Jonathon Brandmeier
Jonathon Brandmeier | |
---|---|
Birth name | John Francis Brandmeier[1] |
Born |
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, United States | July 15, 1956
Show | Brandmeier Show |
Country | United States |
Website | BrandmeierShow.com |
Jonathon "Johnny B" Brandmeier (born July 15, 1956) is a Chicago radio personality and musician.
Career
Born John Francis Brandmeier[1][2] to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at WFON in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. When he was 18 he joined WOSH in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, later working as a DJ at WYNE (now WHBY) in Appleton, Wisconsin, then at KLIV in San Jose, California, then as the morning jock at WYBR-FM (now WXRX) in Rockford, Illinois, and then in 1980 at WOKY in Milwaukee.[2] In February 1981, he was brought on as the KZZP morning DJ in Phoenix, Arizona, where he participated in prank phone calls and silly song parodies. In 1982, Brandmeier released his first album Just Havin' Fun.
WLUP ("The Loop") in Chicago hired him in 1983, where his morning show was broadcast on both the AM and FM stations. His most memorable songs include "We're All Crazy In Chicago" (a local Top Ten hit), "Hey Der Milwaukee Polka", and "The Moo-Moo Song" (based on an actual event in the 1980s when a local attempted to make love to a cow in the Lincoln Park Zoo).
A management change at WLUP in 1997, however, led to the end of Brandmeier's 14-year run on The Loop. He hosted middays from 1998-2001 at WCKG in Chicago, which was replayed in Los Angeles at KLSX. After some time away from radio, he hosted mornings at KCBS-FM in 2004-05.
Brandmeier returned to WLUP in fall 2005, hosting mornings until 2009. He made several appearances with his band, The Leisure Suits, on what he called "World Tour 2007." This included playing bars and theaters in the Chicago area. In 2008, he released a live 2-CD set, Larger Than Live of his 2007 Christmas show in Rosemont, Illinois. All proceeds from the CD purchases went to Pizzas For Patriots, which sends pizzas to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Dec. 9, 2011, Brandmeier began a three-year run at WGN Radio. He moved from WGN to the online-only WGN.FM in September 2013 (and later WGWG 87.7 FM in February 2014), but the FM station shut down operations in December 2014.
On March 30, 2015, Brandmeier replaced Dennis Miller as the midday host on Westwood One's nationwide talk radio lineup on 100-plus affiliates, including airing on WLS (AM) in Chicago.
Discography
Albums:
- Just Havin' Fun (1982)
- Almost Live (1984)
- Brandmeier (1989)
- Dink (1994)
- Larger Than Live (2008)
Singles:
- 1981:
- Johnny in the Morning (Just Havin' Fun) b/w Mick Jagger (What Makes Your Lips So Big?)
- The Snowbird Song b/w Did The Stones Show Up?
- 1983:
- Lookin' For A Livin' b/w Party Animals (Promotional release only)
- The Moo Moo Song b/w Party Animals
- 1986:
- We're All Crazy In Chicago b/w We're All Crazy In Chicago (Extended Mix)
References
- 1 2 "Johnny B. Good". Chicago Tribune. December 7, 1986.
- 1 2 Zorn, Eric (December 7, 1986). "Johnny B. Good - In fact, he's great, say the many fans of WLUP's outrageous morning star". Chicago Tribune. p. 23.
External links
- Jonathon Brandmeier at the Internet Movie Database
- Almost Live with Jonathon Brandmeier
- 20 Years of Jonathon Brandmeier
- Guy Bauers half-hour podcast
- The old Fan made chicago radio discussion board at the Wayback Machine (archived December 5, 2006)
- Johnny B audio from Arrow 93.1/
- Memories of a Loon Audio archives
- The Jonathon Brandmeier 30th Anniversary Memories of a Loon Retrospective Internet radio show