The story isn't all that unique amongst us in the radio business.

"My dad took me with him to 'KMI in the mid 60's to talk with someone in advertising. Watched Al Horn do a break. My earliest memories of wanting to be on the radio." Bob Stroud shared that memory about a year ago, reminiscing on Facebook's Vanished Kalamazoo.

That dream of wanting to be on the radio begins to wind down at the end of the month when Stroud retires from WDRV-FM in Chicago on June 30th.

(97.1FM The Drive via YouTube)

But you talk about living out a dream. The kid from Comstock who wanted to be on the radio in Chicago did it for over forty years. On his resume are the call letters of the legendary rock station WLUP, (and when that station went away in 2018, it really choked him up. That may also happen to some listeners on June 30th. More than just some; Stroud has been the top-rated midday personality in Chicago for years, and has a weekly audience of almost half a million.

But the good news is, it's only a semi-retirement. One of Stroud's proudest projects is the "Rock and Roll Roots" oldies show and that will continue on the station. As likely will his relationship with some of the Chicago bands from his youth. One, in particular, was special. Stroud for a number of years was the lead singer for a local band, the Cryan' Shames, who had several hits in the late 1960s.

(60s70sChicagoRock via YouTube)

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