The Midnight Special (radio)

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The Midnight Special
Genre	Folk and Comedy Showcase
Country	United States
Languages	English
Home station	WFMT
Syndicates	XM The Village Channel 15, Syndication list
Hosts	Rich Warren, Ray Nordstrand, Mike Nichols
Creators	Mike Nichols
Recording studio	Chicago, Illinois
Air dates	1953 to present
Audio format	Stereophonic
Website www.midnightspecial.org

The Midnight Special is a now-syndicated radio show that has been broadcast on a Chicago, Illinois radio station, WFMT 98.7 FM, since 1953. It is a showcases of folk and roots music from historical and contemporary artists. The show also features comedy sketches. The show is named after the well known folk song of the same name about a train, usually associated with Leadbelly. The show was also broadcast near midnight on Saturdays.

In 1953 station manager Mike Nichols decided to host a Folk music program on Saturday evenings. Early regular guests were local musicians including Fleming Brown and Big Bill Broonzy. They would play in the studio that once was the ballroom on the west side of Chicago. When Nichols left the program Norm Pellegrini became the host and it evolved into a record program. Ray Nordstrand also shared the hosting responsibilities of "The Midnight Special" until 1974. Various celebrities guest-hosted the program over the years, including Tom Paxton, and theater director Robert Falls.^[1] In 1974 Rich Warren was invited to help out hosting and became the sole host of the program in 1996.