But certainly not unrealistic. He spent more than three decades at KVIL, toiling as a morning deejay, music director and program director, transforming the adult contemporary format into a major success on the FM band. 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM PDT. Im paying you to write! Chapman had done the Charley and Harrigan show on KLIF during the Sixties (Chapman went by Irving Harrigan then) and had hosted Sumpn Else, a low-budget local version of American Bandstand on Channel 8. And you were supposed to live up to them. Dean later called it a dream come true. Chapman thought that was funny. He did not see the humor in it. I hand it to Ron, and the little guy hops on Rons shoulder, and when the lights come up, you know, animals react. According to Littauer, Chapmans massive energy manifested itself during his youth in a series of class-clown pranks. He remained at KVIL-FM for 32 years, serving as program director, music director, promotion director and morning personality. RIP Ron Chapman. We decided we would keep Fort Worth, and treat her like the lady that she is. @RGreggHart : A giant of Dallas-Fort Worth radio, Ron Chapman, has died at 85. Suite 2100 Trust me, Chapman didnt laugh at all. There will be NO service, but a public gathering of friends and colleagues is being planned.". Thats what we started doing. 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. . RIP Ron pic.twitter.com . In 1968, Chapman joined a team that purchased KVIL-FM, a station known for pioneering the Adult Contemporary (AC) format. By KLTV Digital Media Staff. His hard-scrabble experience inspired him to say, Ill show them. And his broadcasting career accomplished exactly that he showed them. "And when he left, that was it.". "They should have changed the call letters the day he left," said Jody Dean, who joined KVIL in 1982 and served as Chapman's producer before replacing him on the morning show. I cannot say I will miss KVIL, mostly because I haven't listened to it in years -- couldn't tell you its format since, oh, 1985? The center is the guy who is bending over with the football.. But I got my bucketful of him a long time ago. I just never mellowed out. Chapman admits. The Emperor is in his tower . *To hear some classic clips of Chapman from the old KLIF days, go to www.reelradio.com/se and www.historyofklif.com. And I was going to run faster, work harder, get street-smarter. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Broadcasting great Ron Chapman, who introduced himself to Dallas radio in 1959 under the pseudonym of Irving Harrigan on AM pioneer KLIF, and who elevated his legend after more than 30 years at KVIL-FM and another five at KLUV-FM, died Monday of natural causes. FACE FOR RADIO: Chapman hosted a popular TV show. It would be rude not to let Ron Chapman give it a proper send-off. If he thought you had an iota of talent, and you wound up on that station, then the expectations for you were enormous. 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. He remained at KVIL-FM for 32 years, serving as program . And this is, like, in the 80s. And we ran an electric cord out to the van, and while Im on the air with Ron, Im having my hair done. KVIL was always my mom's station, hogging up most of the pre-sets in the '76 Cordoba and later the '79 LeBaron station wagon; it was either Ron Chapmanor a Helen Reddy 8-track. Hes the sports anchor on ABC Channel 8. Now, its someone I found out of Kim Dawson headshots. Hes now a news anchor for CBS Channel 11 and will replace Chapman on KLUVs morning show. I'm saddened to tell you that legendary Dallas DJ Ron Chapman has passed away at 85. The individuality, the uniqueness. Robert Wilonsky, Special Contributor. You people dont listen to me, and you are going to lose $100,000 on this auction! When she replied that the auction had never made anywhere near that much, he snapped, Thats why!. Chapman maintains that the station turns down huge amounts of revenue from advertisers who are dying to get at his listeners: Massengill, Preparation H, etc. And guess what? No dice. The feature says Chapman and his wife, Nance, had met at a charity telethon in the late sixties and spent decades as platonic friends before both parties . It was our mascot for the show. Anyway, I was holding this animal on my shoulder, on my freshly cleaned jacket, and it got a little excited. And I want you to know that Leonard jerked the plug out from the wall. But, quite frankly, we werent real excited about learning it at the time.. Nevertheless, she also has to be in between her late '70s and early '80s. He was 85. The hand goes higher above his head: VEE higher now, almost pleading as it keens with the anticipation of all the wonderful, warm, cuddly, sensual things to come. Nance likens her life with Ron to living with P.T. Last time I dialed in for any length was the first day of September2000, whenRon Chapman signed off after a 31-year stint as The Voice of KVIL and, by extension,Dallas radio. I prayed for her to have a lot of success, and I prayed that she get a wonderful starring part-and stay in New York forever.. Chapmans radio station has been number one in Dallas. After I left, there were several attempts to be 'the new KVIL,' but KVIL left such an impressive mark on Dallas that they were neverable to shake this old image of its old people there, me being among them.". Oh, Lord. Ron Chapman was born on 25 January 1936 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. Name another program director or air person of any type anywhere in the country who would come in at 11 oclock and cut a promo thats going to run overnight. For two weeks, while everyone else painted and scraped, he sat in a deck chair and interviewed people to see what their talent was., After Chapman had been in Korea for about a month, he got a parchment scroll commending him for lifting the morale of the troops. Who is available? 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. He likes certain things in certain places. Among the passengers on a March 4 flight out of Hanoi 45 years ago Sunday at the end of the Vietnam War were three Air Force officers who would eventually settle in Northwest Florida. January 20, 2023 by Jacob Pococontons. Here and there, she reveals a snippet about her husband. Chapman says he and Nancy were in excellent health at that point but age was a factor for him wanting to retire. He had this real, real long tongue, and it could get into the bottle. And the 01 Man on KVIL is still saying, aint this great? So Charlie and Harrigan came on and said, Were going to do our hike. The man who sat at the top of the hill, a legend in broadcasting. The guy would give you the shirt off his back. It was Chapman who convinced owners to ditch their paltry AM signal and go with its powerful 100,000-watt signal. Hes like the man who juggles chain saws while singing Verdi. He seems completely oblivious to his subjects, the teeming thousands of Little People trapped and fuming in the traffic below. We had a contest to name the honey bear. It was an itty-bitty bear. After 45 years in radio, Ron Chapman retired from his morning show on June 24, 2005. One infamous incident occurred during last years gala for the National Craniofacial Foundation. But they werent really buying the station. At the haunted house, Chapman took along a producer and equipped her with a microphone. We said, Okay, thats it! According to industry analysts, fellow media, and KVIL employees, former and current, Chapman is a man of planned spontaneity, of freeze-dried warmth. But suppose, suddenly, a rogue meteorite comes falling out of the sky and mashes him into a puddle at the corner of Mockingbird and Central? Longtime North Texas disc jockey Ron Chapman, who spent more than four decades on the air in Dallas-Fort Worth, died Monday. Chapman himself acknowledges his mortality, but only in the vaguest way, putting retirement plans out there some years down the road. 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. And it suddenly became a craze. I can give you failure after failure of people whove come on the air in this market and tried to do that. But its going to be hard to groom someone to replace him when he hogs the limelight and wants all the glory for himself.. Dallas, Texas 75201. He is best known as the morning drive anchor of radio station KVIL, on the 103.7 frequency. "But it's a different world in radio, isn't it?" We could go AOR. But she was the problem., Chapman, who says he agonizes over every firing and tries to help the departed financially, told Haley to find another gig by the end of the year, while challenging her to do better: I told her. "KVIL was so big, so all-encompassing that you never thought it would go away.". So why should you go on the air and tell people who love living here that the town is a piece of crap? Robert Wilonsky, former city columnist for The Dallas Morning News, is communications director for Heritage Auctions and a frequent contributor to these pages. By Emily Jimenez, NewsRadio 1080 KRLD. Suite 2100 The Amp is now playing a handful of pop-radio hits, by the likes of Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift and DJ Snake, over and over and over, ad infinitum. Back then, Chapman says, wed latch on to anything. 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. Chapman is a perfectionist in every way, Nance says. In 2007, he returned to broadcasting part-time as a substitute for radio legend Paul Harvey. Chapman, fifty-three, fell over laughing. A very happy one. While Ron was 85 years old at the time of his death, Nance Chapman's age remains a mystery. Garrett remembers eavesdropping with Chapman on conversations at the local coffee shop or the grocery store, trying to get a feel for what people were talking about. Ronald Edward Chapman. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Deborah Chapman; mother Helen Chapman; twin sister Connie Smith; sons Eric . He graduated from Samuell High School in Pleasant Grove in 1970 and from Southern Methodist University in 1974. And now, it is no longer.". Long before the KLUV World Tour, our travel program began as the KVIL World Tour, pioneered by my parents and Dallas Radio legend Ron Chapman. The guiding light in my life, my operational phrase, was: Ill show em. It wasnt angry. 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.. Ron Chapman Obituary - Death: Ron Chapman Obituary Kvil | Ron Chapman Cause Of Death Ron Chapman Obituary: In the loving memory of Ron Chapman, we are saddened to inform you that Ron Chapman, a. At one point, Chapman broadcast live while skydiving from a plane. I can make her feel good about the day, or I can make her feel crappy about the day, and of course, the choice is to make her feel good. In 1968, Chapman joined KVIL-FM, a station known for pioneering the Adult Contemporary (AC) format. 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. Ron Chapman made Vocal Majority . Ron Chapman announced his retirement on 98.7 KLUV at age 69 saying he was retiring from the morning program and going on vacation with his wife Nancy. Hes right. Chapman was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. Shes now a motivational speaker and lives in Fredericksburg, Texas.From the first moment we ever opened our mouths, we clicked. To Chapman, a working divorced mother with two kids was the woman of his dreams. Legendary radio host Ron Chapman has passed away. Its a tribute to Chapman that the call letters of what is, after all, just a radio station, have entered the argot of the trade. That was his job to make that station great. But her memories of her tenure at the station are not pleasant. PART OF AUDACY NEWS. Bring walking sticks. Jody Dean was Chapman's producer at KVIL from 1987 to 1994. But his desire was for you to get the best out of yourself. Some 12,000 did, and KVIL donated $240,000 to charity. CBS Radio's local market manager Brian Purdy, in announcing the format change, made just a brief nod to the station's past by insisting 103.7 is "not your mother's radio station any more," which hit a little close to home. And this was totally not intended. Chapmans associates swear that hes a perfect friendas long as you never do anything that might make him mad. When the show aired its final broadcast, Chapman played as its swan song Turn! We never worked in the studio together, for 20 years. One time, I finally asked him, You seem to like my dancing, but why dont you ever ask me to be one of the dancers? And he said, Well, to be honest, youre too sexy for our show. ", At that age, Fairchild said with a laugh, I didnt really know what he was talking about.. No sexism, period. Chapman has seen twenty years worth of six-month wonders come and then go. Legendary radio host Ron Chapman has passed away. A 1989 profile in D magazine described him as The Emperor in his tower, whose duality is a big part of Ron Chapmans magic. He is, the writer opined, an amalgamation of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.. Hes now a program director for ABC Dallas radio and an adjunct professor of TV production at the University of North Texas.We did Sumpn Else at NorthPark. About all they had were some call letters, and not very good ones at that. Then ten to midnight. Turn! That's a very sad commentary on the times. Ron in makeup for his role in an episode of Police Story. Rons face superimposed on the body of Michael Jackson. He was so popular in Dallas in the 70s, 80s and 90s that his station, KVIL, sold for more than the Dallas Cowboys. Ron Chapman's radio career began in 1953the day he graduated from high schoolwhen he became a disc jockey at station WHAV/Haverhill, MA. Michael Selden, a DJ at KVIL from 1974 to 1979, has gone full circle with Chapman emotionally, from admiration to loathing and back again. Six years later, he moved to Texas to begin what eventually became a Radio Hall of Fame career in DFW. But the laughter was tinged with something like pity. And yet, as he prepares to send his message radiating into those hundreds of thousands of receptive minds, he is more aware of them than perhaps anyone has ever been in the history of this city. RIP Ron pic.twitter.com . We put them on constantly.. I can walk faster than most people can run, Chapman once told The Dallas Morning News. They were buying Ron Chapmanat something like a half million dollars a pound. But Chapman says that the first time Haley went on the air after the deal was struck, She was dreadful. Charlie Brown), playing records and providing character voices as stars of the popular Charlie and Harrigan Show. In 2000, as radio began to change once again, Chapman moved to KLUV, a Dallas oldies station where he stayed until announcing his retirement in 2005. (To Everything There Is a Season) by the Byrds. I froze. In the service, Chapman was the Fifties equivalent of Robin Williams, doing a sort of Good Morning, Korea. On the troop ship the first night out, his sister recalls, it came time for the sergeant to hand out assignments. And she looks so good by the time she gets to the office, she had to be up by 5:30. 750 North St.Paul St. 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. On it was a headshot of some fierce new arrival on the Dallas radio scene, the latest young gun bent on a showdown with Chapman at the WBOK Corral. Chapman was a giant in radio in Texas, and was inducted as a member of the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. The country was going to get in shape. That was the power of Ron Chapman. He claims more listeners than any DJ in Texas. You understand that? Boom! He moved to Dallas in 1959 a year before the Dallas Cowboys became a team and was known for a decade as Irving Harrigan, who shared a microphone with Charlie Brown. His co-hosts real name was Jack Woods, and together the two became a radio juggernaut at KLIF, known then as The Mighty 1190. Their rise coincided with the Top 40 dynamism of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones. Ron Chapman's radio career began in 1953the day he graduated from high schoolwhen he became a disc jockey at station WHAV/Haverhill, MA. Im absolutely realistic in believing that nobody remembers you, Chapman says. And then they put me on from midnight to six. In fact, the jingle was the fastest 45 in the West. It was based on Rons experience with Top 40 radio. 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 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. To the multitudes who wake up with him every weekday, hes Mr. 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. Right away, you know two things about her: she has no time to waste, and you dont mess with her. In those days KVIL was so big the Postal . 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. Dallas Cowboys want another playmaker on offense. But what me and Tom Murphy did was put together a morning show for teens, Murphy and Harrigan. The rest, as they say, is history. 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. With that warning, we move through room after room of airy, fresh pastels, past furniture that looks as if it never gets touched, with the exception of Rons well-worn leather chair. "His family asks for time to . Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth as morning . Like a handful of other stations in town, at least until they all change formats again. Even after he retired, he would call and ask for help, and I was always happy to do it. And so, Ive always wanted to be YA-HA! Give me a spotlight and let me go., On Monday, the Texas Radio Hall of Fame paid tribute to Chapman by noting on Facebook: Three time radio Hall of Famer and Dallas radio ICON Ron Chapman has passed. Wowwwwww, Chapman warmly asserts, and Okaaaaaaay and Alllllllright and Well suuure. Our thoughts and hearts are with his frien - 2 years ago. Ive always tried to make my sportscast understandable to the non-sports fan. But, of course, its demise was inevitable, yet another casualty of shifting tastes and platforms; it's sign-off came just two months after Clear Channel dulled The Edge by making it, too, a dull shade of Maroon 5. Then by the following Tuesday, youre just gone. 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. Ironically, Chapman so dominates the KVIL lineup that the DJs around him seem unremittingly unmemorable. In 1959, as "Irving Harrigan" he joined the staff KLIF/Dallas, where he teamed up with Jack Woods (a.k.a. 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. Yes, my dear, the world is still a warm and safe and funny place to be, and you are on top of it with us, you know everything we do, which is a lot, and life keeps getting better. I used to do the 11 to 2 a.m. shift, during college. . I knew I was fired. 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. "But a well-respected punchline," Rhyner said. And yet, he would never ask me to be one of the [featured] dancers. . Chapman was 85 years old. Youd be walking down the hall, and nothing would stop him from putting you down in a very loud voice in front of anybody. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. My wife made me admit it publicly: yeah. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. However, Ron Chapman's cause of death remains yet to be known but it is suspected that he died of natural causes. We play some stuff that cooks pretty good, but there are a lot of songs we wont play at all. I love doing the morning show but my bones are beginning to tell me that hitting the ground running at 4:10 every morning is not going to be supported forever by whatever frame that I carry around with me and happy to have served me around for a lot of years but it looks as tho I really need to be taking care of it instead of it taking care of me. He spent 19 years at the Los Angeles Times before returning to Dallas. Put on your walking shoes. Then the man loaned him enough money to buy a ticket. 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 didnt say a word. Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday. Not all of Chapmans career was limited to radio. Born October 11, 1942 in Ashland, KY, he was the son of the late Otis Guy and . ', Chapman isnt surprised to hear that many former associates want deep cover before discussing his character and work style. At one point, Chapman broadcast live while skydiving from a plane . Skip to content. Ron Chapman, a Dallas - Fort Worth radio legend, has died at the age of 85, according to CBS 11 KTVT in DFW. But it was impossible to replicate a station that made a growing big city feel like a small town. - Click to. Its a small industry. Selden, now an aide at a substance abuse clinic in Tyler, believes that Chapman has accomplished what it took him much longer to do: harness a runaway ego and put it to good use. Theyre over. HE IS AN EAST TEXAN: Judge Ron Chapman is a native Texan, an experienced public servant and a dedicated member of his community. And because I drove the yellow van, I could go wherever I wanted to go. He ended up following Chapman at KLUV in 2005. And that means dont do anything to KVIL. CBS News Texas: Free 24/7 News; . They were gonna change owners and he knew the new owner. 1 radio show . First published on April 26, 2021 / 11:54 AM. "Well, they had to do something," the National Radio Hall of Famer said. Chapman's family says there will be no service, but a public gathering of friends and . Every store in town used KVIL's mellowrock as its shop-to soundtrack; it evenprovidedthe background music softly droning throughout my orthodontist's office, because what pre-teen with a mouth full of metal doesn't dig some "Afternoon Delight." Exact sum is $73000000. KVIL was always my mom's station, hogging up most of the pre-sets in the '76 Cordoba and later the '79 LeBaron station wagon; it was either Ron Chapman or a Helen Reddy 8-track. Since Chapman is not only essential to ratings but is a key figure in all promotions, contests, personnel matters, etc., he is a general managers worst nightmare. This system is awful. On the stairwell is a wall full of pictures: Ron in the midst of a million one-dollar bills. We used a two-way radio. The Morning Guys on Y-95. 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). The radio industry took to social media to reflect on Chapman's life and career. RONALD E. CHAPMAN Ron passed away on Saturday, May 23, 2020, at the Scarborough Extendicare long-term care home, from pneumonia at the age of 90. You tend to say things like the mayor when you mean Dallas and the mayor of Fort Worth when youre talking about them. The store was open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. As writer Diane Reischel put it in The News story: The store was the childrens living room, the customers their audience., His sister, Florence Littauer, said her baby brother was so clever and funny that people would pay me for him to speak. As The News noted, The parents his mother was a violinist challenged the children to think creatively. He doesnt want to look for cuff links., And as for keeping up with the competition, well, Chapman has a television parked in front of his toilet. He knows what people want to hear. Ron preparing to parachute out of an airplane and broadcast all the way to the ground. In 1969, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM/Dallas-Fort Worth as morning disc jockey, music director, and program director, bringing the . If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 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. Would Stevie Wonder object if we took it out? anyway? And Ron said, Why, I am in charge of the talent show, of which there wasnt one at the time. Posted Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 8:33 pm CT. Dallasites are grieving the death today of deejay Ron Chapman, a man whose voice was a constant companion throughout the Metroplex for more than five . Beneath that rasp, he's still very much the manwho once broadcast while skydiving and whoin April 1988 asked listeners to send $20 without explaining why and wound up collecting $240,000 he dispensed to charity. Ive done this in many ways in my sportscast. Ron actually holds up a picture that hed cut out of a JCPenney catalog. And I did everything. Chapmans on-air name was Irving Harrigan. You had left "Sump'n Else" and you're still at WFAA directing the church remotes. The longtime host of KVIL died in April 2021 at the age of 85. Everyone I knew went to college. He did not. This was 1991. We did that to our audience constantly. Yeah, he would. Also, his people say that his expectations for others are not nearly as high as those he imposes on himself. But later, using his real surname, Chapman became an even bigger personality. He was No. Dale Hansen broadcasted Cowboys games on KVIL. They filmed it. A ratings war is brewing between two oldies stations, and a controversial gadget might decide who wins.