well-known faces in the community who rapidly became In 1997 KREM received its biggest accolade by becoming
very best friends with their listeners.
Spokane’s highest rated top 40 radio station, beating out
the attendant leading station KJRB, which had held that
Amid this flurry of Inland Northwest excitement, Spokane position for the previous two decades.
acquired the nickname of “The All American City” and
proud native Rob decided to honor this by unwittingly These increased ratings gave the ever-eager Rob Harder
creating a nickname of his very own. He announced on air ample leverage to apply for work at larger radio markets
that he was going to eat an apple pie for breakfast, drive outside Spokane and beyond the Inland Northwest. He
to work in a Chevrolet, and get dressed up in a 6 foot bun spent several months working at stations in Portland Ore-
and become Spokane’s human hot dog! This he dutifully gon and Seattle, filling in temporarily for vacationing DJs.
did, and from that moment on that quirky name stuck with Rob eventually succeeded in being offered a full time po-
him, and even to this day many loyal listeners insist on sition as their live midday DJ, at Seattle’s celebrated KING
calling Rob “Hot Dog Harder”! It’s a title that makes him top 40 station in 1978.
grin broadly every time he hears it!
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