Rick Dees is an American comedic performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the novelty song "Disco Duck." He is a People's Choice Award recipient, a Grammy nominated performing artist, and Broadcast Hall of Fame inductee. He wrote two songs that appear in the film Saturday Night Fever, plus performed the title song for the film Meatballs[1]. Dees also is co-founder of the E.W. Scripps television network, FINE LIVING, and is the former host of the Rick Dees Morning Show at Movin' 93-9 FM in Los Angeles.
Born Rigdon Osmond Dees III in Jacksonville, Florida on March 14, 1950, Dees was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. He graduated from Greensboro's Grimsley High School, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor’s Degree in Radio, TV and Motion Pictures, where he was a member of the Tau chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.
Radio career
Mr. Dees began his radio career at WGBG, a Greensboro radio station, while still in high school.[2] He worked in various radio stations throughout the southeastern United States, including WSGN in Birmingham, Alabama.
His introduction to the international entertainment arena began while working at WMPS-AM ("The Great 68") in Memphis, Tennessee, during the disco craze of the late 1970s when he wrote and recorded "Disco Duck", the award-winning runaway hit that sold more than six million copies. The song can be heard in the movie Saturday Night Fever in a brief scene in which a group of older people were learning to "move their feet to the disco beat". While this platinum recording earned him a People's Choice Award, and the BMI Award for record sales in one year, Dees was expressly forbidden from playing the song on the air by station management (rival stations refused to play it for fear of promoting their competition). He was later fired on-the-spot simply for talking about the song on the air one morning—the station manager claimed conflict of interest. After a short hiatus, he went on to WHBQ-AM, also in Memphis, where ratings quickly soared following his arrival..[3]
In 1979, Mr. Dees moved to Los Angeles and did mornings on KHJ (which was at the time WHBQ's sister station) during its final years as a Top 40 station. When KHJ flipped to a country format, Mr. Dees left the station.
Mr. Dees became the hottest property in radio when he began hosting the top rated morning radio show in Los Angeles on KIIS-FM in July 1981. In a short time, he turned KIIS-FM into the #1 revenue generating radio station in America with an asset value approaching one-half billion dollars. With unprecedented ratings success, Dees garnered many accolades, including Billboard Radio Personality of the Year ten years in a row.
He began his Weekly Top 40 Countdown, still currently in syndication, in September 1983; the show was created after Dees' station, KIIS, lost American Top 40 to a rival station over the playing of network commercials.[4] The Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 is now heard each weekend in over 200 cities worldwide and the Armed Forces Radio Network. It is distributed domestically by Citadel Broadcasting and internationally by Dees Entertainment International (through Radio Express). In December 2008, the Weekly Top 40 became the first English speaking radio show to air in China. The Countdown is available in two different versions: Hit Radio (for contemporary hit radio stations), and Hot Adult (hot adult contemporary radio stations), both of which are accessible for online streaming on his official website, RICK.COM.
After 23 years on KIIS, Rick was replaced in 2004 by Ryan Seacrest. Rick returned to Los Angeles radio in August 2006 on Movin 93.9, hosting the morning show along with Patti "Long Legs" Lopez and Mark Wong. On April 15, 2009, Movin 93.9 changed format, dismissing its radio personalities and changing the format to Spanish Contemporary or Spanish Hits. Rick continues his Weekly Top 40 show each week.
Throughout his long and highly successful career, Dees has garnered many accolades, including the Marconi Award, the National Radio Hall of Fame, and his induction into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. In 1984, he received a Grammy Award nomination for his comedy album Hurt Me Baby - Make Me Write Bad Checks and has since received the Grammy Governor’s Award. His other comedy albums - I'm Not Crazy, Rick Dees’ Greatest Hit (The White Album), and Put It Where The Moon Don’t Shine have also enjoyed worldwide success. He is an inductee in the North Carolina Broadcast Hall Of Fame, has received the People's Choice Award and has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rick is regarded one of the most listened to and influential entertainers of his era.
Movies and television
In television, Dees hosted his own late-night show on the ABC television network in the early 1990s, Into the Night with Rick Dees.[5] He has guest-starred on Roseanne, Married... with Children, Cheers, Diagnosis: Murder and many other hit shows. In addition, Dees hosted the popular syndicated series, Solid Gold, from Paramount Television, and his voice has been enjoyed on numerous animated features, including The Flintstones where he starred as Rock Dees, and Jetsons: The Movie, where he played Rocket Rick.
In feature films, Rick Dees had a leading role in La Bamba, portraying Ted Quillen, the young man who helped launch Ritchie Valens's career.
Further interests
While his ingrained sense of the absurd and his fervent love of comedy have earned him top ratings in every city in which he has performed, Dees also has become a consummate businessman and entrepreneur outside the radio world. He is the co-founder of FINE LIVING, the lifestyle cable and satellite network in partnership with E.W. Scripps Networks. FINE LIVING is now in over 50 million homes. He is also the founder of DDN - The Dees Digital Network, the online engine that drives RICK.COM with advertising powered by Ronning-Lipset Radio.
An avid outdoorsman, Dees is passionate about preserving the open land in America. He is also a farmer, raising both crops and cattle in central Kentucky. He loves water skiing and golf, and has a handicap of 6 on the links. He even caddied at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia for Mark O’Meara. Rick is also an ardent pastry chef, who loves to bake anything with chocolate.
Active in Young Life, an organization committed to helping youth in their formative years, Rick also is a proud participant in the Boy Scouts of America, having earned the rank of Eagle Scout himself at age 15.
Rick Dees currently resides in Los Angeles, with his comedienne/impressionist wife Julie McWhirter. Rick and Julie have a son, Kevin (who is also the segment co-host of the Weekly Top 40).
Controversy
In 1984, Dees (and his record company) made a request of Marvin Fisher, the owner of the copyright in the music of the song "When Sonny Gets Blue," for permission to use the song in a parody of the performance by Johnny Mathis. Fisher refused to grant permission for the use. Dees decided to go ahead and do a parody even without the permission of the copyright holder, using about 29 seconds of the song in a parody album titled Put It Where the Moon Don't Shine.
Fisher sued Dees for copyright infringement. The trial court found that the parody, titled "When Sonny Sniffs Glue," was clearly intended to "poke fun" at the style of singing for which Johnny Mathis was well known, and thus was not infringing. The decision was upheld on appeal. Fisher v. Dees 794 F.2d 432 (9th Cir. 1986)[6]
Discography
- 1977 - The Original Disco Duck
- 1983 - Hurt Me Baby, Make Me Write Bad Checks
- 1984 - Put It Where the Moon Don't Shine
- 1985 - I'm Not Crazy
- Rick Dees' Greatest Hit (The White Album)
- 1996 - Spousal Arousal
References
External links
