Dick Biondi

Richard Orlando Biondi (September 13, 1932 – June 26, 2023) was an American Top 40 and oldies disc jockey.

Calling himself The Wild I-tralian, he was one of the original "screamers," known for his screaming delivery as well as wild antics on and off the air.

Biondi gained national attention in the 1950s and 1960s as a disc jockey on leading AM radio stations in Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California.

Besides being among the first to play Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, and other early rhythm and blues artists, he was also able to meet them.

The early Rock and Roll era meant "record hops" where disc jockeys would make personal appearances at local schools and clubs; they often included appearances by the artists whose records were being played.

At a 1956 Cleveland Elvis Presley concert, Biondi had Elvis sign the shirt he was wearing.

When Biondi returned to the crowd, Presley's frenzied female fans started tearing away at it.

Biondi was hospitalized, to the amusement of Elvis.

Biondi was hired in 1958 by WKBW (1520 AM) in Buffalo; at WKBW if conditions were right, Biondi could be heard in Europe.

After a dispute at WKBW, Biondi jokingly described his boss's car on the air, said where he would be driving, and asked his listeners to throw rocks at it.

Someone did as Biondi asked, and he was fired the next day.

He worked at the original WEBR (at the frequency now known as WDCZ) in Buffalo, from which he was also fired in spring 1960.

Two weeks later, he was hired at WLS, which covered most of the United States east of the Continental Divide and drove his breakthrough to fame.

To promote the WLS "Bright New Sound" which premiered May 2, 1960, ABC executives did some advance publicity by bringing two of its new personalities to Chicago early.

Biondi and colleague Bob Hale made the media and music rounds.

After their first big day as the representatives of the new WLS, they returned to the station that evening to begin asking for and taking collect calls from any point in the U.S. Calls came in from across the country as well as from a couple of ships at sea.

Biondi recalled the first record he played on the new WLS was Elvis's "Teddy Bear."

Many record company executives considered him a vital part of the hitmaking process.

Biondi's playing a record on his show gave it maximum exposure to a very large audience; he was the most popular night time DJ in the Midwest.

There was a lot of fun at WLS; in response to the record, "There Was Fungus Among Us", Dick issued his listeners "Fungus Licenses".

In 1961 he made a record, "On Top of a Pizza" (a parody of "On Top of Old Smoky"), that became a local hit.

The flip side of the record is "Knock Knock", a nod to the jokes Dick told on the air so often.

Biondi is credited as the first U.S. disc jockey to play the Beatles, on Chicago's WLS 890 AM in February 1963, with the song "Please Please Me".

Later, while working at KRLA (1110 AM) in Los Angeles, he introduced the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at their Hollywood Bowl concerts.

From 1984, Biondi had been a mainstay on oldies stations in the city where he first earned his reputation, Chicago.

In a 1988 interview, Biondi said he had been fired 23 times, with both fits of temper and jokes gone wrong part of the tally.

Over many years and many frequencies, Dick's closing line was, "God bless, bye, bye, Duke. Thanks a million for dialing our way."

On May 2, 2010, Dick Biondi celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first Chicago broadcast.

WLS-AM and WLS-FM presented a 5-hour simulcast special from 7 p.m. to midnight, featuring memorable moments in his career and special celebrity guests, with Biondi as host.

Biondi was an inductee of the Radio Hall of Fame (Chicago).

Biondi was born and raised in Endicott, New York.

His lifelong love of radio began at an early age, when he was allowed to read a commercial on WMBO in Auburn, New York.

His father, Mike, an Endicott fireman, and mother, Rose, encouraged him in his goal; at the time it was to become a sportscaster.

He went on to work behind the scenes and learned about broadcasting at nearby WINR, Binghamton, New York, where one of his co-workers was a young Rod Serling.

Another co-worker, himself a sportscaster, took an interest in the young Biondi and began working with him on pronunciation and diction.

As a sportscaster, Biondi began his on-air career in radio on WCBA 1350 AM in Corning, New York.

He continued on to KVOB, Bastrop, Louisiana, but it wasn't until working for KSYL in Alexandria that Biondi started doing music shows.

It was here where he became acquainted with rhythm and blues.

Career moves took him to York, Pennsylvania, and WHOT-AM, Youngstown, Ohio.

When Biondi arrived there, Rock and Roll was on the airwaves, and he began doing local appearances with such stars as Fabian, Paul Anka, and Bobby Darin.