The Hardest Working Man In R&B Oldies
Written Mar. 4, 2009 by Sean Ross in Content + Terrestrial Radio with 3 Comments
Richard Pegue, who died yesterday of heart failure at age 64, may be a new name to you. But he was a household name to any Chicagoan who grew up with or listened to the R&B of the '60s and '70s. He was also the hardest working man in R&B oldies. When I worked with Richard Pegue at WGCI-AM (Dustyradio 1390) Chicago in the early '90s, he was both my consultant and my Saturday night Oldies host. During the week, he had his own ad agency, then worked a nine hour show, "The Best Music of Your Life," on Saturday night/Sunday morning. When he suffered two strokes and a heart attack in the mid-'90s, he eventually cut that shift down to only five or six hours. Over the years, the show would move from WGCI-AM to WVON and most recently to WKKC.
Richard was also an asset to me as a first-time PD of a station that he had previously programmed; (he had also been OM of WGCI-FM). We worked together under inherently awkward circumstances; he was one of at least four WGCI staffers who had expressed interest in the PD job. He knew me only as a journalist who had interviewed him once. But he stayed on as consultant, and remarkably, even though the station I heard was different from what he would have done of his own volition, worked enthusiastically to help flesh out and execute my ideas -- something I've tried to keep in mind working with Edison clients. He is already missed.
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
I grew up in Chicago, and whenever I was tuning around and heard his distinctive voice, I always stopped and I always listened. He was always entertaining and I'd usually hear something cool I hadn't heard before. Thanks for remembering Richard.
Sean...Richard was truly the hardest working man in radio. He spent many nights in the stations that he worked at, squeaking everything from the music to the signal itself. Bobby O'Jay once said to me, "Damn, what don't he know about this shit?" From the programing to prosessing, Richard knew it all. I can truly say that I learned how to programing and do production from one of the best...Richard Earl Pegue. Rest in peace "Uncle Richard".
Richard was one of the great pioneers of r&b radio!
i had heard of Richard early off in my career. Being from Bufalo (little chicago) as far as radio is concerned you always were within an ears reach of what was going on in the urban radio arena. Richards name came up quite a bit! I only got to met him once while I was PD of V103 in Chicago in 91-93 working with the greatest man in radio Barry Mayo!
God Bless RP! He will be missed!
RA