ron chapman obituary kvil ron chapman obituary kvil

We said, Okay, thats it! KVIL is a commercial radio station dual-licensed to Highland Park and Dallas, Texas. He brought, what is known in the industry as the "adult contemporary" format to FM. That was the power of Ron Chapman. We had several meetings in which we hoped to gain her attention about things we didnt feel were happening correctly on the nighttime show. Chapman knows his audience, and he knows what they buycomfort. Chapman said. I once wrote Ron Chapman meant more to Dallas radio than electricity. Forty-five years in one market. People just trusted him, Dean said Monday. After working for two years with the Voice of the United Nations Command in Korea , Chapman moved to Connecticut and station WHNC/New Haven. And he says, This is your audience. Ill never forget it. We became great friends, Fairchild said. According to industry analysts, fellow media, and KVIL employees, former and current, Chapman is a man of planned spontaneity, of freeze-dried warmth. Chapman began his career in Dallas radio in 1959 at KLIF as a member of the "Charlie and Harrigan" team. Posted Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 8:33 pm CT. Dallasites are grieving the death today of deejay Ron Chapman, a man whose voice was a constant companion throughout the Metroplex for more than five . But its going to be hard to groom someone to replace him when he hogs the limelight and wants all the glory for himself.. "But it's a different world in radio, isn't it?" In 1969, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort . Photos: Chapman Today: Dan Sellers; Chapman on TV: Courtesy of ABC Radio Networks. Thirty-two of them at the same station. You tend to say things like the mayor when you mean Dallas and the mayor of Fort Worth when youre talking about them. In my mind, Chapman continues, I used to picture Mary Tyler Moore. RIP Ron pic.twitter.com . If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Skip to content. So we all lined up, and we said, Okay, hoooo! And we started to walk. Ron.. Chapman knows how to be reassuring to women who are fighting an uphill battle day after day. In 2000, as radio began to change once again, Chapman moved to KLUV, a Dallas oldies station where he stayed until announcing his retirement in 2005. 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"KVIL was so big, so all-encompassing that you never thought it would go away.". The man had to be on the air at 5:30 in the morning. There was some serious speculation for a while in Haverhill about the Ghost Tuba Player. He claims more listeners than any DJ in Texas. And now, it is no longer.". He knows what people want to hear. Im paying you to write! It was a 45-minute show. I now think about retiring. Barnum. To a person, everyone interviewed for this story believed that Chapman, if riled, could end his career. Michael Granberry, Arts Writer. / CBS Texas. Hollywood actress Morgan Fairchild first met the radio maestro when she was a student at Lake Highlands High School. And I was going to run faster, work harder, get street-smarter. He's now a news anchor for CBS Channel 11 and will replace Chapman on KLUV's morning show. April 26, 2021 / 11:54 AM Were keeping you on the payroll through October. If shed said, I f-ed up, Im on the team, shed be here still. Hes now retired and owns a winery called Orangewoods near San Diego.In, Im going to say 62 or 63, Jack Kennedy, I think, did a 50-mile hike. By Casey Carr. And I did everything. That's a very sad commentary on the times. Ron would fairly often show up while I was on the air to go in a studio and record a promo that might run overnight, only to plug something that was going to be on his show. So, Chapman can afford to surprise his wife with a 4.9-carat diamond, keep houses in town and country, and fly to Madrid on a whim., Born in January 1936, Ralph Frederick Chapman was the youngest of three children raised in the back rooms of his dads store during the Depression. Ive had two scoops of everything, Chapman likes to say. CBS News Texas: Free 24/7 News; . Like the time when, in charge of locking away the band instruments in a wire cage, Ralph kept the mouthpiece of the tuba in his pocket. I noticed that they would feature me dancing a lot on the show. His hard-scrabble experience inspired him to say, Ill show them. And his broadcasting career accomplished exactly that he showed them. Be sure to wear a hat. The longtime host of KVIL died in April 2021 at the age of 85. I love the guy. Among the passengers on a March 4 flight out of Hanoi 45 years ago Sunday at the end of the Vietnam War were three Air Force officers who would eventually settle in Northwest Florida. Chapmans radio station has been number one in Dallas. He is the chairman of Southwest Airlines. Everybody that works here eventually comes back around, and Im going to be here when they come round again. Who is available? But, of course, its demise was inevitable, yet another casualty of shifting tastes and platforms; it's sign-off came just two months after Clear Channel dulled The Edge by making it, too, a dull shade of Maroon 5. He knew exactly what he was going to do and started work reprogramming KVIL in their big studio. His wife says the best way to get him frantic is to put him in a car without a phone. Chapman was a giant in radio in Texas, and was inducted as a member of the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. That was his job to make that station great. Yes, my dear, the world is still a warm and safe and funny place to be, and you are on top of it with us, you know everything we do, which is a lot, and life keeps getting better. Drive-time shows have opposite hours from most other jobs, starting in the very early morning hours. @theoldgreywolf once told me, "Chapman was the pioneer, the seer." "I was always on the quest of doing something new and dramatic and different and surprising," Ron said in 2010. . And the guy was the typical model. First it was six to nine. But it was impossible to replicate a station that made a growing big city feel like a small town. In 1959, a 23-year-old up-and-coming disc jockey from Haverhill, Mass., took on the role of morning co-host for a . In 1969, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth as morning disc jockey, music director, and program director, bringing the "adult contemporary" format to FM radio. Then the man loaned him enough money to buy a ticket. Its mascot was an incontinent kinkajou. Though Chapman is generally regarded, on the civic circuit, as something of a First Citizen, he has not been above exporting that inflammatory temper outside the station walls. He spent more than three decades at KVIL, toiling as a morning deejay, music director and program director, transforming the adult contemporary format into a major success on the FM band. When Ron met Nance twenty years ago at a charity telethon, he was immediately struck by her good looks, he says, recalling that he trotted out a bunch of glib compliments before saying, By the way, Im Ron Chapman. Her reply: Oh. He never said anything to me about it. He remained at KVIL-FM for 32 years, serving as program director, music director, promotion director and morning personality. Jun 03, 2004 07:18pm. But suppose, suddenly, a rogue meteorite comes falling out of the sky and mashes him into a puddle at the corner of Mockingbird and Central? In 1968, Chapman joined KVIL-FM, a station known for pioneering the Adult Contemporary (AC) format. Hes now a program director for ABC Dallas radio and an adjunct professor of TV production at the University of North Texas.We did Sumpn Else at NorthPark. blackpool north pier fishing permit; bradley cooper parents; best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment A D Magazine feature on Chapman from December 1989, reproduced this week in honour of his life, stated that he had a wife called Nance (pronounced Nancy) Murray, for three years at that point. He was so popular in Dallas in the 70s, 80s and 90s that his station, KVIL, sold for more than the Dallas Cowboys. 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM PDT. When New York-based Infinity Broadcasting bought KVIL a couple of years ago, they paid more than $80 million, the highest amount ever paid for a stand-alone radio station in the U.S. Chapman, fifty-three, fell over laughing. I have the same type of personality, just not as much discipline. Barack O-blame-a. And every morning he was there for us, standing at his mic, drinking Dr Pepper, talking to the city. Chapman invited him to come watch the show at some point. After 45 years in radio, Ron Chapman retired from his morning show on June 24, 2005. So when we cut away to commercial, we would turn off the lights so the studio would get cool. But the youngsters came to understand their poverty., I liked applause early on, said Chapman, who took on Ron as his radio first name in 1965. This system is awful. He killed the competition. His talent rose above us all. But she was the problem., Chapman, who says he agonizes over every firing and tries to help the departed financially, told Haley to find another gig by the end of the year, while challenging her to do better: I told her. The slightly bugged eyes turn flat, focused inward. Thats reflective of some pretty strong public service. Chapman says. And its not just the lower-downs, but the higher-ups who have their hands full of Chapman ego. This is a secret, but we take a lot of the staff to the big derrick at Six Flags and put them on top. Often, he would ask me to help out with his charities. More than one KVILite also remarked that they wouldnt have had jobs at all if Chapman hadnt heard that they were down on their luck and called to offer them gigs. You people dont listen to me, and you are going to lose $100,000 on this auction! When she replied that the auction had never made anywhere near that much, he snapped, Thats why!. KVIL wasso named for its original HQ in the Highland Park Village, after Charles Meeks acquired a broadcast license from the feds to open up shop in 1958. Says Chapman, Electronically, we dont do much, but we are very conscious of highs. Nevertheless, she also has to be in between her late '70s and early '80s. Even Ron Chapman was not at all shocked to hear of its demise when I called him Wednesday afternoon to tell him his beloved KVIL was now, um, the Amp. The feature says Chapman and his wife, Nance, had met at a charity telethon in the late sixties and spent decades as platonic friends before both parties . Now, its someone I found out of Kim Dawson headshots. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defers comment on revival of sexual harassment lawsuit, Q and A: How MLBs streaming, TV options will impact Rangers fans ability to watch team. Stevens and Pruett. I can make her feel good about the day, or I can make her feel crappy about the day, and of course, the choice is to make her feel good. He ended up following Chapman at KLUV in 2005. Everyone I knew went to college. He did not. Chapman was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. The maddest he ever got at me were those times that I delivered less than the best. No one would do that.. Because of my vast admiration and liking for this protean man, I was shocked beyond dismay when he publicly stated that inviting me to roast him was the worst mistake hed ever made. Everywhere 1 go, the broadcasters are asking me how to do that. Jody Dean was Chapman's producer at KVIL from 1987 to 1994. It was the only way we could get a feel for the publics impressions on what we were doing. And it was Chapman who ran every single nutty promo in the station's stories history, among them a scavenger hunt that involved hidden tape recorders, secret messages and, eventually, a Braniff International Airways ticket to Hawaii. The piece coincided with Chapmans 20th anniversary at KVIL, where, The News noted, His hyper, happy-talk Ron Chapman and the Morning Group has been the almost-constant No. He is very perfectionist about his personal things. But the precise age, her birthday, and zodiac remain unknown. Dale Hansen broadcasted Cowboys games on KVIL. But, quite frankly, we werent real excited about learning it at the time.. Chapman has seen twenty years worth of six-month wonders come and then go. I know something the others havent figured out.. Blonde, voluptuous, impeccably well-mannered, and gracious, she smiles through a mouthful of sharp teeth. After I left, there were several attempts to be 'the new KVIL,' but KVIL left such an impressive mark on Dallas that they were neverable to shake this old image of its old people there, me being among them.". I was off the wall, and he loved it. Chapmans cohorts speak of having to walk a very fine line; remaining clever and at least half-witty without ever being more clever than Ron. Id just started with Chapman, and I did that two or three times before he slammed down the headphones and blew up. Theres gotta be some point at which hes willing to pass the torch. But if anyone were to remember me, I would hope it would be as someone who took radio disc jockeying and maybe gave it a little respect. But she never did., Coast to coast, when a radio stationbegins considering a format change, radio insiders say, the list of options goes like this: We could go country. Shes divorced, and may have a kid at home that shes sole support for. Robert Wilonsky, former city columnist for The Dallas Morning News, is communications director for Heritage Auctions and a frequent contributor to these pages. The things that attracted Marilyn to me in the first place were the things that drove her crazythe drive, the ambition, the living in the eye of the tiger eventually drove her crazy.