Longtime syndicated host Dick Bartley will cease production on “Dick Bartley’s Classic Hits” and “Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits“.
Distributed by United Stations since 2009, affiliates were notified this week of the end of the two shows following the weekend of January 1 and 2, 2022.
A member of the Radio Hall of Fame, Bartley has hosted weekly Oldies/Classic Hits shows in syndication since 1982. Bartley began his radio career in 1969 in Lynchburg VA and worked at stations there and Charlottesville until joining WBBM-FM Chicago in 1975 as MD/afternoon host. He moved to mornings the following year and was promoted to Program Director in 1977 before moving to 103.5 WFYR the following year first as midday host and later Program Director. In 1980, he debuted “Saturday Night Oldies” on WFYR, which would enter syndication in 1982 as “Solid Gold Saturday Night” and “Solid Gold Scrapbook” on the then RKO Radio Network.
Bartley briefly hosted mornings on AC 105.1 WNSR New York in 1986. He then joined Westwood One as host of “The Rock & Roll Oldies Show” in 1989. “Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits” debuted along with “American Gold” when Bartley moved to ABC Radio Networks in 1991 where he would stay until 2009. Joining United Stations in 2009, Bartley continued “Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits” and added “The Classic Countdown”, which would run until 2017 with a customized version on 101.1 WCBS-FM New York lasting until 2014. 2017 brought the shows relaunched as “Dick Bartley’s Classic Hits” with a shift towards music from the 1970s and 80s, while “Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits” was relaunched in 2020 focusing on the music of the 1960s.
