Posted by Free on February 13, 2008 at 12:31:12:
Still havin' fun
Back where he started 25 years ago, Johnny B. loves waking up the Loop
February 13, 2008
BY ROBERT FEDER Sun-Times Columnist
Twenty-five years ago this week, Chicagoans heard an energetic young radio personality named Jonathon Brandmeier for the first time.
The pride of Fond du Lac, Wis., turned up on WLUP-FM (97.9) by way of Phoenix, where he'd taken the market by storm with his prank phone calls and wacky song parodies.
"Brandmeier hopes to be king of comedy" read the headline of my column the following Monday -- Feb. 21, 1983.
His launch on the Loop proved anything but smooth. Just days later, a court order obtained by his previous employer kept him off the air until, appropriately enough, April Fool's Day.
Despite that inauspicious start, Johnny B. would become one of Chicago radio's greatest successes. For the next 15 years at the Loop, he dominated young adult listenership in the market.
By the late '90s, an ownership change at the station and the lure of show biz ambitions on the West Coast took Brandmeier away for a while. But in 2005, the Loop beckoned him home.
Since his return to the classic rock station (now under Emmis Communications ownership), Brandmeier has breathed new life into the Loop -- and into the Chicago morning radio scene.
In the latest Arbitron survey, Brandmeier, 51, ranked fourth among men between the ages of 25 and 54 -- beating Spike O'Dell, Steve Harvey, Steve Dahl and Mike North, among others.
What's more, his show is still as engaging and unpredictable as ever. On most days, it packs more laugh-out-loud moments than just about anywhere else.
His bosses are understandably ecstatic.
"The brilliance of Jonathon Brandmeier has always been his ability to know what the listener wants in terms of entertainment," said Marv Nyren, regional vice president of Emmis Radio and general manager of the Loop. "In fact, Johnny's the best I've ever heard at making the audience the star. He did it on the Loop 25 years ago, and still does it today.
"And if you think he's funny on the air, you should hear him in the Loop hallways. He's still the original hyper rooster!
Although Brandmeier has never been one for introspection ("I really don't like the nostalgia trip if I don't have to go," he says), he did sit still long enough to answer a few questions:
Q. Can you believe it's been 25 years?
A. I try not to think about it. It seems like I just started, actually.
Q. How do you still have so much energy for your show?
A. I look forward to it. I never know what this audience has in store for me. I have a great job. I get paid to have fun, and I do -- every day.
Q. What's been the biggest change in how you do your job over the last 25 years?
A. It's easier to get information, audio, visuals -- anything! And we all have access to it. You discuss something in the news, and there it is on YouTube.
I thought when USA Today came out, it was a big deal. Wow -- three papers to read. Now it's endless.
Q. How does it feel to be back where it started on the Loop?
A. It couldn't have worked out better.
Q. What was the best part of returning to Chicago?
A. The people. The connection to my old friends, family, fans, etc. It just feels right.
Q. Why isn't there a statue of you in Fond du Lac?
A. I'm almost finished caulking it. It's replacing my mother's Nativity Scene.
Q. Think we'll both still be doing this when we're really old men?
A. Two words: Larry King.