CHICAGO RADIO ARCHIVES
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ou may not be familiar with Don Beno ’ s radio career , although he had a long one with extended stays in the Chicago area at stations like WJOL ( Joliet ), WCFL ( Morris , IL ), The Bus ( Kankakee ), and WLS-FM . But if you are on Facebook and are interested in classic radio , you ’ ve probably seen Don ’ s work . He is a curator and administrator for a very popular Facebook page : Chicago Radio Archives and Memories . His page posts great old airchecks ( on-air DJ tapes ), photos , music surveys , and more from radio ’ s golden era of the 60s / 70s / 80s / 90s .
Anyone who has spent time on that page immediately recognizes the size and scope of Don ’ s collection . It ’ s way beyond anything you can imagine . “ I have two thousand airchecks on tape ,” he admits , “ another 500 on CD , hours and hours of videotape , and four zip drives of old interviews .”
How did he acquire such an extensive collection ? “ I rolled audiotape whenever I could ,” he says . “ Even when I was radio . There was a place in Des Plaines that sold hundred-packs of cassettes . I was always taping . A lot of people who do this concentrate on the big guys , but I concentrated on anyone I could tape , and it didn ’ t matter where or who it was . It could be a little station in Geneva , an FM from Valpo ; as long as the signal was good , I would tape it , mark down who the jock was , and what was on the tape . Anytime there was something on the television news about radio , I would roll tape on that too . Bob Sirott did a lot of segments on Chicago radio . He also did a great piece on West 57th about contest pigs . I have all of that stuff .”
That mention of “ people who do this ” might have caught your eye . Is that really a thing ? Absolutely . Art Vuolo is known as Radio ’ s Best Friend . He lives outside Ann Arbor , Michigan , and has been traveling around the country videotaping radio personalities doing their shows for decades . His collection also includes the extensive radio archives of another former “ aircheck collector ,” Tim Benko ( who passed away in 1999 ). “ We used to sell these airchecks in Radio & Records ,” Don explains . “ It obviously wasn ’ t a big money maker . I made enough money to cover the ad , the postage , and my cassettes , but I didn ’ t make much more than that . On the other hand , this collection did eventually lead to the Facebook page .”
Don ’ s page isn ’ t even the only one about Chicago radio on Facebook . He was inspired to do his page by seeing others . “ I discovered the WCFL page first ,” Don says . “ And that ’ s where I started contributing stuff . Then a WLS page popped up . And Marty Zivin started the Chicago Radio Page . Leslie Harris and Scott Childers carried it on after Marty passed .”
And there was stuff that was even geekier .,“ There are a lot of radio pages that show pictures of control rooms , and I suppose that has an interest to some . But most people in radio don ’ t get into long discussions about the exact type of equipment they used or who made their control board . Or a transmitter site . The engineering types love that , but again that ’ s not really my interest .”
So what is it about Chicago Radio Archives and Memories that is different from the others ? “ I wanted a meaningful dialogue . I listen to all of these old airchecks now with a different ear , and I ’ m fascinated about how and why things were done . Why didn ’ t Steve & Garry go to mornings at WLS ? Why did Larry Lujack go to afternoons
John “ Records ” Landecker at AM 890 WLS 1970s
By Rick Kaempfer
on WCFL ? Formats have come and gone . Why ?
Everyone has a different fascination with radio , and I really wanted to cover all of that . To some people , radio just meant music . But even music stations evolved . You could do a whole thing just on the Loop and how much that changed over the years . It ’ s fun to talk to the people who were there , who might know why those changes were made . On my page , it ’ s like I ’ m doing my own little talk show on Facebook .”
And Beno contends that current radio people should check it out as well . “ A lot of good things done in the past aren ’ t duplicated today , and they just might be worth looking over , especially for program directors . The time may be right for these ideas again .” Beno even programs the page like a radio programmer might “ I post only a few things a day , whether it ’ s an old WLS or WCFL survey , and an aircheck of someone , or an interview . I try to keep it current with the correct time of year . I don ’ t overdo one station or personality . I space things out . I try to keep it interesting all the time , whether it ’ s a Bob Collins DJ demo or something else . It could be from radio stations that are long gone or stations that are still thriving . That ’ s the fun of it . I post things from as far north as Kenosha . As far south as Kankakee . Out west by Dekalb . East into Northwest Indiana . And of course , those famous stations in Chicago metro .”
Talking to Don is like talking to a bundle of enthusiasm . As long as that lasts , the Chicago Radio Memories and Archives Facebook page will too . “ I still have the desire ,” Don says . “ I still think it ’ s fun .” november 2022 illinoisentertainer . com 19