Film Showcasing Career Of Iconic DJ Dick Biondi Debuts Thursday At BAC

Arts & Entertainment

Film Showcasing Career Of Iconic DJ Dick Biondi Debuts Thursday At BAC A new documentary showcasing the 60-year career of iconic radio DJ Dick Biondi debuts Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Beverly Arts Center.

CHICAGO — The long awaited documentary about the coolest, hippest, Radio Hall of Famer – the late, great Dick Biondi – will receive a special viewing Thursday, Nov. 14. The film screening and fundraiser starts at 6 p.m. at the Beverly Arts Center , 2407 W. 111th St., Chicago. Proceeds from the screening will go toward putting the final touches on the film before its release.

At age 14, filmmaker Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice's life changed forever when she met her idol, WLS DJ Dick Biondi, at a local shopping center in 1962, as founder and president of Biondi's fan club.

"He was a simple guy," Enzweiler-Pulice said, who spent years interviewing Biondi up until his death at age 90 in 2021. "He lived in a third floor walkup near O'Hare airport. He was very humble."

In the 1950's and 1960's rock n' roll took America by storm, and with it the first wave of Baby Boomers who were just starting to come of age. But disc jockeys held the real power. DJ's decided what records to play. They could make or break an artist's career. Record executives regarded Biondi as a hitmaker. Playing a record on Biondi's show guaranteed an artist maximum exposure. Many of today's biggest names in rock credit Biondi with helping to launch their careers.

"The Voice That Rocked America: The Dick Biondi Story " Trailer

Biondi was the first to play the Beatles on American radio nine months before the Fab Four's debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. He broke the Beach Boys and set them on their path to global stardom. He also knew Elvis. Biondi wrote song parodies like "On Top Of A Pizza" (to the tune of "On Top Of Old Smokey"), which became regional novelty hits among his legions of teen fans. He's also a member of the National Radio of Fame .

Known under various nicknames — the Screamer, the Big Noise from Buffalo and The Wild I-Tralian — Biondi was fired 25 times from radio, once for complaining about the number of commercials he had to play during his first WLS stint from 1960 to 1963. Leaving Chicago, he knocked around the country, from Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles, until his triumphant return to Chicago in 1967 to WLS-rival – WCFL.

Richard Orlando Biondi was born in Endicott, New York, in 1932 to Rose and Michael Biondi, a homemaker and a fireman. He grew up a bit of a yakker in an Italian American neighborhood known as the Nob. Up until age 8, Biondi wanted to be a priest, until he discovered a local radio station. Visiting often, the DJ invited the boy in to read a commercial live on the radio. When he returned home, friends and neighbors told him they heard him on the radio. He was hooked.

Dick Biondi (at the wheel) with teen fans in the 1960s.

Biondi began his radio career in 1950 playing "race" records in the deep South where he discovered rock 'n roll. He introduced Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Darin and Paul Anka at local sock hops. He earned a reputation as a rebel DJ on the side of his teen audience with his stickin'-it-to-the-boss routines.

At age 85, Biondi was still spinning golden oldies on the evening shift at WLS 94.7 FM, the same station that once fired him. Months after WLS honored him with day-long birthday tribute, Biondi was sidelined by a leg ailment in 2017. He was eventually dropped from the WLS-FM lineup, thus ending his 60-year career in radio.

Enzweiler-Pulice hooked up with her mentor in 2014, when Biondi was still working the evening shift at WLS-FM. Biondi gave her his blessing to work on a documentary honoring his career and legacy, generously providing photos and a list of celebrities to include in the project.

Dick Biondi wrote song parodies the became regional hits.

A decade in the making, "The Voice That Rocked America: The Dick Biondi Story " is completed but not yet released. The 60-minute film is in the final stages of copyright clearance of photos and footage.

It's a very time consuming, tedious process," Enzweiler-Pulice said. "Attorneys have to look at the film frame by frame."

Like many indie film projects, Enzweiler-Pulice and her production team have raised $175,000 to fund chronicling the iconic radio personality's amazing radio career spanning over six decades "including the birth of American Rock & Roll and the evolution of pop music."

To bring the documentary over the finish line, the production team is hoping to raise another $30,000 for the licensing clearance. PBS has seen the film and wants to air it.

"We're trying to raise money to get it distributed to streaming platforms, DVDs and maybe a few film festivals," Enzweiler-Pulice said. "We're looking for sponsors."

Among the current sponsors are Beverly Records , Jim Peterik of Ides of March, and Ron Onesti, who is also a co-producer and founder of Onesti Entertainment , a provider of live entertainment, concerts, theatrical shows, corporate events, festivals, casino shows, and unique dining experiences. Onesti played a crucial role in fundraising for "The Dick Biondi Film."

Paul Shaffer, former band conductor for "The David Letterman Show" and leader of the World's Most Dangerous Band , is also a sponsor. Shaffer used to listen to Biondi's voice bouncing over the waves of Lake Michigan as a teen in Canada.

Tickets to the fundraiser at the Beverly Arts Center are $20 for members, $23 for non-members and can be purchased online or at the door. Admission includes refreshments and a cash bar in the Atrium at 6 p.m., followed by live music with the Fab-Tones and remarks by DJ Scott Childers . A full screening of the 60-minute film begins at 7:30 p.m. with a Q&A to follow with director Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice.

Enzweiler-Pulice didn't consider filmmaking until her sixties after her retirement. Today she is president of her own production company, Reel Stories .

"I'm 77 and I made my first movie," she said.