By Rick Kaempfer
MENTORED BY LEGENDS
S
Joe Cicero
tar 105.5 ( McHenry-based ) morning show host Joe Cicero grew up in the Chicago area during one of local radio ’ s strongest eras--the early to mid-90s . “ I grew up in Addison ,” he explains , “ and I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and drove a delivery van . That gave me a lot of time with the radio . I started to listen to North and Jiggetts , and they were tremendous . Great team , great balance . I also listened to Howard Stern on WCKG . And of course Johnny B , Kevin Matthews , and Steve Dahl .”
For the latter few , Cicero even got a front row seat . “ I got to intern at WCKG , and it was so great . I can ’ t even tell you what a thrill that was . Dahl had a big influence on me . I still get people saying to me that my voice and the things I talk about , especially my boys , reminds them of Steve Dahl . I consider that the greatest compliment .”
He got to know a few of the personalities at WCKG , and they helped mentor his fledgling career . “ Pete McMurray was the one who taught me how to do a show , how to do prep , and how to execute it . He ’ s the nicest guy in the world , and I can ’ t give him enough credit . I was doing overnights at WCKG after Opie and Anthony blew up . It was like the Wild West and nobody ever airchecked ( critiqued ) me . They let me do whatever I wanted . Kevin Matthews was also great to me . He literally got me a job . He actually called a station in Colorado and got me my first morning show when I really needed it . My mom had just passed away and I needed help . I will never forget him for that .”
After a few years in Colorado , Cicero landed in the northwest suburbs , and he has been there ever since . He is now the morning show host , program director , and music director , and enjoys wearing all three hats . “ I love doing mornings ,” he says . “ I still get revved up to do it every day , to be there as people are getting their kids ready for school , and the music part of it is still fun because it ’ s newer to me . I ’ ve been doing mornings since 2002 / 2003 , and I ’ ve only been doing music for a few years so it ’ s still fresh and fun .”
As for the program director job ? “ If there are ever any technical issues or problems on the air , I ’ m pretty calm . My co-host Tina will say to me ‘ Why aren ’ t you mad right now ?’ but who am I going to get mad at ? I ’ m the program director . It has mellowed me out on the talent side of things because I have a much better understanding of the other side now . I learned a lot from Jack Paddeo ( a predecessor in the role ).”
Cicero is one of the growing number of radio folks who started in Chicago before moving out to the suburbs . The pipeline used to flow the other direction . “ Eddie Volkman ( Fox Morning Man ) is like ten feet away from me every morning ( Matrix Broadcasting owns both Star and the Fox ). I ’ ve gotten to see him re-energized every morning . To see people who have been in Chicago come out here and see what we do is awesome . You can really see Eddie and Capone ( formerly of the Loop , now at the Fox ) react to the greater freedom and lack of pressure . These guys are happier than ever .”
One thing working in suburban radio has taught Cicero is how to concentrate on the local audience . That ’ s in Joe ’ s mind every single day as he plans out his show . “ We start local first . Always . Northwest burbs first , then we stretch out to Chicago , then to national stories , and then to international , but we always super-serve the local community . We essentially became a rallying point for the area during the recent floods--we were out there helping people save their homes . I think some Chicago radio stations lose sight of the fact that they are a local station . That ’ s something we simply can ’ t do . We break format if we have to – people still go to the radio when big things are happening . I want to make sure we are relaying that information via our air and our social media . It ’ s so important . Nothing is more important .”
And Cicero has seemingly mastered the use of social media to help spread the word . His simultaneous on-air and on-line bits are doing an incredible job of converting listeners into on-line users , and vice versa . When I asked him about it , he had that day ’ s ( Sept . 7 ) stats at his fingertips , as well as the similar formats on the Chicago radio dial . “ Our engagement this week on Facebook is 6500 people . The Mix ( 101.9 ) is 6200 . The Mix has 72,000 likes on their Facebook page , we have 29,000 . Their morning show has over 100,000 likes , and their engagement this week is 1800 . We are converting at a much higher rate . B-96 ’ s engagement this week is 3300 . Kiss-FM ’ s engagement is 1800 . We have more engagement with a fifth or a sixth of their social media listening audience .”
Did I mention Joe is also a program director ? Joe Cicero and his co-host Tina Bree can be heard every weekday from 5-10am on Star 105.5 in Crystal Lake .
16 illinoisentertainer . com october 2017