Janet Jackson "Together Again"

After graduating from college in 1999, I returned to my part-time DJ job at Windy 100 (WNND-FM) in Chicago. At that time, the upstart Adult Contemporary radio station was about a year old and had already eaten away at 93.9 Lite-FM's (WLIT-FM) stronghold on the market. The heritage radio station continued to present itself as an at-work radio station that shuffled through a "safe" playlist of ballads and without talk (DJs with personality). By contrast, Windy 100 pounded their mantra of "No Lite, Sleepy, Snoring, or Boring" music. While the station certainly did play some soft music (see "My Heart Will Go On"), it surrounded those songs with more upbeat tunes. Lite-FM eventually followed Windy 100's lead and added more contemporary and uptempo songs like "Together Again" from Janet Jackson -- music that the old Lite-FM would never play. By 2000, Windy 100 overtook The Lite in key demographics which led to a revolving door of personnel changes at 93.9 including their longtime Program Director and numerous on-air voices.

Sade "Smooth Operator"

Most people immediately name Delilah when they think about late night radio request shows and hosts, but those in Columbus and Chicago also will name John Symons and his "Love Notes" show. With his smooth baritone voice, Symons earned legions of fans in both markets for his years of playing love songs mixed with listener requests and dedications on the radio. Symons most recently worked for WLIT-FM in Chicago (coincidentally he replaced Delilah), but spent many years at cross-town rival Windy 100 (WNND-FM).

Celine Dion - "To Love You More" (redux)

(this is the first repeat song...and it's for a bittersweet reason...)

A couple years before this song was released to Adult Contemporary radio stations, it aired exclusively in Japan and on Adult Contemporary-powerhouse WLIT-FM in Chicago.  It was 1996 and Celine's career was sizzling,  WLIT seized this opportunity to play a rare commodity that no other Adult Contemporary radio station had.  It was the pre-MP3 era and the only way you could hear this song was to tape the song off the radio.  I lucked out one afternoon and remember hearing afternoon host Megan Reed's voice come on after the song.  Megan was one of the crown jewels at WLIT during the station's era of dominance in Chicago.  No voice was more synonymous with WLIT than Meg's as she regularly sat atop the ratings.  My high school used to play the radio quietly over its intercom system so it was common to hear the station if I was walking the hallways during class.  Hearing Meg's voice meant it was just about time for school to be over and for me to go home (her shift usually started at 2pm).  

In 2005, Megan joined the station where I was working.  I trained her and helped get her acclimated to the station.  We quickly formed a friendship and bond that extended well beyond just being co-workers.  Megan had an extraordinary knack for saying something so incredibly witty and funny right out of the blue.  We joked that about this and she seemed to thrive on the challenge to "wow" me when I least expected it.

Megan took a vested interest in my personal life often talking to me about relationships.  "Relationships are actually not hard," she told me one afternoon.  "Relationships are not hard when you're with the right person."  Those words stuck with me.

After enduring months of serious back pain in 2014, Megan's doctors discovered that the back pain was actually cancer.  With that prognosis, she left us in September of that year to begin a tough battle against brain and breast cancer.  We kept in touch via email and text message.  Then in April of 2015, Meg returned to the radio station finally healthy enough to join us for a lunch in her honor.  We all shared stories and gave her suggestions for TV shows to watch on Netflix because she spent a lot of time in bed recovering from her many treatments.  Her health took a turn for the worse at the end of 2015 and the news that we had all been dreading for months was delivered on February 14, 2016.  Megan was no longer in pain and joined God at the great big radio station in the sky.

In a business filled with egos, narcissism, and nut jobs, Megan was a breath of fresh air.  With a personality that sparkled both on and off the air, Megan was a treasure.  She was my friend, one of my biggest fans, and a person whose absence has left a giant void.  We were all lucky to spend our middays with Megan and she will be missed dearly...

Dan Fogelberg - "Longer"

One verse of Dan Fogelberg's 1980 hit "Longer", and I can almost hear the voice over saying, "You've turned on the Lite.  93.9 WLIT Chicago."  The dentist will see you now.