Radio

Buddy Moreno – Legacy

​Buddy Moreno’s name became synonymous with the Big Band era because the group he led appeared many times on CBS, NBC and Mutual network radio from 1947 – 1952. His CBS appearances included several stops on “Saturday At the Chase,” which originated live from St. Louis.

His second career was as a disc jockey, first at WHHM in Memphis. After a year there, he returned to St. Louis, where he worked at KWK, WEW and WSIE. At the latter two stations, the formats allowed Moreno to share his big band expertise and experience with listeners, and he developed a regular following that would tune in just for his programs.

He was an all-night disc jockey at KWK for ten years, moving to WEW to take the job of announcer/program director. In 1996, Moreno came out of retirement to host a weekly big band program on non-commercial WSIE.

Buddy Moreno, KWK, 7/15/1961

Chuck Norman – Legacy

​Chuck Norman started his radio career in 1948 as a late-night disc jockey where he made money selling time on his own show. Three years later he moved to WIL.

​Five or so years into that gig, he left the market for a year but returned and put WGNU (Granite City) on the air in 1961. In 1965, he added WGNU-FM, claiming it was the first radio station to broadcast country music in stereo. He sold the FM in 1978.

​The AM format was switched to talk in 1977 and the station was later dubbed “Radio Free St. Louis” developing its audience by featuring non-mainstream hosts.

​Through his entire life, Norman maintained ownership of the station, which, in his later years, gave him the distinction of being the only original sole-owner left in the St. Louis market.

​In addition, he held an annual holiday party every year starting in 1976 to benefit the area’s needy families.

Dave Dixon – Legacy

​Dave Dixon, a native St. Louisan, was the first African-American vice president of Laclede Broadcasting, the owner/operator of KATZ, and, in a related field, the first African-American promoter for Regal Sports, a concert and sports production agency. He had started with the company as a disc jockey in 1958 and was closely associated with most of the station’s early remote broadcasts.

In addition to being a local producer and promoter of live music shows, Dixon was the popular host of KATZ’s “Night Beat Down Rhythm Street,” which originated from various lounges in the St. Louis area.

He served as president of NATRA, the African-American organization of television and radio announcers.

Gil Newsome – Legacy

​Gil Newsome was the teenage heart throb of St. Louis during his stint at KWK in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

​He gained a national reputation as a disc jockey for the station, gaining his popularity with his teenage audience in numerous personal appearances at sock hops and teen dances, and he had a regular television show in St. Louis in 1953. Variety magazine named him the nation’s most popular disc jockey.

​He was elevated to KWK’s program director’s position in 1958 after deejaying there for 13 years. A year later he was appointed manager of the station. By 1961, he had moved to KSD as a disc jockey.

​Prior to coming to St. Louis, Gil Newsome was an announcer on big band shows on NBC and CBS. His stints included the “Chesterfield Supper Club” and “Coca Cola Spotlight Bands.”

Harry Eidelman – Legacy

​Harry Eidelman was truly a radio pioneer on the St. Louis FM scene. He put KCFM on the air in 1953, and working over the ensuing years with engineer Ed Bench, he built several transmitters as well as his own multiplexing unit for stereo broadcasts.

KCFM was initially a classical music station staffed by volunteers, but no one wanted to advertise on FM in the early 50s, so Eidelman used profit from his hi-fi shop to continue the station’s operation.

The format gradually evolved into easy listening with a paid staff. He tells the story of a broadcast technology that had not fully evolved and commercial transmitters that would heat up and arc constantly. A fire knocked the station off the air for a week in 1960, but perseverance and dedication prevailed.

Staffers say working at KCFM was like being part of a family, and Eidelman has fond memories of loyal staffers and listeners who went out of their way to ensure the station’s success.

Bob Osborne – Legacy

Bob Osborne worked in St. Louis radio as a pop music disc jockey at WIL and jack-of-all-trades at KMOX and KMOX-FM.

Valued for his knowledge of the music business, Osborne, or “Ozzie” to his friends, was on WIL from 1960 to 1968, and as the station’s program director, he was responsible for switching the station’s format from rock to middle-of-the-road.

KMOX General Manager Robert Hyland hired him away in 1968. Osborne worked at the local CBS outlets until his death in 1988. At various times, he served as program director at KMOX and KMOX-FM, general manager of KMOX-FM, disc jockey on KMOX-FM, music director at KMOX, and program host on KMOX. ​