So, life can pass us by pretty quickly.
Seems like it was only yesterday, (well maybe 2 lives ago, if I really stop to think of it), that I was a Sales Representative for WKNX Radio in Saginaw, Michigan. During my short couple of years there; the station was sold from Lake Huron Broadcasting to RadioCom, Ldt and longtime WKNX on air personality Bob Dyer became part owner of the station with Dana MacVey. Bob Dyer was named Vice President and General Manager of WKNX Radio, and me...Sales Manager.
We actually experienced cultural shock in the broadcasting industry. That is because we went from being the corporate flagship station (even though we were in the smallest market of the group which had radio stations in major markets) to being the largest station of a group of smaller markets!
And the new owners didn't have the marketing capital that Lake Huron Broadcasting had! This to say the least.
But on to my story...Bob took me under his wing, as if I were his own son. At the time I was young, single and fresh out of college. Plenty of radio broadcasting experience under my belt for my age, and some business moxy to boot.
This was in the days before cell phones were small enough to put in your hip pocket. Pagers were only for doctors and other professionals and if you were successful, you might have a mobil radio phone permanently installed in your car with a rotary dial. (Usually you had to pick up the hand set and talk to the mobil operator to make a call.)
Each morning we would have coffee and team sales meeting with all our station sales reps and off we would all go. Like most sales reps, I had a pretty regular route of advertisers to call on. Maybe even hide out if things were slow!
Bob would start calling around to all the places I could possibly be on any given day...when he found out where I was he would leave a message, "Meet me at the station by 11:30, going to have lunch at Treasure Island with Dick Fabian and the GM (or other big wig )" of the latest advertiser we were trying to snag.
We had a standing reservation a couple days a week for the same large booth at Treasure Island, an upscale restaurant on the Saginaw River. The booth could accommodate up to 8 people comfortably. Fabian was aslo a WKNX Alumi & local tv personality. Treasure Island honored him with a lunch sandwich in his name.
I first met Dick Fabian and his boss, John Keenan at Parker, Willox, Fairchild & Campbell, one of the largest advertising agencies outside of Detroit. This was the company my Dad was using for each of the companies he was running. My Dad set up a meeting with John Keenan and Fabian tagged along to the meeting. After talking with them for a few minutes, Dick & John mentioned that I could be a good candidate for a sales position at WKNX. Dick set up an appointment on the spot, I went over to the station and got hired that afternoon. Needless to say Fabian had some pull and Bob Dyer told me to, "stick with me, and you can't loose!"
I was barely 22 years old and thought I had caught the proverbial "tiger by the tail."
Well, that was back in the day, when 2 martini lunches were a common business expense. Or, in our case, as many Beef Eater Gin Martini's (extra dry), as one can drink from 11:45 am 'til somewhere between 1:30 & 2:30 in the afternoon + lunch. Beef Eater Gin Martini's were Bob's favorite. Me,my standard bearer drink was Bourbon Manhattans (at first, but the later the lunch went; I would change it up to bourbon & soda). I still had to get Bob back to the station and myself home to the apartment for much needed sleep in order to go at it again the next day. Of course, being a young single guy, frequently I did not make it directly home, but would team up at "hot spots" around Saginaw, to mingle with single girls and friends for the competitive sport of "who can tell the best lie!" I didn't get a lot of sleep in those days and Bob seemed to encourage that kind of behavior! For him, I think he saw it as we view "networking" today.
We had a standing reservation a couple days a week for the same large booth at Treasure Island, an upscale restaurant on the Saginaw River. The booth could accommodate up to 8 people comfortably. Fabian was aslo a WKNX Alumi & local tv personality. Treasure Island honored him with a lunch sandwich in his name.
I first met Dick Fabian and his boss, John Keenan at Parker, Willox, Fairchild & Campbell, one of the largest advertising agencies outside of Detroit. This was the company my Dad was using for each of the companies he was running. My Dad set up a meeting with John Keenan and Fabian tagged along to the meeting. After talking with them for a few minutes, Dick & John mentioned that I could be a good candidate for a sales position at WKNX. Dick set up an appointment on the spot, I went over to the station and got hired that afternoon. Needless to say Fabian had some pull and Bob Dyer told me to, "stick with me, and you can't loose!"
I was barely 22 years old and thought I had caught the proverbial "tiger by the tail."
Well, that was back in the day, when 2 martini lunches were a common business expense. Or, in our case, as many Beef Eater Gin Martini's (extra dry), as one can drink from 11:45 am 'til somewhere between 1:30 & 2:30 in the afternoon + lunch. Beef Eater Gin Martini's were Bob's favorite. Me,my standard bearer drink was Bourbon Manhattans (at first, but the later the lunch went; I would change it up to bourbon & soda). I still had to get Bob back to the station and myself home to the apartment for much needed sleep in order to go at it again the next day. Of course, being a young single guy, frequently I did not make it directly home, but would team up at "hot spots" around Saginaw, to mingle with single girls and friends for the competitive sport of "who can tell the best lie!" I didn't get a lot of sleep in those days and Bob seemed to encourage that kind of behavior! For him, I think he saw it as we view "networking" today.
Bob would tell me, "Hand your business card out to everyone and tell them to keep it. It will be worth a lot of money someday, 'cause you will be famous!" OK, that really never happened, although I ended up being pretty well known in my hometown, after being elected the youngest elected official in my county at 31 years old and ultimately was the youngest Mayor there. (It took about 17 years for my record to be broken.)
I only spent a couple of years at WKNX, but it did prepare me for many things to follow in my varied career. Early on, Bob stayed in touch with me and seemed to follow me through my political years, but then we drifted away and lost touch with one another, aside from an occasional bump into someone who knows someone who knew me or Bob. And then through them we would share a message or a "Bob said to say Hi and hopes you are doing well," kind of thing.
I had some brief contact with Dana MacVey over the years, and he always said that Bob would always ask how I was doing when we would bump into each other. Dana would tell me that Bob would speak highly of me over the years since those days at WKNX.
So, I was surprised to find out that Bob Dyer had passed from this world nearly 1 year ago. Still meeting and greeting people and entertaining those around him. Bob was more than just a personality...he was a genuine human being. Caring about and for people around him.
R.I.P. Bob Dyer...and thank you for providing a lifetime of memories.
My life has been truly enriched for having known you.
I only spent a couple of years at WKNX, but it did prepare me for many things to follow in my varied career. Early on, Bob stayed in touch with me and seemed to follow me through my political years, but then we drifted away and lost touch with one another, aside from an occasional bump into someone who knows someone who knew me or Bob. And then through them we would share a message or a "Bob said to say Hi and hopes you are doing well," kind of thing.
I had some brief contact with Dana MacVey over the years, and he always said that Bob would always ask how I was doing when we would bump into each other. Dana would tell me that Bob would speak highly of me over the years since those days at WKNX.
So, I was surprised to find out that Bob Dyer had passed from this world nearly 1 year ago. Still meeting and greeting people and entertaining those around him. Bob was more than just a personality...he was a genuine human being. Caring about and for people around him.
R.I.P. Bob Dyer...and thank you for providing a lifetime of memories.
My life has been truly enriched for having known you.
A life remembered: Saginaw radio icon Bob Dyer among first in nation to air The Beatles, had record longevity at WKNX
SAGINAW, MI — For a whole generation of
By
on August 20, 2013 at 12:00 PM, updated August 20, 2013 at 12:34 PMMichigan baby boomers, Bob Dyer was a cultural icon.
Dyer, a WKNX-AM, 1210, disc jockey, was one of the first in the country to introduce The Beatles to the airwaves. And with Dick Fabian, he brought the music home, hosting dances throughout the region with performers including Simon and Garfunkel.
Dyer, who with Fabian was recently named to the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends’ Hall of Fame, died Sunday morning. He was 85.
“Bob was very special to me,” said Fabian, who came to WKNX from Lansing because he loved the Beatles. “He welcomed me in, and we became instant friends. We were more than business partners; we had a lot of respect for each other.”
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Dyer came to Saginaw in 1950, back when Little Jimmy Dickens’ Down Home Boys was the house band in the second-floor WKNX studios on South Washington near Federal.
“Studio A had chairs where people could come in and watch our bands perform,” Dyer told The Saginaw News in 2004. “We would do remotes, too, live shows from the Home Dairy restaurant and Ravenna Gardens, where we broadcast performers like Tommy Dorsey live.”
While others came and went, Dyer stuck around for 55 years, earning the national distinction of the longest continuous run at a single radio station. His work also landed him in the Michigan Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003.
In 1953, WKNX launched Saginaw’s first television station, Channel 57, and Dyer became the Robin Hood-styled Pixie on its children’s programming.
Then came the British invasion and live shows at the Y-A-Go-Go in Saginaw, Battle of the Bands at Bay City’s Roll-Air and teen dances in Sebewaing.
“We knocked everyone else out of the market,” Dyer told The Saginaw News in 2000. “The bosses were afraid that we would lose our adult listeners, but they loved the Beatles as much as the teens did. We were No. 1 in the market for eight straight years.”
In the years that followed, the station moved around, first to Saginaw Township and later to Frankenmuth. Dyer dabbled in ownership for a few years and became involved in sales. And the format changed with new owners, from “Music of Your Life” to classic rock ‘n’ roll.
“Dad had a love for radio and music,” said his son, James Dyer of Saginaw Township. “I grew up at the stations, going with him from a young age.
View full sizeRadio personality Bob Dyer of WKNX, 306 Genesee, Frankenmuth, sits in the radio station's computerized studio in this 1998 photograph. Dyer, a veteran of the industry, was part of a radio and television exhibit at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing.
“Folks don’t realize the magnitude of the broadcast business at that time. My dad did a lot for the community, and he didn’t ask for anything in return.”
Dyer didn’t see the handwriting on the wall, his son said, and that proved his downfall. Without any other interests, he didn’t have anything to do when Channel 5, WNEM, bought the station in 2004 and converted it to a news-and-talk format. In May 2013, WNEM gave the station to Ave Maria Communications, which soon will broadcast Catholic programming.
“I was able to introduce Dad to the Upper Peninsula, and he loved it up there,” James Dyer said. “He’d head up north and go fishing.”
In recent years, Dyer resided at HealthSource, “and I’d visit him every week,” said A.D. McGregor, with his wife Shirley a volunteer at the residential health center in Saginaw Township.
“We’d talk for 30, 45 minutes about how he was a master of ceremonies when the circus came to the old Saginaw Auditorium and about the old studio on South Washington.”
McGregor would leave a little bag of Oreos on Dyer’s nightstand when he got the chance.
“A lot of the people at HealthSource didn’t realize what a famous man Bob Dyer was. He was a big asset to Saginaw, and he was as much a gentleman there as he was in radio. It was a reward just being with him.”
Dyer leaves his wife, Mary; his daughter, Rebecca Boyd; his son, James and Lita Dyer; and grandchildren Ian and Emilyann.
After 50 years at WKNX-AM, 1250, Bob Dyer still had an ear for radio, tuned to one of his listeners during his early morning broadcast at the Frankenmuth station in 2003. (File | MLive.com)
By Dyer, a WKNX-AM, 1210, disc jockey, was one of the first in the country to introduce The Beatles to the airwaves. And with Dick Fabian, he brought the music home, hosting dances throughout the region with performers including Simon and Garfunkel.
Dyer, who with Fabian was recently named to the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends’ Hall of Fame, died Sunday morning. He was 85.
“Bob was very special to me,” said Fabian, who came to WKNX from Lansing because he loved the Beatles. “He welcomed me in, and we became instant friends. We were more than business partners; we had a lot of respect for each other.”
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Dyer came to Saginaw in 1950, back when Little Jimmy Dickens’ Down Home Boys was the house band in the second-floor WKNX studios on South Washington near Federal.
“Studio A had chairs where people could come in and watch our bands perform,” Dyer told The Saginaw News in 2004. “We would do remotes, too, live shows from the Home Dairy restaurant and Ravenna Gardens, where we broadcast performers like Tommy Dorsey live.”
While others came and went, Dyer stuck around for 55 years, earning the national distinction of the longest continuous run at a single radio station. His work also landed him in the Michigan Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003.
In 1953, WKNX launched Saginaw’s first television station, Channel 57, and Dyer became the Robin Hood-styled Pixie on its children’s programming.
Then came the British invasion and live shows at the Y-A-Go-Go in Saginaw, Battle of the Bands at Bay City’s Roll-Air and teen dances in Sebewaing.
“We knocked everyone else out of the market,” Dyer told The Saginaw News in 2000. “The bosses were afraid that we would lose our adult listeners, but they loved the Beatles as much as the teens did. We were No. 1 in the market for eight straight years.”
In the years that followed, the station moved around, first to Saginaw Township and later to Frankenmuth. Dyer dabbled in ownership for a few years and became involved in sales. And the format changed with new owners, from “Music of Your Life” to classic rock ‘n’ roll.
“Dad had a love for radio and music,” said his son, James Dyer of Saginaw Township. “I grew up at the stations, going with him from a young age.
View full sizeRadio personality Bob Dyer of WKNX, 306 Genesee, Frankenmuth, sits in the radio station's computerized studio in this 1998 photograph. Dyer, a veteran of the industry, was part of a radio and television exhibit at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing.Dyer didn’t see the handwriting on the wall, his son said, and that proved his downfall. Without any other interests, he didn’t have anything to do when Channel 5, WNEM, bought the station in 2004 and converted it to a news-and-talk format. In May 2013, WNEM gave the station to Ave Maria Communications, which soon will broadcast Catholic programming.
“I was able to introduce Dad to the Upper Peninsula, and he loved it up there,” James Dyer said. “He’d head up north and go fishing.”
In recent years, Dyer resided at HealthSource, “and I’d visit him every week,” said A.D. McGregor, with his wife Shirley a volunteer at the residential health center in Saginaw Township.
“We’d talk for 30, 45 minutes about how he was a master of ceremonies when the circus came to the old Saginaw Auditorium and about the old studio on South Washington.”
McGregor would leave a little bag of Oreos on Dyer’s nightstand when he got the chance.
“A lot of the people at HealthSource didn’t realize what a famous man Bob Dyer was. He was a big asset to Saginaw, and he was as much a gentleman there as he was in radio. It was a reward just being with him.”
Dyer leaves his wife, Mary; his daughter, Rebecca Boyd; his son, James and Lita Dyer; and grandchildren Ian and Emilyann.
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