Rock Radio Heaven (D)
MARK DAILEY
Born: August 1, 1953, Youngstown, Ohio
Died: December 6, 2010, Toronto
Also known as: Nicknamed "The Voice," Full name was Mark Edward Dailey
Stations: WNIO, WYTV Youngstown, Ohio; CKLW, CILQ (Q-107), CHUM, CITY-TV Toronto
Notes: Best known for his work as anchor, reporter, and image voice of CITY-TV, Dailey got his start in radio at the age of 16 at WNIO. Was named Man of the Year in 2009, the City of Toronto public service award. Founding member of Toronto Crime Stoppers program. Dailey chronicled his own battle with prostate cancer on television and encouraged others to be pro-active on men's health issues. Announced on-air in September 2010 that he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer; it spread to his lungs and he died of lung cancer.
BOBBY DALE
Born: July 27, 1931, Minneapolis
Died: January 17, 2001, San Rafael, Calif.
Also known as: Birth name was Robert Dale Bastiansen
Stations: KOIL Omaha, Neb., KDWB Minneapolis, KEWB, KFRC, KSFO, KSAN, KKCY, KOFY San Francisco, KFWB, KRLA, KGBS Los Angeles, KTIM San Rafael, Calif., KUSF University of San Francisco
Notes: Minneapolis native got his radio start at age 25 in Glendive, Mt. Was 70 when he died of cancer, three days before a special celebration in his honour.
JOHN "JD" DALE
Died: May 26, 2006
Stations: CHIC, CFNY Brampton, Ont., CKNX Wingham, Ont., CHAY, CKBB Barrie, Ont., JACK-FM Orillia, Ont.
Notes: First voice heard on CFNY in 1976. Died of cancer at the age 54.
JIM DANDY
Born: February 24, 1942
Died: October 20, 2010
Also known as: Birth name was Jim Everts
Stations: WDGY Minneapolis-St Paul
Notes: Did three separate stints at WDGY.
YVONNE DANIELS
Born: 1937, Jacksonville, Fla.
Died: June 21, 1991, Chicago
Also known as: The First Lady of Chicago Radio
Stations: WYNR, WSDM, WCFL, WLS, WVON, WGCI-AM-FM, WNUA Chicago
Notes: Did popular jazz shows at WYNR and WSDM before moving to Top 40 and the all-night show on WLS in 1973. Her WSDM show was called "Daniels' Den." Also did jazz show at WCFL, leaving when they went Top 40. Daughter of jazz singer Billy Daniels. Did some 2,700 radio commercials. Member of the Radio Hall of Fame. A street in Chicago - Yvonne Daniels Way - is named after her. Died of breast cancer at the age of 53.
MIKE DAROW
Born: January 8, 1933
Died: December 7, 1996
Also known as: Birth name was Darow Myhowich, Mike Darow, M.D., The Doctor of Music (CFRN)
Stations worked at: CHAT Medicine Hat, Alta., CFRN Edmonton, CHUM Toronto
Notes: Worked swing and afternoons at CHUM from 1959 to 1965. Was a member of the Chumingbirds, a vocal group that also included John Spragge, Gary Ferrier and Bob McAdorey. The Chumingbirds had a #24 CHUM chart hit with Brotherhood of Man in 1964. Mike Darow and the CHUMs charted at #17 with The Battle of Queenston Heights. Left CHUM for television. Hosted the ABC-TV game show Dream House from 1968 to 1970, announcer for NBC's The Who, What or Where Game from 1969 to 1974, hosted The $128,000 Question (syndicated) from 1976 to 1977 and hosted Jackpot on USA Cable from 1985 to 1988. Hosted Canadian game shows Bluff and Going Place in the mid-to-late '70s and music show A Go Go (later known as It's Happening) in 1966. At 6' 4", was the tallest CHUM announcer until Tom Rivers arrived in 1970.
BUD DAVIES
Born: 1924, Windsor, Ont.
Died: October 20, 2006, Florida
Stations: CKLW Windsor, Ont., CKLW-TV, CKEY, CFRB Toronto, WGMW-FM West Palm Beach, Fla.
Notes: Spent 29 years at CKLW, ending in 1966 as morning show host. Hosted the "Bud Davies Top 10 Dance Party" on CKLW-TV in the late '50s. His minister father once hosted a talk show on 'CK called "The Quiet Sanctuary," and he helped get his son started at the station in the mail room. Moved to Florida in 1978. A passionate sports fan, he rooted for the Detroit Tigers right up to the end - they won the American League pennant six days before he died at the age of 82 after a long illness.
JAY DAVIS
Died: 1992
Also known as: Jay the Jock, Dave Alan; real name was Alan Davis.
Stations: WLOA Braddock, Pa., WHJB Greensburg, Pa., WPSL Monroeville, Pa., KQV, WYDD, WDVE Pittsburgh
Notes: Was also sales manager at WTAE and WHTX Pittsburgh
BOB DAYTON
Died: 1995
Also known as: The Milkman, Robin Scott
Stations: KBOX, KLIF Dallas, WIL St. Louis, WABC, WPIX, WCBS-FM New York, KBLA, KRLA Los Angeles, WGBB Freeport, N.Y., WPAC Patchogue, N.Y., WGLI Long Island, N.Y., ABC Super Radio
Notes: Remembered for his "Hiroshima-Happy Birthday Sixteen Candles" comment on WABC (Aug. 6, 1965), which quite understandably got him fired. For many years closed his show with "I ... gotta go now! Goodbye, world." The New York native died of cancer at age 62.
BUDDY DEANE
Born: Saint Charles, Ark.
Died: July 16, 2003, Pine Bluff, Ark.
Also known as: His real name was Winston J. Deane
Stations: KLXR Little Rock, Ark., WITH Baltimore, KOTN, Pine Bluff, Ark.
Notes: Named Billboard deejay of the year in 1962. Hosted highly-rated teen-dance show on WJZ-TV in Baltimore from 1957 to 1964. The show formed the basis for the 1988 movie "Hairspray", and Deane had a bit part in it. Died of complications from a stroke. He was 78.
MICHEL DESROCHERS
Born: June 4, 1945
Died: September 10, 2005
Stations: CJMS, CKAC, CFGL, CBF, CFAV Montreal, Europe 1 (France)
Notes: One of the major stars of the 1960s heyday of CJMS, one of "Les Bons Gars" ("Good Guys") and one of three deejays to introduce the Beatles on stage at the Montreal Forum on September 8, 1964. He was the first of two Canadians (the other was Jim McKenna of CFCF) to interview the Rolling Stones for CJMS for their first visit to Canada in Montreal on April 23, 1965. Desrochers was also a Radio-Canada network quiz show host and French CBC radio morning man in Montreal for a few years. He was also a major voice talent on many French-language spots over the years. His last gig was at Radio Nostalgie 1570 in the fall of 2004.(Our thanks to Marc Denis for background information).
CARL DeSUZE
Born: October 14, 1915
Died: April 30, 1998
Also known as: New England's Alarm Clock
Stations: WGN Portland, Me., WBZ Boston
Notes: DeSuze was at WBZ from 1940 to 1980.
RANDY DEWELL
Died: June 28, 2010, Halifax
Stations: CJCH, CHNS, CIOO (C-100) Halifax, CKGM, CFOX Montreal, CFRA Ottawa, CKOC Hamilton, Ont.
Notes: After his radio career, Dewell became an alderman in Halifax (1985-88), and was a long-time civil servant in Nova Scotia. Won the Ted Rogers Sr./Velma Rogers Graham Award presented by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters for the "most outstanding contribution to the broadcast industry by an individual, through community service.” Worked in radio from 1967 to 1985. Was promotions director for a time at CKGM. Died of a heart attack.
BOB DIAMOND
Died: December 15, 2012
Also known as: Birth name was Don Kirsch; Was Don Castle on WINE
Station: WINE, WKBW Buffalo, N.Y.
Notes: All-night jock at WKBW in 1960s.
JACK DIAMOND
Died: 2002
Also known as: The All-American Boy
Stations: WYJS Jackson, Miss.
BERNARD (BERNIE) DITTMAN
Born: September 3, 1927
Died: October 25, 2006
Stations: WABB AM/FM Mobile, Ala., WAPI AM/FM Birmingham, Ala.
Notes: Dittman and his father bought WABB 1480 in 1959 and turned it into Top 40; WABB-FM later. The stations (first AM, then FM) have dominated the format continuously since (48 years as of 2007). Believed to the longest-running Top 40/CHR station in existence with no ownership change. Also owned WAPI AM/FM Birmingham at one time. Died at the age of 78 after suffering a stroke.
JOHN DOLAN
Died: February 28, 2011, Calgary
Stations: CHED Edmonton, CKEY, CFRB, CJEZ-FM Toronto
Notes: Was one of the original "Good Guys" at CHED in the late '50s. Later was a swing announcer at CFRB for many years. Died of a brain tumour.
TOM DOOLEY
Born: January 18, 1947, Chicago
Died: November 9, 2010, Dallas
Also known as: Full name was George Patrick Thomas O'Dooley, Jr.
Stations: KELI Tulsa, WQAM Miami, KNUZ Houston, WSAI Cincinnati, WAKY Louisville, Ky., WMPS, WMPS Memphis, WORD Spartanburg, S.C, KRIZ Phoenix, WFIL, WIFI-FM Philadelphia, WAYS Charlotte, KHJ Los Angeles, KLIF, KVTT Dallas, WGST Atlanta.
Notes: Was fired from KHJ after accusing Richard Nixon of being behind the Kennedy assassination. Played guitar, drums and piano and performed with the Mar-Keys, Bill Black's Combo and Ace Cannon. Also had his own band, Tom Dooley and the Lovelights. An active Christian, Dooley had a syndicated show called "The Journey with Tom Dooley." Also worked at stations in Rockford, Ill., Cleveland, Knoxville, Tenn., Dyersburg, Tenn. Died of brain cancer.
BILL DRAKE
Born: January 14, 1937, Waycross, Ga.
Died: November 29, 2008, Los Angeles
Stations (as a deejay only): WMGR Bainbridge, Ga., WAKE Atlanta
Also known as: Birth name was Philip Taylor Yarbrough
Notes: One of Top 40 radio's most influential programmers, Drake and partner Gene Chenault were responsible for the "Drake format", which streamlined hit radio programming in the 1960s. The format featured more music (a minimum of 14 songs an hour) less time devoted to commercials (13 minutes and 40 seconds an hour), short jingles, tighter playlists and strict rules on what deejays could say and how long they had to say it. In addition, news was programmed at odd times, like 20 minutes before the hour (20-20 News). Some of the major "Drake" stations included KHJ Los Angeles, KFRC San Francisco, CKLW Windsor-Detroit, WRKO Boston and WOR-FM New York. At its peak, Drake-Chenault had 350 stations on its roster and was syndicating six formats. Drake sold his interest in Drake-Chenault Enterprises in 1983 but returned to program KRTH Los Angeles in the 1990s. The three-times married and divorced Drake died of lung cancer, the same illness that claimed two of his star KHJ deejays - Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele.
PAUL DREW
Died: May 16, 2013, Glendale, Calf.,
Stations: WAKE, WGST, WQXI Atlanta (as deejay), WQXI, CKLW Windsor, Ont., WIBG Philadelphia, KFRC San Francisco, KHJ Los Angeles (as PD)
Notes: After programming KHJ, was VP/Programming for RKO Radio, overseeing stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Memphis and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Started at CKLW in 1967 and helped usher in the Drake era at that station. Died of natural causes at the age of 78.
TOM DONAHUE
Born: May 21, 1928, South Bend, Ind.
Died: April 28, 1975
Also known as: Birth name was Thomas Coman
Stations: WTIP Charleston, S.C., WINX Rockville, Md., WIBG Philadelphia, KYA, KMPX, KSAN San Francisco, KMET, KPPC Los Angeles
Nicknames: Big Daddy, the Father of Progressive Radio
Notes: Donahue, Alan Freed and Dick Clark are the only disc jockeys in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame. A pioneer of progressive rock radio, he was also a concert promoter and also owned a record label, Autumn Records. His wife, Raechel, has been one of southern California's top radio personalities.
ERNIE DURHAM
Died: December 2, 1992
Also known as: The Frantic One, Ernie D.
Stations worked at: WBBC Flint, Mich., WJLB, WJR, WDET-FM Detroit
Notes: A journalism graduate of New York University, Durham got his start at the leading black newspaper the Pittsburgh Courier. Went to radio news and got his start as a deejay when he filled in for a jock who had phoned in sick. A successful businessman, he helped many a major Detroit musical act get its start.