He knew you dont talk down to your audience, you speak up to them, and thats when Ron enjoyed his greatest success., Dean added that Chapman helped transform radio in the city into a shining example of what the media can do and should be. In those days KVIL was so big the Postal . He spent 19 years at the Los Angeles Times before returning to Dallas. Between his junior and senior years, he interned at The Washington Post during "the Watergate summer" of 1973. I once wrote Ron Chapman meant more to Dallas radio than electricity. No dice. Nance prayed for her. Jack Woods partnered with Chapman in the early 60s on Gordon McLendons KLIF. Ron Chapman's legendary $20 announcement from March, 1988. Yet beneath that amiable exterior lurk hints of a tyrannical ego, of a man well accustomed to his own success story. In my mind, Chapman continues, I used to picture Mary Tyler Moore. Rhyner, co-founder and sage of the sports-talking Ticket, spent the '70s and '80s just down the FM dial from KVIL at KZEW, where the jocks playedhard(ish) rock while Chapman and his band spun cotton candy. What followed was story after story about Chapman, who started as a DJ in 1953, and his more infamous bits. We are very grateful for the care and compassion he. Says Chapman, Electronically, we dont do much, but we are very conscious of highs. His family received condolences from thousands . . We had to beg them to stop sending checks. This system is awful. So I had just had my jacket cleaned. Ronald Chapman July 23, 2021 Ronald Monroe Chapman, 77, of Jordan, died peacefully in his sleep at 2:32 am on July 23, 2021 while at home surrounded by his loving family. 1 forever. Ron Chapman, a Dallas - Fort Worth radio legend, has died at the age of 85, according to CBS 11 KTVT in DFW. He also hosted a televised series from Northpark Center in the 1960's for a three-year stint. KVIL-FM, born in Highland Park on August 25, 1961,died, officially, on Jan. 18, 2017. Chapman was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. But, quite frankly, we werent real excited about learning it at the time.. 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM PDT. So he comes to me, and I open the mic. RIP Ron Chapman. RON CHAPMAN ANDERSON - Ronald Ray Chapman, 67, of Anderson, died Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at Rainey Hospice House. I just never mellowed out. Chapman admits. Ron would fairly often show up while I was on the air to go in a studio and record a promo that might run overnight, only to plug something that was going to be on his show. He said, Well, its something. I tell people this story, and they think its one of those urban legends. CBS News Texas: Free 24/7 News; . Then the man loaned him enough money to buy a ticket. I noticed that they would feature me dancing a lot on the show. Ive got a speech at the Board of Realtors this morning, and Im getting my hair done., And I said, Hes giving me a real nice blow job., Oh, Lord. Chapman has seen twenty years worth of six-month wonders come and then go. There will be no service, however a "public gathering for friends and colleagues" is being planned at this time. This time, the gala planners were prepared; the system had been checked and rechecked by technicians. And now. Especially this woman right here., And Brad says, Well, how about if we start the play and say, The quarterback comes up to the line of scrimmage. That was his job to make that station great. We had this little kinkajou honey bear. EYE descending now, deeper into the warmth and coziness; the voice says Yes, my dearest, you are almost home, safe and warm here with me, with us, ELLLLLLLLLvery low and smoky-warm, like embers in the fireplace and sleeping babies in rooms with duckies on the wall, like hearth and home and cows dozing in the barn, and maybe a comforter over your legs on a winter evening, Not too long ago, Ron Chapman received a postcard. After 45 years in radio, Ron Chapman retired from his morning show on June 24, 2005. Gratefully I accepted, and drove off in his North Dallas wheels while they towed my Fort Worth bomb away. He was born in Pittsburg, in East Texas and was raised in East Dallas -- in the area that is now District 5 -- where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. It almost looked like a squirrel. They filmed it. who served as KVILs newsman for a couple of years during the early Seventies, Chapman is obsessed with his work. CBS Radio has rebranded 103.7 on Your FM Dial as the Amp, a moniker also bestowed upon energy drinksand vitamins that promise "alean, ripped physique." And this is, like, in the 80s. DALLAS - Three-time Texas Radio Hall-of-Famer and Dallas radio legend Ron Chapman died on Monday. But it doesnt mean that I wont stick my heel in your throat. Walton and Johnson. KVIL wasso named for its original HQ in the Highland Park Village, after Charles Meeks acquired a broadcast license from the feds to open up shop in 1958. Chapman knows how to be reassuring to women who are fighting an uphill battle day after day. Chapman had already carved out a legend as one-half of Charlie & Harrigan on KLIF. Chapman joined KVIL in 1969 where he would remain a fixture for 32 years. In a 1985 issue ofBillboard, the music industry's trade publication, a radio consultant called it "dominant" -- "the best-run radio station in Dallas" among a pile of worthy contenders, including K104. He is the chairman of Southwest Airlines. He was so popular in Dallas in the 70s, 80s and 90s that his station, KVIL, sold for more than the Dallas Cowboys. As she perfected her skills, the dean of Dallas radio, Ron Chapman, hired her at KVIL-AM/FM as News Director alongside his other show members: Suzy Humphries, Len Mailoux, Andy McCollum, and Larry . When the show aired its final broadcast, Chapman played as its swan song Turn! Nevertheless, she also has to be in between her late '70s and early '80s. No sexism, period. Some 12,000 did, and KVIL donated $240,000 to charity. And this was totally not intended. But Chapmans vaunted ego and his famed temper have only enhanced his hold on the Dallas radio market. We edited it out. Dallas, Texas 75201. On the mike, butter wouldnt melt in his mouth. Ron actually holds up a picture that hed cut out of a JCPenney catalog. Ron was one of those guys who made this a better place to live.. He always has some grand scheme bubbling up to the surface, she says, and hes always looking for some way to convince the rest of us that its a good idea. Go ahead and ask me whatever you want. Put on your walking shoes. About 20 years ago, Id barely started working at KVIL and was the overnight deejaythe lowest life form in radio, with an equivalent lifestyle. We dont do that here. Here are a few other stories about Chapmans career, told by those who knew and worked with the legend. We just hit. Then ten to midnight. He was always very, very kind. Im paying you to write! #1. Be sure to wear a hat. In 1969, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort . Im rough to work for. I never brought it up with him, either. In terms of logistics and creativity, hes a towering genius. Legendary Dallas DJ Ron . Theyll still be talking about that twenty years from now. And she looks so good by the time she gets to the office, she had to be up by 5:30. Chapman liked to say he was a poor kid who grew up behind a grocery store, which his father owned in his native Haverhill, Mass. Ron Chapman was born on January 25, 1936 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. blackpool north pier fishing permit; bradley cooper parents; best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment First published on April 26, 2021 / 11:54 AM. I know something the others havent figured out.. At one point, Chapman broadcast live while skydiving from a plane. And one night in March 1981, KVIL radio legend Ron Chapman walked into Billy Bob's. "And I walked up to Chapman and I said, 'I'm going to come work for you,' " Dean said. When he started hosting SumpN Else, I was a kid, and we loved to dance, and I would go over there to dance. Thats what we started doing. Ron.. Anyway, I was holding this animal on my shoulder, on my freshly cleaned jacket, and it got a little excited. He was so popular in Dallas in the 70s, 80s and 90s that his station, KVIL, sold for more than the Dallas Cowboys. Its what youd get if God had money, Nance says. He was just a wonderful, wonderful guy., And yet, on a professional level, Chapmans reputation carried with it a darker side. Suite 2100 Ron Chapman is a dazzlingly entertaining intellect who has refreshed my life for 25 years with his insightful wit and unerring eye for the quixotic vagaries of the human kind. Ron Chapman Obituary KVIL - Death : DFW Radio Legend Died: Funeral - KVIL and DFW Radio legend, Ron Chapman died aged 85, on April, 26th, 2021, with. So Chapman is now going to teach Brad and me how we should broadcast a football game to appeal to his target audience women. Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth as morning . The Texas Radio Hall of Fame says "his family asks for time to process this loss, and thanks you for your kindness, understanding and prayers. Ron Chapman received an obituary from the KVIL community. Net Worth Inspector Menu. So we hit the air, and Ron got it. The radio industry took to social media to reflect on Chapman's life and career. He had this real, real long tongue, and it could get into the bottle. We were in the groove together. "It was what it was when it was. Though nobodyrepeat, nobodywants to take on Ron Chapman in public (even his roast at the Dallas Press Club last year was a three-hour valentine), friends and foes alike admit to a powerful fear of the man. . KVIL tried to take on powerhouse KLIF-AM in the late 1960s; on 4/17/1967, they changed to a Top 40, "solid rock sound" format (formerly a talk/music format,) and renamed all of their jocks "Dave" to emphasize their 'David . One of his greatest talents is picking people, knowing where they fit, where they go.They gave me a little yellow van, and I drove it myself. Our thoughts and hearts are with his frien - 2 years ago. According to Littauer, Chapmans massive energy manifested itself during his youth in a series of class-clown pranks. - Click to. Everyone I knew went to college. He did not. Hes like the man who juggles chain saws while singing Verdi. Didnt think about it until after I handed the keys back to him. And because he spanned KLIF and "Sump'n Else" to KVIL -- he WAS the history of Dallas radio . Bring walking sticks. Shes divorced, and may have a kid at home that shes sole support for. Chapman moved to KVIL a decade later, after the station briefly flirted with Top 40 in an attempt to topple the mighty KLIF. Ron Chapman was born on 25 January 1936 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. The longtime host of KVIL died in April 2021 at the age of 85. And you were supposed to live up to them. Imagine working in a situation for five or six years where your first question every day had to be, What kind of moods he in today?, Tony Garrett got a dose of it too, though he took it philosophically. Yeah, he would. But KVIL, four letters that decorated 100,000 Dallasites' car bumpers during one notable 1982 promotion,shouldn't be allowed to vanish without a proper eulogy. "And when he left, that was it.". I tell them, you cant do that. It was, after all, the city's top radio station for years, throughout the 1970s and '80s and even into the '90s, when it was finally capsized by country radio. A little egotistical, perhaps. Chapmans cohorts speak of having to walk a very fine line; remaining clever and at least half-witty without ever being more clever than Ron. 750 North St.Paul St. Chapman's booming voice is now a shadow of its former self, the result of a stroke suffered just before Christmas in 2012. And I want you to know that Leonard jerked the plug out from the wall. And it was Chapman who ran every single nutty promo in the station's stories history, among them a scavenger hunt that involved hidden tape recorders, secret messages and, eventually, a Braniff International Airways ticket to Hawaii. It wont work for you.. Were keeping you on the payroll through October. If shed said, I f-ed up, Im on the team, shed be here still. There will be NO service, but a public gathering of friends and colleagues is being planned.". We tell them, Heres the concept. Maybe for forty-eight hours, max. Jan 3, 2017. There will never be another run like his. If someone leaves KVIL and wants, a year later, to work for Y-95, and theyve just been in the Dallas Observer calling me a, uh, you -fill- in-the-blanks, well, they know better than to call me for references.. Jason Kidd hopes Mavs star stays patient in preseason play, Spring training cuts are incoming, but these Rangers prospects have impressed in camp. He did not see the humor in it. Baby, it's cold outside. And some who have shown too much personality, critics charge, get the ax. RIP to a #NTX legend," wrote Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins, in a tweet on April 26. Catch up on the day's news you need to know. Tags. And he says, This is your audience. Ill never forget it. The station is branded as "Alt 103.7" and airs an alternative rock radio format. He is an amalgamation of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, a warm, fuzzy presence who intrudes benignly into the consciousness of hundreds of thousands of women every morning. A unique soul with a great personality has an amazing sense of humour, diligent and caring. But later, using his real surname, Chapman became an even bigger personality. The Left Hand of God is Fort Worth. I can tell you that little secret and know the competition will pick up on it, and theyll work on it. Next to it is a portable telephone, complementing cellular phones in his and Nances cars. Even in a social setting, conversation revolves around radio and the show and the things that are, for other people, rather peripheral., Chapman says he has always had to be aggressive because back in the early days, the ratings were so low that they didnt even show up on Arbitron. Many years later, both of their first marriages ended (Chapman divorced in 1982) and Ron and Nance began seeing each other, but again, just as friends. Industry critics say that while Chapman is full-tilt today, he is not really doing much to prepare his station for Life After Ron. He said, Thats the second time youve used that item and its the last! Knowing Ron over the years has been an adventure. Within three days listeners had sent in more that $240,000. He was an actor, known for Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (1979). Im sitting there, and Im cracking up. An announcement in this newspaper heralded his arrival, along with the promise that KVIL would play music that was "always in good taste, but contemporary in all ways" -- a rather unwieldy slogan. Ron Chapman joined KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth in 1969 as morning disc jockey, music director, and program director, and stayed there for 31 years. There was dead air for, like, 10 seconds. Okay, so were in a commercial break. And thats the way Ron was. Ron has never been much for physical labor, says Littauer, so he stood there nodding and saying, Mm-hmmm and very good, very good, while the sergeant gave jobs to the rest of the men. He was the Dean of Dallas/Fort Worth Radio spending 31 years hosting the morning show at KVIL, most of those in the number one position. Chapman returned to the states in 1959, took a radio job in New Haven, Connecticut, and then, when a co-worker landed a job with KLIF in Dallas, Chapman went alongat $175 a week, more than double his Connecticut salary. I now think about retiring. (The money was later distributed to local charities.) Now, its someone I found out of Kim Dawson headshots. We could go AOR. The people who dont understand the program., A recent case in point, says Chapman, was the popular evening jock Lynn Haley, who was dismissed in early August. He is best known as the morning drive anchor of radio station KVIL, on the 103.7 frequency. Ron Chapman Death - Obituary, Funeral, Cause Of Death Just heard radio legend Ron Chapman has died. In one infamous stunt, Chapman told his listeners to each send $20 to the station; within three days, the station had received $200,000 (the money was donated to charity). They had no bathtub, no phone, no family car. KVIL is a commercial radio station dual-licensed to Highland Park and Dallas, Texas. In 1959, a 23-year-old up-and-coming disc jockey from Haverhill, Mass., took on the role of morning co-host for a . Talk about a cush gig. Michael Granberry, Arts Writer. That's a very sad commentary on the times. But KVIL saw a huge, underserved demographic: women listeners between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four account for some 22 percent of the Dallas/Fort Worth radio market. The Zoo crew used to regard KVIL's mushy adult-contemporary playlist as a punchline. Ralph Chapman passed away on May 4, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. And yet, he would never ask me to be one of the [featured] dancers. The guy would give you the shirt off his back. Steve Eberhart was a deejay at KVIL. Thats reflective of some pretty strong public service. Chapman says. Ron Chapman Was a Warm and Fuzzy Tyrant. Chapman is not just guessing at what his audience wants to hear He is downright methodical about it. But Chapman says that the first time Haley went on the air after the deal was struck, She was dreadful. In 1969, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth as morning disc jockey, music director, and program director, bringing the "adult contemporary" format to FM radio. Chapman rounded out the 1960s by joining the staff of KVIL-FM in 1969, when AM radio was yielding the spotlight to the purer sound of FM stations. His family is asking for time right now to process the loss and thanks the community for their "kindness, understanding and prayers.". Also, his people say that his expectations for others are not nearly as high as those he imposes on himself. We never worked in the studio together, for 20 years. "Dallas radio legend Ron Chapman dies at 85. The organization said no service will be held for Chapman, but a public gathering of friends and colleagues is planned. He ended up following Chapman at KLUV in 2005. Trusted friend and colleague Jody Dean does not disagree, comparing Chapman to 1960s coaching legend Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to multiple championships as an unyielding taskmaster. Ive had two scoops of everything, Chapman likes to say. But she never did., Coast to coast, when a radio stationbegins considering a format change, radio insiders say, the list of options goes like this: We could go country. Then by the following Tuesday, youre just gone. Its on the far back burner, but I think about it. Im talking to a thirty-year-old female. The Radio Hall of Famer died at the age of 85 by leading an exemplary life being the pioneer of radio hosting in the country. The Morning Guys on Y-95. According tohia bio posted at the Radio HOF website, Ron Chapman's radio career began in 1953the day he graduated from high schoolwhen he became a disc jockey at station WHAV/Haverhill, MA. He is best known as the morning drive anchor of radio station KVIL, on the 103.7 frequency. Info. You know, because Id just paid to have the jacket cleaned.