- Dick Buckley
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For the baseball player, see Dick Buckley (baseball).
Dick Buckley (August 26, 1924 – July 22, 2010) hosted the jazz program, Jazz with Dick Buckley, on Chicago Public Radio. His program, which was on WBEZ from 1977 through 2008, tended toward jazz of the 1930s and 1940s, or what he has called "Golden Era" jazz. In the early eighties, he also hosted a jazz program on WXFM. Buckley had previously been involved with jazz shows on WAIT, WNIB, and WAAF. Buckley is known for his rich baritone voice and encyclopedic knowledge of jazz.
Born August 26, 1924 in Decatur, Indiana, died July 22, 2010. He grew up feeling that he was "the only jazz fan around."[1] During WWII, he trained as a bombardier in San Angelo, TX to serve in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 1943-'46. It was during his military career that he began his radio career.[1]"Till I was 21 or 22, I wasn't aware my voice was exceptional. An Armed Forces station needed an announcer and said, `We'll give you experience.' That was the start."[2]
He subsequently attended Indiana University where he played trombone for the marching band.[3] At odds with his father, who wanted him to be an electrical engineer, he enrolled in a broadcasting school and has been broadcasting ever since.[4]
For a 1989 Sun-Times article by Bob Herguth, Buckley said "I grew up with radio. It was just that my tastes progressed to jazz bands. My mother, Ella May, who's 96 and lives in Plymouth Place in La Grange, still doesn't understand where she went wrong in my taste in music." [4]
By 1986, Mr. Buckley was hosting his Sunday noon-4pm segment on WBEZ. Other jazz hosts for the station at that time were Neil Tesser and Barry Winograd, whom Mr. Buckley felt could ably and comfortably handle the playing of contemporary jazz, leaving him to play his favorites.[1]
In 1988, satellite technology carried the unique voice of Mr. Buckley broadcasting live from the Chicago Jazz Fest, together with 17 other 'BEZ entities including Neil Tesser, and Richard Steele. Those live broadcasts were made from a trailer near Petrillo Music Shell, and were syndicated to over 150 radio stations, with listeners numbering as many as 10 million, estimated.[5]
On Jan. 14, 2007, Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) made a major change to a talk, news and public affairs format, and Buckley's show was shortened from three hours to one hour.
On Sunday July 27, 2008, Dick Buckley bid the airwaves farewell in his final broadcast, a two hour special featuring guests and testimonials.[6]
Dick Buckley died on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, IL from complications of pneumonia. He was 85.
References
- ^ a b c Now Buckley and jazz can bowl 'em over:[FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL Edition] Lloyd Sachs. Chicago Sun - Times. Chicago, Ill.:Feb 14, 1986. p. 3. Accessed 16 Nov 2007 via http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=116841061&Fmt=3&clientId=11417&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ Dick Buckley:[FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL Edition] Bob Herguth. Chicago Sun - Times. Chicago, Ill.:Aug 31, 1989. p. 16. Accessed 16 Nov 2007 via http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=115432434&Fmt=3&clientId=11417&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ Now Buckley and jazz can bowl 'em over:[FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL Edition] Lloyd Sachs. Chicago Sun - Times. Chicago, Ill.:Feb 14, 1986. p.3. Accessed 16 Nov 2007 via http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=116841061&Fmt=3&clientId=11417&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ a b Dick Buckley:[FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL Edition] Bob Herguth. Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Ill.:Aug 31, 1989. p.16. Accessed 16 Nov 2007 via http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=115432434&Fmt=3&clientId=11417&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ NATION LISTENS IN TO CITY'S JAZZ GLORY:[SPORTS FINAL, CN Edition] Rick Kogan. Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext). Chicago, Ill.:Sep 2, 1988. p.4. Accessed 16 Nov 1007 via http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=24825210&Fmt=3&clientId=11417&RQT=309&VName=PQD
- ^ [1] "Media notes: Oak Parkers get their on-air due," Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and Lake Forest, July 29, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2008
Ray Conniff in tune with his times:[North Sports Final, C Edition] Dick Buckley, Special to the Tribune. Dick Buckley has hosted a jazz program on public radio's WBEZ. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.:Oct 18, 2002. p. 5.1 Accessed 16 Nov 2007 via [2].
External links
- Brief Biography at the WBEZ web site
- A radio voice at a crossroads. October 20, 2006 - Chicago Tribune Profile at AccessMyLibrary
- Dick Buckley revisited, WBEZ revamped. June 27, 2006 - Article in the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest
- Dick Buckley's Archives of Jazz Collection at the Chicago Public Library—which exist as reel-to-reels and are in need of preservation work before they can be heard; funding is necessary.
- Dick Buckley's Retirement from Radio program aired on Chicago's WBEZ July 27, 2008, made available as internet stream (Flash) July 29.
- Q&A Dick Buckley. Excerpt from Issue 24. Feb 29, 2006. Shows an undated photo of Dick Buckley posing with Count Basie and Joe Williams.
Categories:- American radio personalities
- Radio personalities from Chicago, Illinois
- 1925 births
- 2010 deaths
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