Rick's Music Trivia

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DICK BIONDI…AM RADIO’S WELL TRAVELED DJ

August 9, 2018 — Leave a comment

Another graduate of Buffalo’s WKBW is Richard O. “Dick” Biondi (born September 13, 1932). I tuned Biondi in regularly beginning in 1958. Biondi called himself the Wild Italian. He was one of the original “screamers,” known for his screaming delivery as well as his wild antics on the air and off. In a 1988 interview, Biondi related he had been fired 23 times; both fits of temper and jokes gone wrong were part of the tally. Over many years and many frequencies, Dick’s close-of-the-program line was, “God bless, bye, bye, Duke. Thanks a million for dialing our way.

Biondi gained national attention in the 1950s and 1960s as a disc jockey on leading radio stations in Buffalo, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Besides being among the first to play Elvis, Jerry Lee, Gene Vincent and other early artists, he was also able to meet them. The early Rock and Roll era meant “record hops” where disc jockeys would make personal appearances at local schools and clubs; they often included appearances by the artists whose records were being played. Biondi is credited as the first U.S. disc jockey to play the Beatles on Chicago’s  WLS in February 1963, with the song, Please Please Me. 

Since 1984, Biondi has been a mainstay on Oldies stations in the city where he first earned his reputation, Chicago. On 2 May 2010, Dick Biondi celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first Chicago broadcast. WLS-AM and WLS-FM presented a 5-hour simulcast special from 7 PM to midnight, featuring memorable moments in his career and special celebrity guests, with Biondi as its host. Biondi is an inductee of the Radio Hall of Fame.

Biondi’s lifelong love of radio began at an early age, when he was allowed to read a commercial on WMBO, Auburn, New York. His father, Mike, an Endicott fireman and mother, Rose, encouraged him in his goal; at the time it was to become a sportscaster. He went on to work behind the scenes and learned about broadcasting at WINR, Binghamton, New York, where one of his co-workers was a young  Rod Serling. Another co-worker, himself a sportcaster, took an interest in the young Biondi and began working with him on pronunciation and diction. As a sportscaster,

Biondi began his on-air career in radio in Corning , New York. He continued on to KVOB, Alexandria, Louisiana, but it wasn’t until working for KSYL in Alexandria, that Biondi started doing music shows.  Career moves took him to York, Pennsylvania, then to  Youngstown, Ohio. When Dick arrived there, Rock and Roll was on the airwaves and he began doing local appearances with many 50’s rock stars.

 
 
 

He was picked up in 1958 by WKBW in Buffalo whose signal could be even heard in Europe. After a dispute at WKBW, Biondi jokingly described his boss’s car on the air, said where he would be driving, and asked his listeners to throw rocks at it. Someone did as Biondi asked and he was fired the next day. He worked at WEBR in Buffalo before gaining fame in 1960 on Chicago’s 50,000 watt WLS which covered most of the Country east of the continental divide.

To promote the WLS “Bright New Sound” which premiered 2 May 1960, ABC executives did some advance publicity by bringing two of its new personalities to Chicago early. Biondi and colleague Bob Hale made the media and music rounds. After their first big day as the representatives of the new WLS, they returned to the station that evening to begin asking for and taking collect phone calls from any point in the US. Calls came in from across the country as well as from a couple of ships at sea. Biondi recalls the first record he played on the new WLS was “Teddy Bear” by Elvis. Many record company executives considered him to be a vital part of the hitmaking process. Biondi’s playing a record on his show gave it maximum exposure to a very large listening audience; he was the most popular night time DJ in the Midwest.

In 1963, Biondi left WLS over a dispute involving the number of commercials on his radio show. Rumors and urban legends still persist that Biondi told an obscene joke on the air which resulted in his being fired. He moved to KRLA, then the #1 Top 40 station in the Los Angeles market. At KRLA, Biondi was in good company working with other legendary radio personalities, including Bob Eubanks, Casey Kasem, and Emperor Bob Hudson. Not long after arriving there, Dick created The Dick Biondi Road Show which brought new acts to perform at high schools all over Southern California.

Biondi returned to Chicago on  WCFL in 1967. In addition to his regular airshift, Dick also did many specialty shows for WCFL Pop Goes the Music and In the Beginning were looks back at early Rock and Roll; This Is Elvis explored the life of Elvis Presley, while Dick Biondi Labels the Blues delved into that aspect of music and the influence it had on Rock and Roll. Dick Biondi and Friend was an interview program featuring then current popular music stars. 

Here is Biondi on a cold, snowy Buffalo night from 1960. Enjoy (or not).  https://youtu.be/NWRj_IXRleY

 

 
 
 
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