• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Chuck Riley passes

H

Hibby

Chuck Riley, who dominated Indianapolis radio on WIBC in the afternoon throughout the 1970's, passed away yesterday, May 10th, in Sherman Oaks, CA. He was 66. He later became one of the most successful voiceover talents in the industry. Chuck's unique voice, style and personality will be missed.
 
Chuck Riley did the Radio Indiana WIBC Indianapolis ID.

In 1977, a couple of friends and I personally delivered our WNAP Raft Race entry form to the two-story brick on North Illinois Street. Naturally we asked for a tour but couldn't get one. This guy walks up to the receptionist desk (checking out the Doobie Brothers prize packs from WNAP) and says "You guys want a tour, I'll give you a tour. By the way I'm Chuck Riley." Our knees buckled. It was one of those We're Not Worthy moments.

He gave us the deluxe tour - news, engineering, production to observe a commercial being cut. He asked us who we listened to the most (answer Buster Bodine on WNAP which he said was natural). He had us in the studio and talked about us on the air with Bob Lamey. Their music was all on Cart then but ironically we were there when he played a brand new 45 - Telephone Man by Meri Wilson.
 
MacOConnor said:
Chuck Riley did the Radio Indiana WIBC Indianapolis ID.
Click to expand...

A true radio legend, especially with "The Wrath Of The Buzzard" legal ID he cut for WNAP. He did a few ID's and a couple of sports intros for WGRT in Danville when it first came on the air back in 1975 as a favor he owed one of the guys there and we were still using them in the early 80's. Not a whole lot of people knew he was Bodine's brother back then. I also got the grand tour of the Fairbanks Hotel when a friend of mine worked there on weekends at 'NAP. I got to see the WIBC studio, the engineering room, which was manned at the time, the record library, and spend a little time in the WNAP studio while he was doing his shift. He threw on the LP version of "Angry Eyes" by Loggins and Messina so that we would have enough time to tour the place. I can remember the tall steel cart racks and some album bins. Seems like they were using a Gates board at the time. I never got to meet Chuck, but have met guys that worked there like Bodine, Bruce Munson, Cris Connor, and one of my all-time favorites, Chuck Larson.
Both Chuck and Buster have had very successful radio and V/O careeers and I am sure Chuck will be sorely missed by those that had the opportunity to work with him over the years.
 
A friend of mine has the recording session Riley did for the Wrath of the Buzzard ID. He was really funny. If memory serves me correctly, he also re-recorded the IDs when WNAP made it's return under the Emmis banner.
 
MacOConnor said:
Their music was all on Cart then but ironically we were there when he played a brand new 45 - Telephone Man by Meri Wilson.
Click to expand...

You mean, "my fingers did the walking on the Telephone Man?" Wow. They were too uptight in the market I lived in at the time to play that.
 
For those interested, Uncle Ricky posted two new airchecks today in memory of Chuck Rilley. You'll find them at www.reelradio.com.
One is an unscoped 'check from Nov 16, 1974, the other is a 2 minute segment with Chuck Riley and Bob Lamey recorded in April 1975, which is hilarious.
While you're there, check out the aircheck from my #1 radio mentor and friend (who also passed recently), Don Cox at Y-100 (Ft Lauderdale) in March of 1974.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom