There was a stretch of Twin Cities morning radio which was so obscenely good, it drove me and hundreds of other Minnesota kids to Brown Tech (now Brown College) to get a broadcasting degree, just so we could plead for a chance to be part of it. It was 1986 and morning radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul was nirvana.
A lot of stations pop to mind from back then, and many are considered legendary in Minnesota and US broadcasting history: WCCO, KQRS (with the sensational early years of Tom Barnard and Dan Culhane), WLOL, KS95 and more. One station lost to time was KJJO, K-JO 104, the last time KQRS had any real competition in the realm of classic rock. The problem the station had was it was always just a little bit behind KQ, and hence was the station you tuned to when 92 was playing a song you didn't like.
Except for one thing. They aired a wildly popular bit, at least at Edina High School, my senior year, Chickenman! Most people my age and older are very well aware of Chickenman, but for you younger pups; Chickenman was a 1960's radio show from the incredible radio mind of Dick Orkin. Out of Chicago, he revolutionized radio advertisement with his creative and innovative commercials. His voice is one of the greatest ever heard, and he began the Chickenman serial as a spoof of comic book superheroes. The series began in 1966 and ran through 1969 and there were revisitings to the series in the 1970's. It was so good, even in 1986 it was still getting young listeners to religiously tune in.
I remember being in the parking lot at Edina High and waiting with most of the other drivers until K-JO 104 aired it in the morning before heading on into class. I love it still today.
Here are two episodes from the series, and yes, most of them had to do with Chickenman going about his mundane life, as Chickenman. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3j7fjzJvnA
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