I spent last weekend in Chicago with my old friend and colleague Ron Chapman. The reason we were there was because Ron was going to be inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame and I had the honor of inducting him.
We had a lot of catching up to do as it had been some time since we had seen each other. One of the funnier stories Ron and I talked about was the time he discovered one can sometimes be too alert and even over prepared. Doing a morning show on KVIL required an early wake up call each day so Ron would try to grab a short nap at home every afternoon. He had a little hide away room in his home where he could sleep undisturbed. His wife Nance knew that the only thing he could be awakened for was if the press was calling.
Ron like me believed the only reason you do promotions on a Radio Station is to excite the air talent and cause some talk in the market place. Now if you could also get a little press coverage you were golden. One afternoon Nance startled him awake with the words USA Today was on the phone. Ron jumped up and excitedly shook himself alert, of all the press coverage he has gotten he has never spoken with USA Today so this was big. With his best rich Radio voice he said … Ron Chapman here! The person on the other end of the phone said Mr. Chapman this is Bill Tillman of USA Today and the reason I’m calling you this afternoon is to let you know that we have an exciting special on home delivery running all this week……
Saturday night I had the honor and privilege on National TV of inducting Ron into the Radio Hall Of Fame where I was allotted 90 seconds to get the job done. Hell even if I had been given 90 minutes I don’t think I could have managed to get just the highlights of his career in. To do Ron justice would have taken me 90 hours or more but nevertheless I thought I would share with you what I did say:
There are three types of people who talk on the Radio
The Gifted, The Creative and All The Rest.
I Met Ron Chapman for the first time in 1973 when the
company I worked for as the national PD purchased the station
where Ron worked. Being a newly arrived “legal alien” from
Canada I had never heard of Ron nor had he of me. I had no
Idea that he was once Harrigan of Charlie and Harrigan fame
on KLIF … Hell I’d never even heard of KLIF
It didn’t take me long to figure out how rare and special
Ron was. Not only is he gifted but he is also very creative.
I knew shortly after meeting him we were going to make
magic on the Radio together and magical it was as we
launched America’s first ever Adult Contemporary Radio
Station which Ron quickly took to #1 KVIL became so
huge it ended up being the darling of the whole Radio
industry. Ron’s brilliance as a programmer was surpassed
only by his genius as a Morning Talent magnificently
performing what we called “A Musical Talk Show”
I’ve always believed that great Morning Men are great story
tellers and their fans love to tell stories about them. To this
day Ron’s fans in Dallas are still telling legendary stories
about him
(They Had A Video Presentation of Ron’s Career Here)
When Ronald Reagen decided to run for a second term he
chose Dallas to make his announcement. Ron had the
privilege and honor that day of saying ” Ladies and
Gentlemen I give you the next President of the United States
… Ronald Reagen! Tonight I have the privilege and honor of
saying … Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the next inductee
into the Radio Hall Of Fame … Ron Chapman!