After Friday morning, Chris O’Brien and Janeen Coyle not can be Married with Microphones.
Chris, who began in radio 60 years in the past subsequent spring, and Janeen, who debuted on Cincinnati-area radio 45 years in the past, are retiring from broadcasting after a Friday morning on-air social gathering with their many buddies.
“It will likely be a festive time,” says Chris, 72, who got here to Cincinnati’s WKRQ-FM (Q102) to host evenings in March 1974, or 50 years in the past subsequent spring. Janeen was employed to do weekends at sister Taft Broadcasting station WKRC-AM in 1979, when she was 19, after working a number of months at Covington’s tiny WCLU-AM (1320).
“It is time to sleep in,” says Chris, who turns 73 in June.
For a lot of the previous 5 a long time, Chris has supplied a witty wake-up name for Higher Cincinnati listeners. Janeen, his spouse since 1985, joined him to co-host WGRR-FM mornings in 1995. They’re as entertaining as we speak as they have been on Q102 within the Nineteen Seventies.
“The most important praise we get from listeners is after they say, ‘You sound similar to us,’ ” O’Brien advised me after I visited them throughout their present final week in Cumulus Media’s Norwood studios.
“We won’t start to thank our listeners for his or her loyalty, a lot of them following us since our Q102 days within the ’70s and ’80s,” Coyle says.
Chris left Q102 within the mid-Nineteen Seventies for a Chicago station, however returned in 1979 for the launch of the Q Morning Zoo with Jim Fox, Jim “Squirrel” Stadtmiller and newsman Scott Shively. By 1986, Chris would do the final hour solo whereas Fox did his program director chores. Janeen typically got here in early for his noon shift after they married in 1985.
Did they’ve any issues about working collectively on the air?
“Again on the Q, she got here in and did the final hour with me. We had a style of it. It was one other 9 years earlier than we might work collectively,” Chris says.
“It was onerous at first. However I by no means had any doubts it could work with the listeners.” Janeen says. The couple received a prestigious Marconi Award final yr for greatest large-market radio character of the yr from the Nationwide Affiliation of Broadcasters.
When WLWT-TV main information anchors Sheree Paolello and Mike Dardis introduced their engagement in 2019, Chris and Janeen provided them recommendation in a narrative on my weblog.
They inspired the TV information group to speak about work from home; do not go to mattress offended; and all the time drive to work in separate automobiles.
“The worst factor is to start out off the day with an argument if he is driving too quick,” Janeen says.
For years they drove individually from their Mason house. Chris will get up first, about 3:45 a.m., and wakes up Janeen earlier than leaving the home. After their 5-9 a.m. present, Chris works with manufacturing issues whereas Janeen works with gross sales individuals and administrative points. Since final January, when Janeen had a knee alternative, they have been commuting in a single automotive.
On WGRR-FM’s “Biggest Hits” format, they’re taking part in a number of the identical songs they performed on Q102: Journey, Survivor, Prince, Elton John, Billy Joel, Madonna, Duran Duran, The Automobiles and Lionel Richie.
When Chris began on WGRR-FM mornings in 1991, with accordion-playing newsman Tony Michaels, they performed Fifties hits by Chuck Berry and Fat Domino.
“These songs have been so quick! Solely two minutes! Not sufficient time to go to the toilet,” he says.
Expertise has modified too. The songs have been on CDs, commercials have been on eight track-like carts, and interviews have been recorded on reel-to-reel recorders. Now every little thing is completed on a pc.
Chris started in radio at age 13 in 1964 internet hosting a half-hour present on WOLS-AM in his hometown of Florence, S.C. “We did remotes by telegraph,” he jokes.
Janeen began on the Covington station whereas learning on the College of Cincinnati by taking a bus Downtown and transferring to a TANK bus to Latonia. “I used to be finished (on the station) at 9 p.m. and needed to hustle to catch the bus again to Cincinnati, or I needed to wait two hours until the following one,” she says.
She was Jerry Thomas’ sidekick throughout mornings on WKRC-AM in 1995 earlier than becoming a member of her husband at WGRR-FM. The identify Married with Microphones got here from the Enquirer headline on my story about them beginning to work collectively in October 1995. Tempo part copy editor Lisa Sullivan, spouse of sports activities columnist Tim Sullivan, wrote the headline.
“If it wasn’t for her, we would be doing the Janeen & Chris Present,” Janeen advised me after they introduced their retirement in October. She’s going to proceed working as an actual property dealer for RE/MAX United Associates, as she’s finished the previous two years.
Requested to call their favourite studio friends, O’Brien rattles off an inventory from Who’s Who: William Shatner, Kenny Rogers, comic Tim Conway; singer Donny Osmond; actor Peter Faulk (Columbo); and musicians Peter Frampton, Gene Simmons and Davey Jones and Peter Tork from The Monkees.
“We have been very lucky,” O’Brien says.
And shortly it is going to be over.
“It is onerous to consider,” he says.
Their Friday friends will embrace their former Q102 boss Randy Michaels; Marty Brennaman; common morning present friends Randi Rico, John Matarese and astronomer Dean Regas; former radio coworkers Jim LaBarbara and Ernie Brown; former Reds outfielder George Foster; WCPO-TV’s Tanya O’Rourke and Steve Raleigh; and GameDay publicist Kathrine Nero.
Chris and Janeen say they’re going to proceed to be concerned with the SCPA, Disabled American Veterans and the annual Dancing For The Stars fundraiser.
Do they count on to do radio once more?
“I doubt it,” Janeen says. Chris chimes in shortly, “Possibly a podcast on down the street.”
