{"id":21355,"date":"2019-04-12T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=21355"},"modified":"2019-04-12T14:34:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T19:34:04","slug":"crazy-comeback-fan-favorite-howard-mcgee-joins-v103","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2019\/04\/12\/crazy-comeback-fan-favorite-howard-mcgee-joins-v103\/","title":{"rendered":"Crazy comeback: 'Fan favorite' Howard McGee joins V103"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Crazy Howard McGee<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s the biggest radio comeback of the year: Crazy Howard McGee, who was one of Chicago\u2019s most popular morning stars before he lost his job to Steve Harvey, is about to join Chicago\u2019s top-rated music station after a 12-year absence from the airwaves.<\/p>\n

McGee has been hired as weekend and fill-in host at WVAZ 102.7-FM,<\/a> the iHeartMedia urban adult-contemporary station known as V103. It\u2019s the same company that owns urban contemporary WGCI 107.5-FM, where the irrepressible and charismatic personality spent 14 years, rising from part-time jock to middays, afternoons and then mornings.<\/p>\n

Starting April 20, McGee will host from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays on V103. At the same time, Jeanne Sparrow will move to mornings (6 a.m. to noon); Joe Soto\u2019s \u201cBack in the Day\u201d will run from 5 to 10 p.m.; and \u201cSaturday Night Stepper\u2019s Set\u201d with Glenn Cosby with air from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

V103<\/p><\/div>\n

McGee\u2019s comeback was the masterstroke of Derrick Brown, director of urban programming for iHeartMedia Chicago, and urban adult-contemporary brand coordinator for iHeartMedia nationwide.<\/p>\n

The two had been in touch for the last year when Brown invited McGee to appear on Ericka \u201cSundance\u201d Ingram\u2019s weekend show. \u201cI thought: \u2018This guy is great!\u2019\u201d Brown said. \u201cSo I called him and said, \u2018Howard, I\u2019m telling you, the next slot I have is yours.\u2019 And I kept my word. I\u2019m very happy about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more than elated to have Howard back in the fold at iHeartMedia Chicago. He\u2019s a fan favorite with deep ties to the community. This is going to be a fun ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chicago Sun-Times July 6, 2007<\/p><\/div>\n

McGee, who grew up on the South Side and attended Southern Illinois University, was among the top three highest-rated morning hosts in Chicago \u2014 and No. 1 in his target demographic \u2014 when he picked up the Sun-Times one morning in 2007 to read on the front page that WGCI was dropping him for Harvey\u2019s nationally syndicated morning show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out I was being replaced on the Chicago Sun-Times,\u201d he later recalled. It took two weeks before the bosses of Clear Channel Radio (iHeartMedia's predecessor) told him the story was true and that he was out. \u201cI thought I was dreaming. I thought it was a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later Harvey's morning show moved to V103, where it's still airing today.<\/p>\n

A man without a microphone, McGee went on to fulfill his entrepreneurial ambitions, operating several South Side chicken restaurants and launching an entertainment and special events company. But he longed to get back on the radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would take a part-time job on the radio right now,\u201d he told <\/a>Sparrow and Melissa Forman in 2016. \u201cI miss that companionship \u2014 that intimacy, if you will \u2014 with the listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s signing on as a weekend and fill-in host for now, don\u2019t be surprised if McGee moves up quickly at V103.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have plans for Howard,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI really want to get him involved in a lot of things. He\u2019s going to be a fill-in jock for the station, and when it comes to appearances, endorsements and community things, I want to get him in front of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years ago I asked McGee how he came to be called \u201cCrazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>An ex-wife gave him the name long before he got into radio, he told me. \u201cIt was because of the things that I talk about, the way I think. I\u2019m always dissecting things and trying to find out the true meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople used to say: \u2018But you\u2019re not crazy. You\u2019re a nice guy.\u2019 And I would tell them it\u2019s \u2018crazy\u2019 in a good way. But I was always loud and in your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome back, Crazy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the biggest radio comeback of the year: Crazy Howard McGee, who was one of Chicago\u2019s most popular morning stars before he lost his job to Steve Harvey, is about to join Chicago\u2019s top-rated music station after a 12-year absence from the airwaves. McGee has been hired as weekend and fill-in host at WVAZ 102.7-FM,... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21355"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21368,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355\/revisions\/21368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}