Former radio personality Weber strolls down ‘rock ’n’ roll memory lane’
BY HANNAH KOHUT Correspondent June 26, 2011 9:48PM
Clark Weber, 80, formerly of WLS-AM (890) radio in Chicago, speaks during an appearance at the Midlothian Public Library on Thursday, June 23, 2011. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 26, 2011 1:34AM
He ushered in some of the greatest rock and roll music legends from the 1950s through the 1970s. He helped put Chicago radio on the map.
And last week, Clark Weber took more than a dozen folks down “rock ’n’ roll memory lane.”
Weber appeared last Thursday night at the Midlothian Public Library. He was there to promote his book, “Rock and Roll: The Fun Years: 1955-1975,” in which he shares stories and photos from his time with some of the world’s most famous bands and musicians.
Weber made history during his days at WLS radio in Chicago as a disc jockey and program director.
As lively and energetic as any 80-year-old man can be, Weber shared stories of his days working hard to get some budding unknowns — who turned out to become music legends — on the air.
Weber told of how he packed the house at Mr. Kelly’s, a popular Rush Street night club from the 1950s to the 1970s, for a woman named Barbra Streisand. And of how some off-the-wall (literally) young boys tore
up a radio station on their first interview. Oh, those Monkees …
Weber also shared personal stories about working with the Beatles, who he said sounded terrible on their first record, and how he helped a poor musician who had just been kicked to the street by another radio disc jockey. Her name was Janis Joplin.
Even a packed professional agenda lends time for a practical joke or two — or three. Weber had the crowd at Midlothian laughing most of the night, sharing stories of embarrassing a syndicated news deejay on air, broadcasting live to 28 ABC news radio stations and his days scaring passengers as he flew to some of his appearances.
That’s right, he flew.
In a day when radio disc jockeys were about as popular as the bands they played, Weber was a licensed pilot and was in such demand that his work took him to places where driving was just too long. Weber shared a tale
of when he fell asleep while flying.
“It was a great night, I was coming back from Indiana, so I put the plane on auto-pilot. I guess I dozed off because a wind woke me up,” Weber said. “I was just east of Milwaukee.”
Weber’s book is available at several book stores, and online at www.chicagosbooks.com.
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