Radio

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.”

Don Pietromonaco – Legacy

Don Pietromonaco, in the ears and eyes of thousands of St. Louis radio listeners was the definitive Johnny Rabbitt, holding forth at KXOK with that air name from 1964 to 1968. He commanded the nighttime radio scene, inviting his listeners to phone in and “blab it to the Rabbitt.”

There were other characters on his show with whom he would converse, but none was as popular as Bruno J. Grunion, who was Rab’s alter-ego. Often, Pietromonaco would get to the studio early and record his Bruno drop-ins before the show, then converse with the pre-taped voice on the air. Other times he did both voices live.

Don Pietromonaco motivated his listeners to donate millions of dollars for medical research during his stint here. He ran a couple teen-oriented nightclubs in St. Louis – Bruno’s Bat Cave and Cloud Nyne – and his audience came to believe that Johnny Rabbitt was an adult who understood them and would go to bat for them.

Even today, several decades later, his baby boomer fans can recall intricate details from humorous bits he did on the air, even though they were only broadcast once.

As an indication of his fame in St. Louis, Pietromonaco was recognized by Billboard magazine in the 1980s as the Johnny Rabbitt the listeners remembered and the one who was known nationally for his ratings successes. ​

Lee Michaels – 2015

At the young age of 12 Lee Michaels was a big fan of radio. By the time Lee was 15 he had his own radio station broadcasting live from his bedroom. Shortly after that he got his first shot at real radio in his hometown of Norfolk, VA.  While still in high school Lee worked at local station holding down the overnight show.    

Eight years later Lee got a call from St. Louis, where he accepted a job at KATZ-AM. The station was a dominant voice in the local Black community and Michaels became the afternoon drive jock. Within 6 months he was pulling top ratings and had become one of the most popular jocks in town.

Lee Michaels worked in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Charlotte, and Washington, DC. He launched an Internet talk network in June 2008 USTalkNetwork.com and offered syndicated shows to radio stations. In 2011 Lee Michaels was named the #1 Urban Radio Program Director of all time.

Roy Queen – Legacy

​Roy Queen’s career as a hillbilly singer and broadcaster began in 1929 when he was 16. He hitched a ride on a freight train from Pilot Knob, MO., to St. Louis and auditioned at the KMOX studios in the Mayfair Hotel. He got the job and was soon yodeling and playing his guitar on a daily basis on KMOX. He was an entertainer on KMOX and WIL and later worked as a disc jockey on KXLW and on KWRE in nearby Warrenton, MO.

Early on at KMOX, he had a namesake program, “Roy Queen and His Ozark Mountaineers,” that was fed to some network affiliates. KMOX later moved him to the wildly popular “Uncle Dick Slack’s Barn Dance.”

Like many of the young performers in those days, Queen did many personal appearances in addition to his musical performances at the station. It was during the return trip from one of those appearances that he was gravely injured in an auto accident.

The recovery period for his two broken legs was lengthy, but that didn’t keep him from working. The station set up a remote microphone in Queen’s hospital room while engineers ran the records at the station.

Roy Queen, KMOX, 1936