Dick Buckley

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For the baseball player, see Dick Buckley (baseball).

Dick Buckley is the host of the jazz program, Jazz with Dick Buckley, on Chicago Public Radio. His program, which has been at WBEZ since 1977, tends toward jazz of the 1930's and 1940's, 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.

Born August 26, 1925 in Decatur, Indiana, 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.[2]"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."[3]

He subsequently attended Indiana University where he played trombone for the marching band.[4]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.[5]

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." [6]

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. [7]

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. [8]

Currently, Dick Buckley's show for Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) lasts an hour, shortened from three hours after a major station reformatting made on Jan. 14, 2007, to a talk, news and public affairs format. Listen on Sunday afternoons 2-3pm CST in Chicago at 91.5FM, or via live webstream at WBEZ's homepage [1].

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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

[edit] References

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].

[edit] External links


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