1995.
In 1974, Buchanan (pictured here in the mid-’70s) hired current WLAV morning host Tony Gates, and the two were reunited in 1995 when Gates reciprocally hired Buchanan back at WLAV to do middays. He went on to co-host the WLAV morning show in 2006 with Kevin Matthews, took a brief hiatus to focus on his “free form” weekend show, and then returned to mornings in 2011 as co-host of The Tony Gates Morning Show with Michelle McKormick and Uncle Buck.
Buchanan also taught broadcasting at Grand Valley State University in the mid-’70’s, was a local filmmaker and performer with the Firesign Theatre and the Grand Rapids Radio Players, and he owned Rooby Records, producing and pressing records for local musicians from 1982-1992.
Jeff Cartwright, VP/Market Manager of Cumulus Media-Grand Rapids, said, “Ed’s sudden passing is difficult news today for all who knew and loved him. He was a true giant of radio and will be profoundly missed. In West Michigan, this is the equivalent of one of the Beatles passing, as Ed celebrated his 50th anniversary of broadcasting last year and has been a monumental presence in our community, where he lived his entire life. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Ed’s family at this sad time as we honor his memory and remember his lasting contributions to our community and to radio.” Information on memorial services is forthcoming. WLAV will air a special audio tribute to “Uncle Buck” this weekend.
