I just heard about this on FB today, 11.10.12...he was my first major market PD at WVBF-FM, Framingham/Boston, Stereo 105.7 when I first started there on weekends 1972...And, he was my favorite PD of my whole radio career ! After he returned to Indy I didn't last there much longer...The following obit doesn't mention his Boston daze (days)...RIP, Big Guy !
Radio legacy of John Gillis includes rocking at WNAP
Station embraced counterculture anthems and attitudes in the 1960s
http://www.indystar.com/article/201...WNAP?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|p
Written by David Lindquist
9:53 AM, Nov 10, 2012
John Gillis worked as the morning on-air personality at WNAP-FM (93.1) when the station debuted in 1968. Gillis died Friday at age 64. / Photo provided by Videopolis.tv.
'Naptown Rock Radio Wars' trailer:
Before he was "Big" John Gillis, he was "Wild One" John Gillis.
Gillis, who died Friday at age 64, forged his fame in Indianapolis radio as a WIBC-AM traffic reporter.
He also made FM radio history as part of the first crew of DJs at WNAP-FM -- the station that embraced counterculture anthems and attitudes in the 1960s.
WNAP debuted on July 22, 1968, and Gillis handled the 6 to 10 a.m. on-air shift.
In the accompanying publicity photo, he's billed as "Wild One" John Gillis. The nickname proved to be short-lived. "I was the tallest (DJ), and there was this song out by Jimmy Dean called 'Big Bad John,' so I got to be Big John," Gillis told Indianapolis Monthly magazine in 1995.
"Naptown Rock Radio Wars," a 2012 documentary made by David Fulton, includes an interview with Gillis amid the film's examination of rival stations WIBC, WIFE and WNAP.
WNAP was born when Fairbanks Broadcasting -- parent company of Top 40-themed WIBC -- grew weary of losing listeners to WIFE. Fairbanks made WNAP-FM (93.1) an alternative to everything the WIFE "Good Guys" represented.
When WIFE boycotted the Doors in response to Jim Morrison's notoriously naughty onstage behavior, WNAP chose to spin songs by the Doors once an hour.
Gillis grew up in Howe, Ind., a town 53 miles north of Fort Wayne. He started working as a helicopter traffic reporter at WIBC in 1980 and retired from the station in 2007.
Contact Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404 or @317lindquist on Twitter.
.................
Naptown Rock Radio Wars - Premiere Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXMtFrx9b4w&feature=player_embedded 2:41
Uploaded by VideopolisTV on Nov 15, 2011
Naptown Rock Radio Wars is a feature length documentary about the history of rock and roll radio in Indianapolis. It will have its world premiere as a theatrical showing at the IMAX theater at White River State Park on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 7pm. Tickets go on sale December 19 at 10am.
....................
Other notices...
http://indydemocrat.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-memoriam-big-john-gillis.html
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-big-john-gillis-dies-20121110,0,4723130.story
http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=1815191
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/...adio-personality-at-wibc-big-john-gillis-dies
http://www.wthr.com/story/20060600/radio-personality-big-john-gillis-dead-at-age-64
Radio legacy of John Gillis includes rocking at WNAP
Station embraced counterculture anthems and attitudes in the 1960s
http://www.indystar.com/article/201...WNAP?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|p
Written by David Lindquist
9:53 AM, Nov 10, 2012
John Gillis worked as the morning on-air personality at WNAP-FM (93.1) when the station debuted in 1968. Gillis died Friday at age 64. / Photo provided by Videopolis.tv.
'Naptown Rock Radio Wars' trailer:
Before he was "Big" John Gillis, he was "Wild One" John Gillis.
Gillis, who died Friday at age 64, forged his fame in Indianapolis radio as a WIBC-AM traffic reporter.
He also made FM radio history as part of the first crew of DJs at WNAP-FM -- the station that embraced counterculture anthems and attitudes in the 1960s.
WNAP debuted on July 22, 1968, and Gillis handled the 6 to 10 a.m. on-air shift.
In the accompanying publicity photo, he's billed as "Wild One" John Gillis. The nickname proved to be short-lived. "I was the tallest (DJ), and there was this song out by Jimmy Dean called 'Big Bad John,' so I got to be Big John," Gillis told Indianapolis Monthly magazine in 1995.
"Naptown Rock Radio Wars," a 2012 documentary made by David Fulton, includes an interview with Gillis amid the film's examination of rival stations WIBC, WIFE and WNAP.
WNAP was born when Fairbanks Broadcasting -- parent company of Top 40-themed WIBC -- grew weary of losing listeners to WIFE. Fairbanks made WNAP-FM (93.1) an alternative to everything the WIFE "Good Guys" represented.
When WIFE boycotted the Doors in response to Jim Morrison's notoriously naughty onstage behavior, WNAP chose to spin songs by the Doors once an hour.
Gillis grew up in Howe, Ind., a town 53 miles north of Fort Wayne. He started working as a helicopter traffic reporter at WIBC in 1980 and retired from the station in 2007.
Contact Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404 or @317lindquist on Twitter.
.................
Naptown Rock Radio Wars - Premiere Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXMtFrx9b4w&feature=player_embedded 2:41
Uploaded by VideopolisTV on Nov 15, 2011
Naptown Rock Radio Wars is a feature length documentary about the history of rock and roll radio in Indianapolis. It will have its world premiere as a theatrical showing at the IMAX theater at White River State Park on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 7pm. Tickets go on sale December 19 at 10am.
....................
Other notices...
http://indydemocrat.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-memoriam-big-john-gillis.html
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-big-john-gillis-dies-20121110,0,4723130.story
http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=1815191
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/...adio-personality-at-wibc-big-john-gillis-dies
http://www.wthr.com/story/20060600/radio-personality-big-john-gillis-dead-at-age-64