Halls of Fame

George Logan – 2017

George “The Rockin’ Mr. G” Logan began his career in Mounds, Illinois, where he announced high school basketball games. A graduate of SIU Carbondale, Logan moved his family to St. Louis, and in the early ‘50s, he could be heard on KXLW. In two successive years, he won trophies as the listeners’ favorite disc jockey. He was also heard on KATZ in the late ‘50s, and was remembered by many for his gospel and spiritual show, “Lest We Forget.” One competitor DJ said that when G played that gospel and read those poems, the whole town heard him. Logan was active in the Civil Rights movement, travelling to Little Rock and reporting on the desegregation of their high school. When he left radio in the 1960s, he worked with the Head Start program and later helped senior citizens find employment.

George Noory – 2017

George Noory turned his hosting job on an overnight talk show on KTRS into a springboard to national prominence when he became host of Premier Network’s “Coast To Coast AM.” Known here as “The Nighthawk,” Noory succeeded Art Bell on the national broadcast in 2003, reaching the overnight audience over some 600 radio stations. Much of the program’s focus centered on discussions of paranormal, alien abduction, time travel and unexplained phenomena. Noory authored three books and often conducted his broadcasts from his home in St. Louis.

Nancy Pool – 2011

Few people who worked with Nancy Pool during her radio career realized that she once worked as administrative assistant to KXOK’s PD Bud Connell in the ‘60s. She learned well, moving on to manage several stations in the St. Louis market, where her strength in ad sales served her and her employer well. She was president of KADI-FM, VP/GM of KSHE, WIL-AM/FM and was brought in to resuscitate the operations of KMOX-FM, KXOK/KLTH, and KWK/KGLD. Nancy was featured in “Who’s Who in Radio and Television,” “Who’s Who in Advertising” and “Who’s Who in American Women.” After leaving radio Nancy went on to a second successful career in real estate sales.

Rick Balis – 2014

A native of Chicago, Rick Balis arrived in St. Louis and joined the staff of KSHE-95 in 1976, performing various duties for the station. He signed on to the airwaves in 1977 as an afternoon drive jock and continued in that capacity for three years until he exchanged the mic for a job in the programming office. Except for a brief stint as program director for KSD-FM, most of Rick’s career has been spent at KSHE. He was named Radio and Records Magazine’s 2008 Rock Operations Manager/Program Director of the Year and in 2014 was selected as one of three panelists in the RAB/NAB Radio Show’s “New Creative Edge Challenge.”

As of the time of his Hall of Fame induction, Rick was VP and Director of Programming for the Emmis St. Louis owned stations… KSHE-95, NOW96.3, The Point and FM News Talk 97.1.

Bob Burnes – 2014

Bob Burnes, “The Benchwarmer,” was the first host of KMOX’s “Sports on a Sunday”, the hugely popular roundup of the previous week’s sports highlights. In addition, he was a host several times per week of the station’s “Sports Open Line” call-in show, and it is believed he hosted the premier broadcast of that program as well. Burnes often shared the microphone with other sports reporters on the show, which he hosted through the mid-1980s. In addition to his long stint on KMOX Radio, Burnes was a legendary sports reporter and columnist for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Bob Whitney – 2014

In 1959, Bob Whitney was hired by Balaban Broadcasting as a programmer for its Dallas station and was subsequently promoted to National Program Director of the company’s radio group. Shortly thereafter he moved to St. Louis and began work on transforming Balaban’s WIL from an MOR station into a top 40 outlet.

Whitney hired on talent like Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy and Bob Dayton (Robin Scott) to jumpstart the new format, and added Gene Hirsh and Nelson Kirkwood to the newsroom to bolster that department.

WIL, under Whitney’s leadership, held its own in the early Top 40 wars of St. Louis. Later in the decade, he worked for other broadcasters at other stations around the nation before beginning a career in video production. In 1970, local independent station KDNL-TV began broadcasts of his syndicated musical video program, “The Now Explosion.”