Ron O'Brien
Encyclopedia
"Big" Ron O'Brien was a disc jockey
who worked at many top radio stations during his lifetime.
O'Brien grew up in Des Moines, IA, and worked at the high school radio
station. He started his professional career in 1969 at KUDL (now KMBZ-FM) in Kansas City. During the ensuing years,he worked for many stations, including KTLK in Denver, WCAR
in Detroit, WQXI
in Atlanta, WCFL (now WMVP
) in Chicago, WOKY
in Milwaukee, WFIL
in Philadelphia, KFI
and KIIS
in Los Angeles, KWK (now WARH
) in St. Louis (where he stayed for nine years), KZDG in Denver, WYXR (which became WLCE during his tenure and is now WRFF
) in Philadelphia, WNBC (now WFAN
) and WXLO (now WRKS) in New York, WPGC
in Washington, D.C., and WRKO
in Boston. WOGL
, also in Philadelphia, was his employer for the final six years of his life, and he had recently signed a two-year contract extension.
Big Ron had been the host of the syndicated radio program "On the Radio" from 1985 until 1992.
O'Brien also enjoyed singing. He recorded cover versions of "Everybody Knows Matilda" (D. Baxter) and "Take Some Time Out" (T. Kemp and R. Gordy), both of which were released on 45.
In addition to music and radio, Big Ron loved trolley cars and baseball.
O'Brien died of complications from pneumonia after a two-month illness.
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
who worked at many top radio stations during his lifetime.
O'Brien grew up in Des Moines, IA, and worked at the high school radio
High school radio
High school radio within the United States is almost as old as radio broadcasting itself. Simply defined as a radio station, with its studios located at a high school and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision, stations fitting this description existed in the mid-1920s...
station. He started his professional career in 1969 at KUDL (now KMBZ-FM) in Kansas City. During the ensuing years,he worked for many stations, including KTLK in Denver, WCAR
WCAR
WCAR, 1090 AM, in the Detroit market, is a 24-hour talk radio station based out of Livonia, Michigan. The station airs a variety of talk show programs, including the nationally syndicated Imus in the Morning.- History :...
in Detroit, WQXI
WQXI (AM)
WQXI, "790 The Zone", is a radio station licensed to the city of Atlanta broadcasting at a frequency of 790 kHz. The station has a power of 28,000 watts in the daytime, and 1,000 watts at night. WQXI's signal is non-directional during the daytime, and directional at night...
in Atlanta, WCFL (now WMVP
WMVP
WMVP is the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is owned by ABC. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove. The station broadcasts live sports talk, both locally and nationally. Daily programming consists of talk shows that are both national and local...
) in Chicago, WOKY
WOKY
WOKY is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station. They broadcast a classic country radio format emphasizing country from the 50s-80s...
in Milwaukee, WFIL
WFIL
WFIL is a radio station and a former television station serving the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its transmitter is located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania....
in Philadelphia, KFI
KFI
KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922 as one of the United States' first high-powered, "clear-channel" stations...
and KIIS
KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a partial Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KIIS is also simulcasted on KVVS in Rosamond, at 105.5 MHz...
in Los Angeles, KWK (now WARH
WARH
WARH is a radio station in Granite City, Illinois. WARH serves the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area.WARH plays an adult hits format as "106.5 The Arch - It's all about the variety". The format is quite similar to the Jack FM stations in the U.S. & Canada...
) in St. Louis (where he stayed for nine years), KZDG in Denver, WYXR (which became WLCE during his tenure and is now WRFF
WRFF
WRFF is a modern rock FM radio station located in and licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is known on-air as "Radio 104.5."-WRCP-FM:...
) in Philadelphia, WNBC (now WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
) and WXLO (now WRKS) in New York, WPGC
WPGC
WPGC may refer to:* WPGC , a radio station formerly licensed to Morningside, Maryland, United States * WPGC-FM, a radio station licensed to Morningside, Maryland, United States...
in Washington, D.C., and WRKO
WRKO
WRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
in Boston. WOGL
WOGL
WOGL is an FM radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.The station plays mostly post 1964 pop leaning Oldies positioned Classic Hits music, including Motown, soul and rock and roll spanning roughly 1964–1985. An occasional pre-1964 song is played. WOGL is owned by CBS Radio...
, also in Philadelphia, was his employer for the final six years of his life, and he had recently signed a two-year contract extension.
Big Ron had been the host of the syndicated radio program "On the Radio" from 1985 until 1992.
O'Brien also enjoyed singing. He recorded cover versions of "Everybody Knows Matilda" (D. Baxter) and "Take Some Time Out" (T. Kemp and R. Gordy), both of which were released on 45.
In addition to music and radio, Big Ron loved trolley cars and baseball.
O'Brien died of complications from pneumonia after a two-month illness.