NIGHT ROCK: A Brief History Lesson

That "one day" came about in early 2004, shortly after Lounges had a chance encounter with "Hegewisch Lisa" Sotiros, the niece of "Hegewisch Joe" Sotiros. Lisa had heard Lounges on the radio while tuning in X-ROCK and contacted him via email to “catch up on things.”

After much dialogue, Sotiros and Lounges decided to pool their resources and pitched X-ROCK's management with the idea to let them broker a new NIGHT ROCK. They figured why not do what "Hegewisch Joe" had done nearly 30 years earlier.

Rosenberg, a big fan of the original show went to bat for them. Rosenberg was then asked by Lounges to co-host and engineer the restructured NIGHT ROCK program, which ultimately launched on March 7, 2004.

“Scott is very knowledgeable when it comes to music and he’s a lot of fun to work with on the air,” said Lounges. “If it were not for Scott, I might never have returned to radio. I think it’s way cool to be on the air with someone who was such a loyal Night Rock fan in the old days. Scott was there as a listener, so he knows what the old show was like. I think we are doing a good job recreating that “special groove” which the old show had on this new incarnation being done now every Sunday night. It’s got our own twist to be sure, but it is very much in the spirit of the original show that my old buddies Kevin Weber and Van Pudlo, pioneered, along with Don Nelson.”

The new NIGHT ROCK debuted on March 7th with a “Three-Hour Special.” A "NIGHT ROCK LISTENING PARTY" was held that first night at Soprano's Night Club in Griffith.

That kick off gala was attended by many of the show’s old listeners, as well as by many area musicians from the old days and many current club players. All were excited to hear that the legendary program was coming back and once again giving local music a home on region radio air waves, while keeping the forgotten artists of the past alive and well.

That first broadcast featured plenty of “on air” reminiscing by veteran NIGHT ROCK guests, including members of the late ‘70s area bands M&R Rush, Deep River Band and The Hounds.

That debut show and the second week’s broadcast also featured the original NIGHT ROCK's most popular and respected “on air” personality, Kevin Weber, who took the time to drive up from his home in Indianapolis to give his rock ‘n’ roll blessings and to help kick off the program.

Originally done on a strictly experimental basis, the first three months of the show were pre-recorded, one-hour segments that aired from 6-7pm on Sunday nights.

Like its predecessor, the new NIGHT ROCK featured a wealth of "deep cuts" and "forgotten classics" by both well-known artists and more obscure legendary artists rarely heard on radio today.

Local music has remained a big part this new incarnation of NIGHT ROCK. Just as it was in the “good old days,” regional artists often pop in at the X-ROCK broadcast studio on Sundays to join Tom, Scott and “Hegewisch Lisa” as “on air” guests. As in the old days, plenty of great homegrown music still gets showcased each week on the program.

Due to strong listener response and popular demand, the X-ROCK station management recently allowed the three-month-old Sunday show to expand.

Much thanks also to all of those advertisers who believed in the dream enough to help support it with commercial spots. Especially to Bub Pullins of Cronies Charhouse & Gin Mill, who has been advertising faithfully with us every week since our very first show!

On July 25, NIGHT ROCK was taken to the next level. It became a three hour live program that now takes phone requests from listeners and presents various “on air” call-in contests.

NIGHT ROCK is THE place where “true music fans” can tune in to hear some of the best classic rock music being featured ANYWHERE on any radio dial today!

Flash back to experience how things sounded during the glory days of free-form radio. NIGHT ROCK lives! Tune it in every Sunday as we play the music that you had on your turntables back in the day!

Special thanks to Don Nelson for helping us to remember and reconstruct the historical details about the early years of NIGHT ROCK

< 1 2 3 4