I'm working on a special project this year about a certain radio station, so I've been going back into my files and pulling out some old interviews with former Loop colleagues and pals. I'll feature one a week here on the blog. This week, it's Dave Benson. Benson was the music director for the Loop for several years (1986-1992). Loved by the ladies. Pal to the guys. Everyone was fond of Dave Benson. This interview is from 2009. He was working in San Francisco at that time.
Rick: People still remember you from your days at WXRT and the Loop in Chicago. What are some of your fondest memories from those days?
Benson: WXRT was and is a charming anachronism. The station is the physical manifestation of Norm Winer's (photo) brain; a sincere, intelligent, well-intentioned, erratic, musical mess. The station's format - the actual directions that the announcers were supposed to follow to avoid Norm's wrath - had never actually been written down. It was an arcane, oral tradition passed along from announcer to announcer like verses from the Talmud. It was a blast! The last bastion of commercial radio where the announcers chose all the music for their shows. I am very grateful and proud of the time I got to spend within the confines of that funky little dump of a building on west Belmont Street.
One afternoon, I called Norm Winer up from the payphone in the bleachers at Wrigley Field and told him I was leaving WXRT and going to work for the dreaded Loop. Norm told me I was a traitor and a fool. I made the move from west Belmont to Michigan Avenue and it was a whole new world. I wish I could give you just one "fond" memory of those years, but there were so many wild and, frankly, unmentionable stories from those years...like that Christmas Party at the Hunt Club where the sales department decided it would be funny to splice in scenes from gay porno flicks into the station's year end promotional video...Greg Solk managed to keep the lid on the place, but just barely.
Rick: I remember that Christmas party. I want to say it was 1987 or 1988.
Benson: That was the Loop. The list of talented and/or crazy people all under one roof was amazing. Steve & Garry (photo), Johnny B, Kevin Matthews, Bob Stroud, Bobby Skafish, Patti Haze, Chet Coppock, Ed Schwartz, Tony Fitzpatrick, Wendy Snyder, Stan Lawrence, John Fisher, Sandy Stahl, Bill Evans, Buzz Kilman...
Rick: But you always held your own. In a station filled with razor sharp tongues walking the hallways everyday, I always thought you were the razor-tongueyist (yes, I know that's not a real word). Did that ever get you in trouble?
Benson: It was nearly impossible to get in trouble for saying something outrageous at the Loop. My God, Steve Dahl called Wally Phillips an "ass wipe," on the air! Working at the Loop required that you be ready to defend your turf, verbally or otherwise, at any moment.
Rick: At one point, you and Bob Stroud were roommates. I always pictured the two of you as Felix and Oscar. Is that an accurate description? Do you have any good Bob Stroud stories from those days?
Benson: It is the perfect characterization. Bob (photo) is, how do you say...fussy? And, I was, well, less fussy in those days. We went on a two week roadtrip to Florida - via New York City - in a flesh colored station wagon with fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. I brought a gym bag and a copy of Kerouac's "Dharma Bums." Bob brought 4 pieces of luggage including one suitcase devoted entirely to shoes. Bob Stroud saved my life once or twice and I am eternally grateful for his patience and his friendship through the years.
Rick: By the way, I asked Stroud about you--and he told me a story about a Korean restaurant, and said 'If anyone in Florida ever says they love Lyrnryd Skynryd, Benson will tell you what he really thinks.'
Benson: Yeah, someone served us collie meat in a Korean restaurant in North Park one night. We thought we were in a Chinese restaurant...stupid white guys. And, I got knocked off a barstool in Florida one afternoon by telling some redneck that Molly Hatchet couldn't carry Lynyrd Skynyrd's jockstrap.
Rick: People may not realize that you and Greg Solk were the guys behind the music at the Loop in the late 80s and early 90s. You've been programming stations ever since. How has your music programming philosophy changed over the years?
Benson: Greg taught me a lot about radio. He grew up in a radio station and has nearly infallible instincts about programming and how to manage talent. He was also one of the rare program directors who could actually verbalize what sort of music he wanted the station to play and to look for. It made the music director's job so much easier. And, it helped me understand that it wasn't about what I liked musically that was important. My job was to find music that worked for the program. While i enjoy the music that I play on KFOG, my personal musical preferences are quite different. I play the Goo Goo Dolls at work and Thelonious Monk at home.
Rick: I love the story about how you broke into radio in the first place. Would you mind telling the story about your high school newspaper, and how that led to your radio career?
Benson: When I was a senior in high school, I wrote an article about the new "underground" radio station that had just appeared on the FM dial in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. (In 1971 it was a revelation to hear Jimi Hendrix and Savoy Brown and Phil Ochs coming out of your radio.) So, I talked my way into the station to interview the program director, Stryder - the whole staff had names like that: Croyd, Riff, etc. Well, at the end of the interview, Stryder invited me to visit the station anytime I felt like it. I came back the next day...and kept coming back until they hired me for the midnight to 2am shift on WIBA-FM. I became the station's first music director and, eventually, the program director.
Rick: You've been out of the market here now for fifteen years or so. What do you miss about Chicago?
Benson: The Bucket of Suds, long-legged women in red dresses crossing Michigan Avenue on hot Saturday nights, the Park West, Nick's Bar, the bleachers at Wrigley, Lake Shore Drive, Clayhead, the Jazz Workshop, May, June & July, The Billy Goat, Michael Jordan and the Bulls 1991-1993, my hair...
Benson: WXRT was and is a charming anachronism. The station is the physical manifestation of Norm Winer's (photo) brain; a sincere, intelligent, well-intentioned, erratic, musical mess. The station's format - the actual directions that the announcers were supposed to follow to avoid Norm's wrath - had never actually been written down. It was an arcane, oral tradition passed along from announcer to announcer like verses from the Talmud. It was a blast! The last bastion of commercial radio where the announcers chose all the music for their shows. I am very grateful and proud of the time I got to spend within the confines of that funky little dump of a building on west Belmont Street.One afternoon, I called Norm Winer up from the payphone in the bleachers at Wrigley Field and told him I was leaving WXRT and going to work for the dreaded Loop. Norm told me I was a traitor and a fool. I made the move from west Belmont to Michigan Avenue and it was a whole new world. I wish I could give you just one "fond" memory of those years, but there were so many wild and, frankly, unmentionable stories from those years...like that Christmas Party at the Hunt Club where the sales department decided it would be funny to splice in scenes from gay porno flicks into the station's year end promotional video...Greg Solk managed to keep the lid on the place, but just barely.
Rick: I remember that Christmas party. I want to say it was 1987 or 1988.
Benson: That was the Loop. The list of talented and/or crazy people all under one roof was amazing. Steve & Garry (photo), Johnny B, Kevin Matthews, Bob Stroud, Bobby Skafish, Patti Haze, Chet Coppock, Ed Schwartz, Tony Fitzpatrick, Wendy Snyder, Stan Lawrence, John Fisher, Sandy Stahl, Bill Evans, Buzz Kilman...Rick: But you always held your own. In a station filled with razor sharp tongues walking the hallways everyday, I always thought you were the razor-tongueyist (yes, I know that's not a real word). Did that ever get you in trouble?
Benson: It was nearly impossible to get in trouble for saying something outrageous at the Loop. My God, Steve Dahl called Wally Phillips an "ass wipe," on the air! Working at the Loop required that you be ready to defend your turf, verbally or otherwise, at any moment.
Rick: At one point, you and Bob Stroud were roommates. I always pictured the two of you as Felix and Oscar. Is that an accurate description? Do you have any good Bob Stroud stories from those days?
Benson: It is the perfect characterization. Bob (photo) is, how do you say...fussy? And, I was, well, less fussy in those days. We went on a two week roadtrip to Florida - via New York City - in a flesh colored station wagon with fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. I brought a gym bag and a copy of Kerouac's "Dharma Bums." Bob brought 4 pieces of luggage including one suitcase devoted entirely to shoes. Bob Stroud saved my life once or twice and I am eternally grateful for his patience and his friendship through the years.Rick: By the way, I asked Stroud about you--and he told me a story about a Korean restaurant, and said 'If anyone in Florida ever says they love Lyrnryd Skynryd, Benson will tell you what he really thinks.'
Benson: Yeah, someone served us collie meat in a Korean restaurant in North Park one night. We thought we were in a Chinese restaurant...stupid white guys. And, I got knocked off a barstool in Florida one afternoon by telling some redneck that Molly Hatchet couldn't carry Lynyrd Skynyrd's jockstrap.
Rick: People may not realize that you and Greg Solk were the guys behind the music at the Loop in the late 80s and early 90s. You've been programming stations ever since. How has your music programming philosophy changed over the years?
Benson: Greg taught me a lot about radio. He grew up in a radio station and has nearly infallible instincts about programming and how to manage talent. He was also one of the rare program directors who could actually verbalize what sort of music he wanted the station to play and to look for. It made the music director's job so much easier. And, it helped me understand that it wasn't about what I liked musically that was important. My job was to find music that worked for the program. While i enjoy the music that I play on KFOG, my personal musical preferences are quite different. I play the Goo Goo Dolls at work and Thelonious Monk at home.
Rick: I love the story about how you broke into radio in the first place. Would you mind telling the story about your high school newspaper, and how that led to your radio career?
Benson: When I was a senior in high school, I wrote an article about the new "underground" radio station that had just appeared on the FM dial in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. (In 1971 it was a revelation to hear Jimi Hendrix and Savoy Brown and Phil Ochs coming out of your radio.) So, I talked my way into the station to interview the program director, Stryder - the whole staff had names like that: Croyd, Riff, etc. Well, at the end of the interview, Stryder invited me to visit the station anytime I felt like it. I came back the next day...and kept coming back until they hired me for the midnight to 2am shift on WIBA-FM. I became the station's first music director and, eventually, the program director.
Rick: You've been out of the market here now for fifteen years or so. What do you miss about Chicago?
Benson: The Bucket of Suds, long-legged women in red dresses crossing Michigan Avenue on hot Saturday nights, the Park West, Nick's Bar, the bleachers at Wrigley, Lake Shore Drive, Clayhead, the Jazz Workshop, May, June & July, The Billy Goat, Michael Jordan and the Bulls 1991-1993, my hair...
Next Week: Ed Tyll
