Rick Dees

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Rick Dees bigraphy, stories - Radio personality, comedic performer

Rick Dees : biography

March 14, 1950 –

Rigdon Osmond "Rick" Dees III (born March 14, 1950) is an American comedic performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the 1976 novelty song "Disco Duck". He is a People’s Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated performing artist, and Broadcast Hall of Fame inductee. He wrote two songs that appear in the film Saturday Night Fever, plus performed the title song for the film Meatballs.. IMDb.com Dees is also co-founder of the E. W. Scripps television network, Fine Living Network, and has been the host of the Rick Dees in the Morning show at Hot 92.3 in Los Angeles, CA as well as his own syndicated daily radio show The Daily Dees.

Early life

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Dees was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. He graduated from Greensboro’s Grimsley High School, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

Discography

  • 1976 – The Original Disco Duck
  • 1983 – Hurt Me Baby, Make Me Write Bad Checks
  • 1984 – Put It Where the Moon Don’t Shine
  • 1985 – I’m Not Crazy
  • 1985 – Rick Dees’ Greatest Hit (The White Album) (Macola Record Co., MRC 0971)
  • 1996 – Spousal Arousal
Year Song Billboard Hot 100 UK Singles Chart
1976 "Disco Duck (Part One)" #1 #6
1977 "Dis-Gorilla (Part One)" #56
1978 "Bigfoot" #110 (Bub. Under)
1984 "Get Nekked" #104 (Bub. Under)
1984 "Eat My Shorts" #75

Further interests

Outside of his radio career Dees has become a businessman and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the now defunct Fine Living Network, the lifestyle cable and television satellite network in partnership with E. W. Scripps Networks. He is also the founder of DDN – The Dees Digital Network.

Dees is a farmer, raising both crops and cattle in central Kentucky. He loves water skiing and golf. He even caddied at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, for Mark O’Meara. Rick is also an ardent pastry chef, who loves to bake anything with chocolate.

Dees is active in Young Life, a Christian organization serving areas that have limited or no Christian influence. Dees is also a participant in the Boy Scouts of America, having earned the rank of Eagle Scout himself at age 15.

Dees currently resides in Los Angeles with his comedienne/impressionist wife, Julie McWhirter. Rick and Julie have a son, Kevin (who is also the segment co-host of the Weekly Top 40 show).

Movies and television

In television, Dees hosted his own late-night show on the ABC television network in the early 1990s, Into the Night Starring Rick Dees, which only lasted one season and was canceled because of low ratings.Groupe, Kasan. (2010-09-13) . Linkroll.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-21. He has guest-starred on Roseanne, Married… with Children, Cheers, Diagnosis: Murder and many other hit shows. In addition, Dees hosted the popular syndicated series, Solid Gold, from Paramount Television, and his voice has been enjoyed on numerous animated features, including The Flintstones, where he starred as Rock Dees, and Jetsons: The Movie, where he played Rocket Rick.

In feature films, Rick Dees had a minor role in La Bamba, portraying Ted Quillin, the Los Angeles disc jockey who helped launch Ritchie Valens’s career.

Radio career

Dees began his radio career at WGBG, a Greensboro radio station, while still in high school. He worked in various radio stations throughout the southeastern United States, including WXYC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, WSGN in Birmingham, Alabama, and WKIX in Raleigh, North Carolina.