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Terri Hemmert (born April 28, 1948) is an American radio personality, musicologist, and instructor at Columbia College Chicago. She is a long-term presence at WXRT-FM in Chicago, Illinois where she became the first female drive time host for a rock music station in the Chicago radio market. [1] She is known as an expert on The Beatles and hosts the weekly Breakfast with the Beatles program and has been featured speaker at many Beatles conventions worldwide. [2] [3]
Hemmert grew up in Piqua, Ohio. As a youth she saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and was inspired to set her sights on a career as a disc jockey as a potential way to meet her idols. She maintained her interest in pop and rhythm and blues music through her teens and enrolled at Elmhurst College where she wrote for campus publications and worked at the college radio station WRSE; she received a bachelor's degree in Speech in 1970. [4] After a stint as a late-night disc jockey at WCMF in Rochester, New York she returned to the Midwest and, in 1973, joined fledgling progressive rock station WXRT in Chicago as Public Affairs Director and overnight announcer. [5]
Hemmert's career and popularity grew along with that of the station and by 1981 she was the morning drive-time personality for the highly rated station. Hemmert became the regular celebrity host for the Chicago-area Beatlefest beginning in 1979. Also in the late 1970s she began a long association with Columbia College, where she taught music history and radio classes. [6]
Hemmert has been active in social and political causes and sits on the board of directors for The Peace Museum and Facets Multimedia. [7] She has also co-hosted the Chicago Pride Parade. [8]
Hemmert was featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Rock and Radio" exhibit and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago chapter of the Recording Academy.
Terri Hemmert was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 for her contributions to the radio medium. It was even of greater significance as she is one of a few female personalities to be bestowed this honor. [9]
Though she has been known for her avid love of The Beatles, Hemmert also lists Roxy Music, Dusty Springfield, Patti Smith, and Marvin Gaye among her other favorite musicians.
In celebration of her 40 years at WXRT, Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a surprise visit to WXRT studios to declare December 18, 2013 "Terri Hemmert Day" in the City of Chicago. [10]
Bobby Skafish is a long-time radio personality in the Chicago area.
WXRT, also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an adult album alternative (AAA) radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years, their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". "Chicago's Home For Music Lovers" has been used as its slogan since fall 2017.
Breakfast with the Beatles is a popular programming segment format on FM radio in cities in the United States. The segment format typically features one or more hours of programing consisting exclusively of music by or related to the Beatles. Several nationally syndicated variations exist as well as many locally produced versions. Once a month, a live version of the Los Angeles broadcast with Chris Carter, though still recorded for radio, is hosted during an actual brunch at the Kobe Steakhouse & Lounge in Seal Beach, California. It is also being broadcast live the last Sunday of the each month, from Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California.
WSCR – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range in most of the Central United States and part of the Eastern United States. WSCR is the Chicago affiliate for the BetQL Audio Network, CBS Sports Radio, the Fighting Illini Sports Network and the NFL on Westwood One Sports; the flagship station for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bulls radio networks; and the home of radio personalities David Haugh and Matt Spiegel.
Sound Opinions is an independent radio talk show and podcast based in Chicago. It focuses on the discussion of music genres, history, artists and albums. It airs weekly on over 150 public radio stations nationwide and is syndicated though the Public Radio Exchange. It is also available for download and streaming worldwide as a podcast.
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that emerged in the late 1960s, in which disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always played. It enjoyed the height of its popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. The name for the format began being used circa 1968, when serious disc jockeys were playing "progressive 'music for the head'" and discussing social issues in between records. During the late 1960s, as long-playing records began to supplant the single in popularity with rock audiences, progressive rock stations placed more emphasis on album tracks than did their AM counterparts. Throughout the 1970s, as FM stations moved to more structured formats, progressive rock evolved into album-oriented rock (AOR).
WQFS is Guilford College's student-run radio station, with both students and members of the community serving as disk jockeys. Broadcasting in a variety format, it serves Greensboro, North Carolina and the greater Piedmont Triad area. It is also broadcast on the internet via streaming audio at TuneIn. WQFS ranked 6th among college radio stations in 2016, according to The Princeton Review.
Richard Orlando Biondi 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. 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."
Vivian Carter was an American record company executive who was a founder of Vee-Jay Records with her future husband, Jimmy Bracken. Carter was also a Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, radio disc jockey. Vee Jay, an independent record label, became the first successful black-owned recording company in the United States. It released original music from artists of the 1950s and 1960s in a variety of genres, including rhythm and blues, doo-wop, pop, and gospel.
Deborah L. "Deb" Mell is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and was formerly a member of the Chicago City Council, representing the 33rd ward. She previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013.
John Harlan Rook was an American radio programmer and executive, most known for his tenure in Chicago. Under his guidance in the 1960s, 50,000-watt ABC-owned WLS became the highest rated station in the Chicago metropolitan area, known as one of the greatest Top 40 stations in America. After leaving WLS to form a radio consultancy in 1970, WLS' rival, WCFL-AM, beat WLS in the ratings after retaining Rook's services. Throughout his programming career, Rook won numerous national radio awards and was repeatedly singled out for his ability to pick hit records. He would later own his own radio stations before founding the Hit Parade Hall of Fame, the only foundation that bestows awards on popular performers based upon the votes of the general public.
Kelly Cassidy is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She was appointed to represent the 14th district, on Chicago's North Side, in April 2011 following incumbent Harry Osterman's election to the Chicago City Council. She took office on May 16, 2011. Most notably Kelly Cassidy was the chief sponsor of House Bill 1438, making Illinois the first state to legalize the Adult-Use of Cannabis through legislature as opposed to a ballot measure.
Bridget Gainer is an American politician serving as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from the 10th district. She was appointed to the position in 2009.
Lin Brehmer was an American disc jockey and radio personality at WXRT in Chicago. Brehmer hosted mornings on WXRT from 1991 to 2020, and middays from early 2020 until taking a leave of absence to undergo chemotherapy in 2022.
Dave Fogel is an American classic hits radio disc jockey. He has worked in Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Diego and Kansas City. The bulk of his radio work has been in Chicago, and he is the current morning show host on 94.7 WLS-FM.
The Fest for Beatles Fans is a twice-annual, three-day festival that honors the lasting legacy of the Beatles. The festival takes place in the New York metropolitan area, ordinarily in March or April, and in Chicago, Illinois, each August. Running Friday through Sunday, the Fest features special guests, live concerts, exhibits, art contests, a Beatles marketplace, a sound-alike contest, a Battle of the Beatles Bands, and more.
Mitch Michaels is an American rock and roll radio disc jockey. Known for his contributions to many spots on the Chicago radio dial, he is best known for helping start WXRT-FM and for his work at WKQX-FM, WLUP-FM "The Loop" and WCKG-FM in Chicago, Illinois. Michaels has been on the air since his first radio job at WHFS-FM in Bethesda, Maryland in 1968. He most recently was 'Doin The Cruise' in the afternoon on WERV-FM 95.9 "The River" in Aurora, Illinois.
The history of radio disc jockeys covers the time when gramophone records were first transmitted by experimental radio broadcasters to present day radio personalities who host shows featuring a variety of recorded music.
Marsha Albert triggered the early 1960s phenomenon known as Beatlemania in the United States when as a 15-year-old girl, on December 17, 1963, she introduced The Beatles song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on American radio. Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer said in 2004 that “Marsha Albert's actions forced a major record company to push up the release date of a debut single from an unknown band during the holiday season, a time when record companies traditionally released no new product.”