Rock Radio Scrapbook


AIRCHECK OF THE WEEK
For week of January 3, 2016
Edition #866

Talent: DUSTY RHODES
Station: WSAI Cincinnati
Date: January 4, 1965
Time: 29:24

Dusty Rhodes is a Cincinnati radio legend, and a great guy too! Not only did he send Rock Radio Scrapbook a good selection of his airchecks for use on the site, he also told us the story of his career...

"Dusty Rhodes began his broadcasting career in high school. He started as a control board operator at WOLF in his hometown of Syracuse, New York and worked his way through Syracuse University’s School of Speech and Dramatic Art as a deejay at WOLF, WNDR and WONG in nearby Oneida.  He also spent a year and half on the production crew at WHEN-TV in Syracuse.

After graduating from Syracuse in 1961 he joined WSAI in Cincinnati just as that station was becoming a nationally recognized top forty powerhouse. Within a year and a half WSAI became the highest rated station in the top thirty markets with an overall 42% of the audience.  Rhodes’ nighttime shows regularly drew ratings of over 50%. 

In 1964, he was one of the "Good Guys" sponsoring the Beatles' Cincinnati appearance during their first American tour, and in 1965 he was named "Cincinnati's Most Popular Disc Jockey" by "Billboard" magazine.  After a brief stint as morning man at CKLW, Windsor-Detroit, 1966 to 1967, he returned to Cincinnati, became an investment broker and began doing weekend oldies shows mostly on Sunday nights.  He was first heard on WKRC in the ‘seventies, moved to WLW in the ‘eighties and joined WGRR-FM “Oldies 103.5” from 1991 to 2002.         

He returned to the morning shift on 1530-WSAI from 2003 to 2005, then moved to WDJO “Oldies 1160” until October, 2009.  His annual 36 hour Christmas show has been heard on as many as 100 stations coast-to-coast since the ‘nineties and still airs each year on many of them today.  In 2001 he was inducted into the Ohio Radio & TV Broadcasters Hall of Fame.  

After serving in local government for 20 years and on Ohio’s Public Employees Retirement System Board from 1977 to 1991, he was elected Hamilton County Auditor (Cincinnati) in 1990, a position he still holds being re-elected six times to four-year terms, mostly recently in 2014.  
 

Enjoy Dusty Rhodes on WSAI here.

Enjoy Dusty Rhodes on WSAI here.
 

(The Dusty Rhodes Collection)
 

More 1965 airchecks here!

 




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