Ron Chapman has passed away. 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. It was an itty-bitty bear. Or, according to Alex Burton, until his recent firing the voice of KRLD, Hes a right-brained man who manages to sound left-brained.. He is proceeded in death by his father, Fay Chapman. 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 . So one of our sponsors was Coca-Cola. Because shes gonna move up. He became widely known, according to his bio page on the Radio Hall of Fame website, for his humor, outrageous stunts and giveaways. And for his astronomically high ratings. He knew exactly what he was going to do and started work reprogramming KVIL in their big studio. About all they had were some call letters, and not very good ones at that. They had no bathtub, no phone, no family car. RALPH CHAPMAN OBITUARY. Now, its someone I found out of Kim Dawson headshots. Chapman was a giant in radio in Texas, and was inducted as a member of the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. However, Ron Chapman's cause of death remains yet to be known but it is suspected that he died of natural causes. This is the story of how a chance encounter lead to a close friendship that would span four decades, and a revolutionary radio travel program that is in it's 46th year. (The money was later distributed to local charities.) And one morning, I was going to go do a speech for the Dallas Board of Realtors at 9 oclock. In 1959, a 23-year-old up-and-coming disc jockey from Haverhill, Mass., took on the role of morning co-host for a . I know something the others havent figured out.. Chapmans on-air name was Irving Harrigan. Ron Chapmans the only one that talks to her that first hour, and in that hour, 1 can mold her frame of mind. Former Dallas Morning News columnist Robert Wilonsky contributed to this report. . According to Tony Garrett. When he started hosting SumpN Else, I was a kid, and we loved to dance, and I would go over there to dance. He seems completely oblivious to his subjects, the teeming thousands of Little People trapped and fuming in the traffic below. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. And it was Chapman who ran every single nutty promo in the station's stories history, among them a scavenger hunt that involved hidden tape recorders, secret messages and, eventually, a Braniff International Airways ticket to Hawaii. 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. Im sitting there, and Im cracking up. Id just started with Chapman, and I did that two or three times before he slammed down the headphones and blew up. So youre that egotistical S.O.B., They became fast, but platonic, friends. And because he spanned KLIF and "Sump'n Else" to KVIL -- he WAS the history of Dallas radio . On the stairwell is a wall full of pictures: Ron in the midst of a million one-dollar bills. Two things worth noting: back then, no one had any fear about writing "$20" on an envelope - and we never gave our street address. The Emperor is in his tower, conjuring, working on the exact wording and inflection of the incantation that will once again secure his seemingly unending supremacy. So we all lined up, and we said, Okay, hoooo! And we started to walk. In those days KVIL was so big the Postal . Chapman thought that was funny. We put them on constantly.. Put on your walking shoes. 10/11/1929 - 05/23/2020 . And every morning he was there for us, standing at his mic, drinking Dr Pepper, talking to the city. List Of Coronavirus Testing Sites In Texas, Legendary radio host Ron Chapman has passed away, Featured Image Photo Credit: Courtesy Mitch Carr, Bankman-Fried might use flip phone under stricter bail plan, Woman accused of killing ill husband released from jail, Alaska's arduous Iditarod kicks off with ceremonial start, Snow blankets Northeast as cleanup begins from deadly storm, Civilians flee embattled town as Ukrainian pullout looms. His family is asking for time right now to process the loss and thanks the community for . And we walked around the corner and stopped. He served with the Army in South Korea from 1957 to 1959, producing a radio show for Voice of the United Nations Command. Dallas most important news stories of the week, delivered to your inbox each Sunday. In 2007, he returned to broadcasting part-time as a "permanent substitute" for legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey. 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. There is no excuse for making a mistake. 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. Tags. Ron Chapman began his radio career the DAY he graduated high school, hitting the airwaves in his hometown of Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it serves the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. And he says, This is your audience. Ill never forget it. The Texas Radio Hall of Fame shared the news of the passing of Dallas radio icon Ron Chapman. Jody Dean was Chapman's producer at KVIL from 1987 to 1994. From Haverhill, Mass (also Ed McMahon's first rad - 2 years ago. Ron Chapman made money by Directors niche. 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!. Following his tenure at KLIF, Chapman joined the staff of KVIL-FM, Dallas-Fort Worth, in 1969. He was 85. The individuality, the uniqueness. TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Longtime radio personality Ron Chapman has died at the age of 85. 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. Dallas, Texas 75201. Ron Chapman Obituary Kvil Death | Obituary | Ron Chapman Dead | Died | Has Passed Away | Funeral Plans - We are immensely sad . Jun 16, 2005. He claims more listeners than any DJ in Texas. Into the breach jumped Ron, who offered to loan me his brand-new Cadillac Seville. Wednesday's announcement just made it official, finally. He knows what people want to hear. He brought, what is known in the industry as the "adult contemporary" format to FM. But you could hear this blow-dryer. Yeah, he would. And one night in March 1981, KVIL radio legend Ron Chapman walked into Billy Bob's. "And I walked up to Chapman and I said, 'I'm going to come work for you,' " Dean said. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This duality is a big part of Ron Chapmans magic. RON CHAPMAN ANDERSON - Ronald Ray Chapman, 67, of Anderson, died Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at Rainey Hospice House. 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. Im paying you to write! I now think about retiring. That was the power of Ron Chapman. Here and there, she reveals a snippet about her husband. Dick Clark is an old friend of Chapmans. No spam, ever. When Ron met Nance twenty years ago at a charity telethon, he was immediately struck by her good looks, he says, recalling that he trotted out a bunch of glib compliments before saying, By the way, Im Ron Chapman. Her reply: Oh. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Deborah Chapman; mother Helen Chapman; twin sister Connie Smith; sons Eric . But I got my bucketful of him a long time ago. The station is branded as "Alt 103.7" and airs an alternative rock radio format. The other bold stroke by the founders of KVIL was its attitude toward Dallass sister city, Fort Worth. While many have attempted to imitate his formula, nobodyat least locallyis likely to remotely approach his mastery of it. From 1965 to 1968, he became Dallas rarefied answer to Dick Clark and American Bandstand, as host of the wildly popular Sumpn Else, a teen dance show carried live from NorthPark Center on WFAA-TV (Channel 8). The longtime host of KVIL died in April 2021 at the age of 85. "How sad that all of those KVIL things are now part of history. He knew you dont talk down to your audience, you speak up to them, and thats when Ron enjoyed his greatest success., Dean added that Chapman helped transform radio in the city into a shining example of what the media can do and should be. Ron Chapman's radio career began in 1953the day he graduated from high schoolwhen he became a disc jockey at station WHAV/Haverhill, MA. Chapman, who was inducted to the Radio Hall of Fame three times, started his career in 1953the day he graduated from high school, according to his bio on the organization's website. 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. 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. I noticed that they would feature me dancing a lot on the show. #1. 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. But theyll never work hard enough.. His talent rose above us all. 1 forever. Anybody can read, goddammit! 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. When we first went to KVIL to do the Cowboys games, Ron brings Brad Sham and me into his office and starts giving us this big speech on how we should broadcast a football game. 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. Passing by the cage, he would surreptitiously slip the mouthpiece through the wire into the neck of the tuba and blow. Ron was a legend already in the 60s in Dallas, Fairchild said Monday from her home in Los Angeles. He was one of the greatest radio people to ever sit behind the mic. He also had a stint on television with the local ABC affiliate, WFAA-TV, where he was featured in the mid-60s on the "Sump'N Else" show. He is an amalgamation of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, a warm, fuzzy presence who intrudes benignly into the consciousness of hundreds of thousands of women every morning.