Charlie Van Dyke

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Charlie Van Dyke (born Charles Leo Steinle; July 26, 1947) is a former radio disc jockey who is best known for his voice work on radio and television stations. He is recognized by his deep, booming voice.

Originally from Dallas, Van Dyke was working in major-market Top 40 radio, at local powerhouse KLIF, by the time he was 19. Bill Drake brought Van Dyke to his stable of stations, first in morning drive at CKLW in Windsor in 1968 and 1969, then to KFRC in San Francisco where he did morning drive in 1969 and 1970. Van Dyke later did mid-days, and eventually mornings, and was program director at Drake's "flagship", KHJ in Los Angeles. Other stops included WLS Chicago, WDGY Minneapolis, and WRKO Boston.

Van Dyke's spoken-word record "The Flag" charted nationally, peaking at #116 in the Record World survey of June–July 1976. He appears as the narrator on Albert Brooks's second comedy album, A Star Is Bought (1975), which includes "Phone Call to Americans," a parody of patriotic spoken-word records.[1]

Throughout most of the 1980s, he was a frequent guest host on American Top 40. He sub-hosted on 31 shows in all, including the first regular episodes from 1983 to 1988. He also served as the show's announcer until 1988.

The first weekly shows of each year from 1983 to 1988 were hosted by Van Dyke, mostly likely because Casey Kasem needed a break after recording an eight-hour year-end countdown the previous week.

During his tenure, there were three occasions where Van Dyke guest-hosted for two weeks straight. They occurred January 5 & 12, 1985, July 11 & 18, 1987, and January 9 & 16, 1988.

In the 1990s, he worked in radio from his Phoenix home. From 1998 to 2000, Van Dyke succeeded Robert W. Morgan in morning drive at KRTH Los Angeles. He continues to work as a voice talent for television and radio stations, including WOWT in Omaha, WBAL-TV in Baltimore, KUSI-TV in San Diego, KPNX in Phoenix, WSB-TV in Atlanta, WUSA in Washington, D.C., WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, WTVJ in Miami, WBTV in Charlotte, WTVT and WFTS-TV in Tampa/St Petersburg, WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, WVTM-TV and WBRC in Birmingham, and WAVE in Louisville. He previously worked for WJBK in Detroit, WTVD in Durham, KPRC-TV in Houston, KDFW and KLUV in Dallas/Fort Worth, WVUE-DT in New Orleans, and WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads.

In November 2017, Van Dyke became the imaging voice of Educational Media Foundation's K-Love contemporary Christian music network, which is heard on more than 450 stations nationwide.[2]

In 2011, Van Dyke's son Christopher "Brotha' Fred" Frederick joined WKSC-FM in Chicago as a morning personality.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Brooks, Albert. "Phone Call to Americans". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  2. ^ http://www.laradio.com/ November 10, 2017

External links[edit]