2013.04.26 | Words with Bob Stern
Article by Derek Miller
Bob Stern, the creator of the
Vinyl Schminyl Radio Hour, sits down with
Spfreaks to discuss his history in radio, meeting and speaking with Billy Corgan, and his opinions on vinyl.
Diverse Radio Background
When I was a kid I used to go to downtown Chicago to WLS and WCFL to watch the DJs. I love music and realized that’s what I wanted to do. I never did any radio in high school, but I did in college. As a matter of fact, the first college I went to I started a small student-run radio station and then went to the University of Illinois and worked for probably one of the largest student-run radio stations in the country, WPGU. I ultimately worked in Woodstock, IL, for WXRD, which was at the time a progressive rock station. I didn’t want to bum around from one small station to another. So I told myself by the time I’m 25 years old if I don’t get to a better market, then I’m going to go into radio advertising sales. The day after my 25th birthday, I started in radio sales. I’ve always had a love for radio and never wanted to get out of it, but I did. About 10 years later I worked for a local Chicago station, WCBR, called the Bear, and worked part-time there for a year.
Meeting Billy Corgan
I wouldn’t call myself a close friend with Billy because I’m really not. But here’s how he and I met. Right around the corner there [was] a place called the Ravinia Wine Shop. A year ago in February, [2012], they had a grand opening with a bunch of local people and the owners are friends of Billy’s. I mentioned to the owners that I would like to get Billy on the podcast, and he happened to be there that night. That’s where I met him and we talked for quite awhile. I said I’d like to get you on for an interview. I didn’t want it to be a Smashing Pumpkins interview; I wanted it to be a classic rock interview. His knowledge of music is just about as good as anybody’s.
The interview was actually held at the wine shop. We spent an hour talking face to face. When I was in college, I interviewed quite a lot of people (rock stars, if you will), and this was probably the best interview I’ve ever done. Because it was the most intelligent interview I’ve ever done. It was a conversation more than an interview.
Broadcasting from Madame Zuzu’s
The Led Zeppelin show was recorded Saturday (April 6th, 2013) and we ran it on April 13. It’s the second time we’ve actually done that. We did one back in February and featured
Pink Floyd for the hour. Billy, who owns Madame Zuzu’s and invited me to do the podcast, spent the entire evening with us this time and joined us for a few minutes on the air. It was fun.
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