Jonathon "Johnny B" Brandmeier (born July 15, 1956) is a Chicago

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and musician.

Career

Born John Francis Brandmeier to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at

WFON WFON (107.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The station is owned by RBH Enterprises, Inc. History The station was originally owned by Lola Beckmann, and the original WFON studios were in the building that now houses a ...

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. When he was 18 he joined

WOSH WOSH (1490 AM) is a radio station serving the Oshkosh, Wisconsin area with a news/talk format including the ABC News Radio network. This station is under ownership of Cumulus Media. The station began broadcasting on December 31, 1941. Dur ...

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

, later working as a DJ at WYNE (now

WHBY WHBY (1150 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Kimberly, Wisconsin, that serves the Green Bay, Wisconsin, Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin, Appleton-Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Oshkosh areas. The station is o ...

) in

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, then at

KLIV KLIV (1590 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to San Jose, California, KLIV serves San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley with a Vietnamese format simulcasting KVVN. It is one of the last independently owned stations ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, then as the morning jock at WYBR-FM (now

WXRX WXRX (104.9 FM, commonly known as "The X") is a radio station. Licensed to Belvidere, Illinois, the station serves the Rockford, Illinois area. Originally created by a company called "Radio Works" run by David McAley and Robert Rhea Jr., it is ...

) in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, and then in 1980 at

WOKY WOKY (920 kHz, "Fox Sports 920") is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by iHeart in Milwaukee. WRNW focuses on Wisconsin-based sports shows, while WO ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. In February 1981, he was brought on as the

KZZP KZZP (104.7 FM) is a United States commercial radio station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. The station airs a top 40 (CHR) format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Studios and offices are on Eas ...

morning DJ in

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, where he participated in prank phone calls and silly song parodies. In 1982, Brandmeier released his first album ''Just Havin' Fun.'' WLUP ("The Loop") in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

hired him in 1983, where his morning show was broadcast on both the AM and FM stations. He formed and performed concerts with his band, "Johnny and the Leisure Suits". His most memorable songs include "We're All Crazy In Chicago" (a local Top Ten hit), "Hey Der Milwaukee Polka", and "The Moo-Moo Song" (based on an actual event in the 1980s when a local attempted to make love to a cow in the

Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868 and is the second oldest zoo in the United States. It is also one of a small number of zoos to offer fr ...

). In April 1986,

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...

aired his TV special "Johnny B. On TV". In 1989, he hosted

Friday Night Videos ''Friday Night Videos'' is an American music video/variety show, variety program that aired from July 29, 1983, to May 24, 2002, on NBC. Originally developed as an attempt by the network to capitalize on the emerging popularity of music videos, ...

with

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, and starred in the TV-movie "Thanksgiving Day" with

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

. In 1990, he hosted two "Jonathon Brandmeier From Chicago" late night specials on

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. In the summer of 1991,

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syndicated his "Johnny B. on the Loose". A management change at WLUP in 1997, however, led to the end of Brandmeier's 14-year run on The Loop. He hosted middays from 1998 to 2001 at

WCKG WCKG (1530 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Elmhurst, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It broadcasts a sports radio format and is owned by DuPage Radio, LLC. WCKG is a Fox Sports Radio Network affiliate. ...

in Chicago, which was replayed in

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at KLSX. After some time away from radio, he hosted mornings at

KCBS-FM KCBS-FM (93.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded "93.1 Jack FM". Unlike most radio stations airing t ...

from 2004 to 2005. Brandmeier returned to WLUP in fall 2005, hosting mornings until 2009. He made several appearances with his band, The Leisure Suits, on what he called "World Tour 2007." This included playing bars and theaters in the Chicago area. In 2008, he released a live 2-CD set, ''Larger Than Live'' of his 2007 Christmas show in

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located immediately northwest of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 3,952. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before ...

. On December 9, 2011, Brandmeier began a three-year run at WGN Radio. He moved from WGN to the online-only WGN.FM in September 2013 (and later WGWG-LP 87.7 FM in February 2014), but the FM station shut down operations in December 2014. On March 30, 2015, Brandmeier replaced

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster. Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' fro ...

as the midday host on

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

's nationwide talk radio lineup on 100-plus affiliates, including airing on

WLS (AM) WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS studios are in the NBC Tower on North Columbus D ...

in Chicago. Westwood One canceled the show on December 12, 2016, amid Brandmeier's dissatisfaction with network pressure on him to make the show a boilerplate

conservative talk radio Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

show. Brandmeier was named as a Radio Hall of Fame inductee in June 2018. On April 3, 2020, an email was sent to Jonathon Brandmeier fans entitled "You're not dreaming, we're streaming", informing them that Johnny and Buzz would be streaming the following day, April 4, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Central on Johnny's website. Johnny and Buzz streamed live on April 4, 2020, amid network congestion, for a couple hours to the delight of fans. This weekly "Showcast" continued to air live every Saturday at 10AM Central time until May 22, 2021.

Discography

Albums: * ''Just Havin' Fun'' (1982) * ''Almost Live'' (1984) * ''Brandmeier'' (1989) * ''Dink'' (1994) * ''Larger Than Live'' (2008) Singles: :1981: :*Johnny in the Morning (Just Havin' Fun) b/w Mick Jagger (What Makes Your Lips So Big?) :*The Snowbird Song b/w Did The Stones Show Up? :1983: :*Lookin' For A Livin' b/w Party Animals (Promotional release only) :*The Moo Moo Song b/w Party Animals :1986: :*We're All Crazy In Chicago b/w We're All Crazy In Chicago (Extended Mix)

Career

Discography

References

External links