No One Can Resist a Good Cop and Donut Story

The Chicago Tribune's R. Kelly Trial blog is very weird because there's not a clear way to link over to individual entries...so I had to paste this out.

I listen to the Stever's podcast on the way home most evenings and have been getting a kick out of listening to one of his minions, Brendan, who won a lottery to get one of the press passes into the trial.
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Wednesday, May 14, 10:37 AM: Doughnuts for deputies land reporter in a hole

In the weeks leading up to the R. Kelly trial, it was clear the Cook County sheriff's department was determined to keep a tight rein on the media. But an incident Wednesday morning showed just how seriously they're taking that mission.

Law-enforcement officials threatened to pull the media credential of a radio reporter who brought doughnuts for deputies working outside the building. Brendan Greeley, who works for "The Steve Dahl Show" on WJMK-FM104.3, brought the treats to thank officers who had been kind to him during the first three days of jury selection.

The deputies, among many other helpful actions, typically give reporters and photographers a few minutes' warning before Kelly arrives so they can have their cameras positioned. When Greeley mentioned this to his boss, Dahl suggested he bring two dozen doughnuts on Wednesday as a show of gratitude.

"It was warm gesture," Greeley said.

Law-enforcement officials said high-ranking officers heard Dahl discussing the doughnuts during Tuesday's show and feared that the public would consider the snacks a bribe for information.

Steve Dahl to Move Back to Mornings?

Steve Dahl, who I more or less grew up listening to (which explains a lot) is still alive and kicking in Chicago. He's been the afternoon drive jock at WCKG FM for years and I often pull down his podcasts as a nice way to keep in touch with the homeland.

He's a radio innovator who was 'podcasting' before it was even called that.

Heck, I even learned what a vasectomy was when he had one on the air when I was in grade school!

Over the years, despite changing conditions and unlike the rest of his cohort, Dahl has remained relevant. In the latest Arbitron book, he was barely edged out by the Hispanic station for the top spot among men 25-54.

He's also a columnist at the Chicago Tribune.

Well, if you believe Bob Feder's column, the Stever is ready to head over to the formerly-oldies station 104.3, which is now the Jack-FM format to cover the morning drive. Dahl would be the only human jock on the air.

There's no mention of this over at his site. Questions remain, of course, if just Buzz Kilman will go over with him, or if this shuffle would allow the Garry Meier reunion that many of us have been waiting for.

Happy Birthday, Superjock Larry Lujack!

Yes, little snot-nosed Tommy....it's Your Charming and Delightful Good Old Uncle Lar's BIRTHDAY! (Insert lion-roaring sound effect here).

Chicago radio legend Larry Lujack turns 67 today.

I grew up with Uncle Lar on the morning radio on WLS and he, along with Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, ruined me for life, forever setting the bar for radio personalities too high to be reached by the mere mortals I've encountered ever since.

No one else ever came close to living up.

Every once in a while, I'm tempted to go out and pick up one of the Animal Stories CDs, but probably won't bother...the memories are better.

Happy birthday, Larry.

Garry Meier Returns to Chicago Airwaves

This item is admittedly of limited interest, but since I'm in charge here, it's going up.

Garry Meier, after a three year absence from the airwaves, signed a contract this week to do an 8-11 morning slot on WCKG in Chicago. He's bookended by syndicated act Opie and Anthony before and Stan Lawrence and Terry Armour, who cover middays.

Radio God Steve Dahl follows Stan and Terry.

In terms of radio quality (among other things more directly and intentionally provided by my parents) I grew up a  very spoiled child.  Chicago had a number of fantastic music radio stations including WLS in its heyday and WXRT.  On the talk side, Larry Lujack, Kevin Matthews and Steve and Garry were always on the box growing up.  The latter duo probably explain the deviant habits and sense of humor I ended up developing.

Garry's an interesting guy.  He's excellent as a sidekick.  While acting as a straight man with Steve, as well as doing character voices such as Cliff (who runs the Radio and Film Ranch for Wayward Boys in Unincorporated Grundee County), Garry Meier is priceless.  I can still remember being at an old high school job with a friend of 
mine, doubling over in pain I was laughing so hard when they did a bit about 
"Cliff's" delivery of gerbils getting lost at the station. 

But he got too big for his britches and this contributed to the duo's highly publicized breakup in the early 90s.

Since then, Garry has struck out on his own and only started to find himself part of something meaningful when he paired up with Roe Conn on WLS.  The Roe and Garry breakup followed an eerily similar script as the one with Steve.

During this time, it should be noted that Steve Dahl has, for all intents and purposes, remained continuously employed and able to reinvent himself as time goes on.

After three years out of work, I'm very curious how much staying power he has after the initial "how ya been doin?" schtick wears off.  I'm equally curious how this will play with Steve and Garry both at the same station...where Steve is no doubt playing the Alpha role.

Aside from a local bombshell reunion last summer in Chicago, the two had apparently not spoken in some 12-13 years.

I'll be tuning in to the podcasts next week....