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tent . But you , left on your own , say , during the pandemic , seem like you could go pretty dark and reflective . Did you ? JR : Well , I got anxious . And we all got anxious , I believe . So yeah , it got weird . And it felt like , “ What is going to happen ?” We were in such an unknown , uncharted sort of place . And I felt like , “ Oh , my God – what if I never get to do this again ? What if everything that I ’ ve worked for is just gone because of this ?” Because we kept canceling tours , you know ? Because you couldn ’ t tour . So it got a little anxiety-provoking . But we put together the Christmas record , which was a lot of fun , and then the Rarities record . I decided , “ Well , you ’ d better get busy ,” so we were creating little bubbles to work in . And we actually ended up having an enormous amount of output in that period of time , and in retrospect , I still have almost a whole other album ’ s worth of material that ’ s not finished . But it ’ s just like … I dunno . I just had this creative burst . And I was only able to finish those 10 or 11 songs , but I still have another 10 or 12 that I ’ m still working on . But I had to put ‘ em aside because it was like , “ Yo , man – you need to put another record out and you need to go work . And I was producing , which I really enjoyed .
IE : And you know your sound pretty well by now , so why not , right ? JR : And I think I wanted to recapture more of our sound on this record . And one of the things that I really , really wanted to do was get the interplay between the drums and the bass , and either a piano or a guitar , live because there ’ s a push and a pull in the rhythmic sort of pattern , you know ? And most of the time , when people make records now on the computer , you cut everything , so it fits into these neat little boxes . And I didn ’ t want to do that – I wanted the record to … swing a little bit . And the only way that that happens is when people play in the same room together . So I didn ’ t want it to be an assembly-line project . And when I said , “ Fuck it – I ’ m gonna do this myself ,” it was because I wanted the time and the space and the patience that only I can give myself to create and really get into the DNA of a recording studio And use it like another instrument .
IE : What I hear in the song “ War ,” ironically , is U2 , and it ’ s a U2-huge anthem . And “ past Mistakes ,” which is Robby ’ s song , sounds like classic Will Sergeant / Echo and the Bunnymen in the guitar work . JR : Well , I was listening to a ton of Echo and the Bunnymen and The Chameleons . And that ’ s where the title comes from – The Chameleons . There ’ s a line in one of their songs about the chaos in bloom . And I love that band . And I was listening to Oasis and The Who , a lot of old music . You know that guy [ The Animals keyboardist ] Alan Price ? He did a song called “ O Lucky Man !,” from the movie of the same name , and man ! That is so good . “ If you find a reason to live on and
24 illinoisentertainer . com august 2022 not to die , you are a lucky man .” It ’ s like , fuck ! That ’ s some heavy shit . It ’ s just so good , and he was a very brilliant guy . And I was listening to some Springsteen , things that just felt … things that just struck a nerve . Old Gang of Four records , like Entertainment . And then the lyrical content was really kind of reflective of what was going on . I mean , I have a song that is literally called “ Going Crazy .” And what ’ s that about ? It ’ s about me going crazy ! And how I need to get out of my house or I ’ m gonna lose my mind ! I need to interact with other humans again .
IE : But the riffs on “ Going Crazy ” are just crunchy , powerchord punk . Your classic old sound . JR : Yeah . And it was fun to experiment with some old amps and old pedals . I have a crazy collection of old vintage recording equipment , and it ’ s fun to use that . And we recorded most of the album analog to tape , and it all winds up getting dumped into a computer at some point , just because of necessity . But I really believe that there ’ s something magical about the sound of analog , you know ? There ’ s not just warmth – there ’ s noise . It ’ s mechanical . It ’ s something that is created mechanically .
IE : And when you sing “ Met the queen of generation fame ,” Is there someone specific you had in mind ? JR : Nah . I just made the story up . I was thinking , “ Wow – all these people get famous , and they become influencers , but for what ? What are you famous for ? But then you get a taste for that life , and the guy in the story becomes sort of enamored with that whole thing , but then he realizes , “ This is not the real world . But I want it .”
IE : And you actually have a cool Taylor Swift connection . JR : Yeah . We performed “ Iris ” together . And she is a very smart woman .
IE : Full disclosure ? I ’ m the outlier – I have no social media presence , no Facebook , no Instagram , and no Twitter . I am not " followed ." I never saw rock journalism as a dialogue . JR : I pay a guy to take care of my social media accounts . Because I don ’ t wanna deal with that shit . I used to deal with Twitter , but then people felt like they had the right to comment on my wife . And my daughter . And it ’ s like , “ Fuck you . No . No , that is not part of the contract that I have with you , with the public . My contract with the public is , I will give you music , I will play my ass off for you live , I will sign an autograph , I will shake your hand , I will take a picture , and I will thank you truly , sincerely , from the bottom of my heart , for supporting me . But when you feel like you have the right to discuss my private life ? You ’ ve stepped over the line . And that ’ s why I got off of there . I had a conversation with a writer who was particularly brutal to us – and this was a long time ago , it was in the late ‘ 90s , and he was a freelance-type guy . And I said to him , “ What do you get paid to write an article about me ? Like $ 200 , $ 300
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F
or DJ Bob Stroud always loved radio , but before he launched his legendary radio career that lasted five decades and ended with his semi-retirement a few weeks ago , he was honing his delivery elsewhere . “ I did three years of dinner theater in Florida ,” he explains . “ I started out just working tech because you had to have an equity card , and I eventually got one . I did shows with Mickey Rooney , Gavin MacLeod , Bill Dailey from the Newhart show , and DonAmeche . I ironed Don Ameche ’ s shirts ! How many people are you going to talk to that ironed Don Ameche ’ s shirts for dinner theater ?”
His jump from theater to radio obviously worked out . Stroud has been nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame for the past two years . He credits all of the greats he worked with influencing his career , but there were two voices from his youth that had the most significant impact on him . “ The DJ that sent me on the course to where I am is Dick Biondi ,” he says . “ It was so important in my life - sixth grade , living in Kalamazoo , a friend of mine said , ‘ Have you heard this disc jockey named Dick Biondi on WLS in Chicago ? He ’ s crazy .’ I went home that night and listened , and it changed my life . The other guy who I always mention because I thought he was so brilliant was Ron Britain from WCFL . When I met him the first time , it was like meeting a Beatle for me .”
Because of his childhood love of Chicago radio , Bob knew he was going to the big time when he got his gig at WMET in 1979 . He called an old friend for advice . “ The guy who owned the first radio station I worked for in Sarasota said , ‘ the first thing I ’ d do is clean yourself up and get a haircut . Buy a new set of clothes .’ So , I got a haircut and bought a whole new set of Calvin Klein clothes . Looked like something out of GQ . Stepped off the airplane here in Chicago , and here ’ s a bunch of greasy long-haired satin-jacketwearing radio thugs waiting for me . My first thought was ‘ Uh oh .’”
It got even more interesting when he met the management . “ I was introduced to ( general manager ) Harvey Pearlman the first day I got to WMET . The next morning I was walking down the hallway , and I said , “ Good morning Mr . Pearlman .” He replied , “ Fuck you , Stroud .” I went into the PD ’ s office and told him what happened , and he told me that the next time he says , ‘ Fuck you , Stroud ,’ reply , ‘ Fuck you , Harvey .’ So , the next time it happened the same way . I replied , ‘ Fuck you , Harvey .” He stopped , looked at me with a big smile on his face , and extended his hand and said , ‘ Put it there , Stroud !’”
Stroud ’ s stint at WMET didn ’ t last as long as his time at the Loop or the Drive , but it did launch the program that has been his signature ever since , Rock and Roll Roots .
By Rick Kaempfer
42 YEARS OF THE STROUD CROWD
“ I ’ ve been doing Roots now 42 years . They knew I loved that ‘ 60s era and told me to pick out songs from that time we could get away with on a kick-ass rock and roll station like WMET . The first few times , I got calls from people saying stuff like , ‘ Did your mother teach you how to pick music ?’ That ’ s the way it started , and now it ’ s been on WMET , the Loop , AM 1000 , CD 94.7 , WXRT , and the Drive .”
As crazy as Bob ’ s time was at WMET , he walked into an even bigger circus at the Loop just a few years later . “ Everybody from all walks of the entertainment business came to that radio station ,” he says . “ Milton Berle . Robert Plant .
Bob Stroud
Richard Lewis . Jimmy Webb . Every rock star you can think of . TV stars . Movie stars . I was on the air down the hall at the same time as Kevin Matthews ( The Loop AM ) every day . One day a bunch of the Chicago Bears , like Steve McMichael and Kevin Butler , and a few others came into the studio and duct-taped Kevin to the chair , then duct-taped his mouth , and wheeled him into the hallway and into the elevator and walked down Michigan Avenue .”
For the last 20 + years of his career , Stroud has helmed the midday show at [ 97.1 FM ] the Drive . The station ’ s relationship with its listeners is unique , and Bob has a theory about why that is . “ Props to ( original Drive program director ) Greg Solk ,” he says . “ He just sat us all down and said this is how we ’ re going to approach this . We are going to respect the music . In the beginning , for the first few years , we didn ’ t even do promotions . It was a radio station without a promotion department . It ’ s evolved over the years , but there ’ s something in the DNA that has remained the same . It might just be as simple as using the late Nick Michaels , the voice guy we ’ ve used since the beginning . He ’ s as much a part of the success of the radio station as any disc jockey or program director .”
One disc jockey , who is too humble to admit it , also had a giant impact on that station . He may have semi-retired at the end of June , but Bob Stroud can still be heard every weekday for the special features 10 at 10 , and One 45 at 1:45 , and every weekend for his long-running show Rock and Roll Roots .