A familiar voice is rejoining the Chicago radio airwaves this week. In an Instagram post on Thursday, beloved radio personality Mike Love announced that he will join the iHeartMedia urban adult-contemporary station V103 (102.7 FM) starting this Friday night with “The Flashback Friday Mix” from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and “The Saturday Night Steppers Show” on Saturday from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Both shows will air weekly.
“I’m honored to be a part of the nation’s very 1st urban/Black adult station. When I hear ‘102.7 Oak Park/Chicago’ that’s so f*cking ICONIC to me! So much so that my new tagline for Friday’s mix is ‘The FRIDAY Night Live, Ain’t No Jive, Chicago Dance Party,’” Love wrote in his Instagram caption announcing the news.
In an interview with The TRiiBE, Love said he was contacted by iHeartMedia Vice President of Programming Derrick Brown in March about the opportunity but thought it was a prank as he didn’t hear back until nearly four months later.
“When I told my family, it was the second week in June, and it’s now almost September. So it’s been that long that I’ve been holding on to this secret,” Love said. “It just was a perfect match for where I am in my life and what I have available because I’ve had other people reach out about radio opportunities, but it just didn’t work with my schedule.”
Love’s V103 debut comes after a five-year hiatus from being on air. His morning show on the Crawford Broadcasting-owned station Soul 106.3 was dropped in 2019 and was later replaced by the nationally syndicated “Rickey Smiley Morning Show,” which moved from Crawford Broadcasting-owned Power 92 to Soul 106.3 in 2020.
The move was praised by longtime media reporter Robert Feder, who cited it as a “perfect move” by iHeart, as Love is a voice that Chicagoans love and remember from his time on WGCI’s “Bad Boy Radio” with his co-host the Dizz from 1997-2007.
“I don’t think V103 is gonna keep him on Fridays and Saturday late nights for long. I’d be very surprised if he weren’t moved up either to a full-time shift or something larger profile,” Feder said.
But for Love, who said he has already “lived his wildest dreams in radio,” the weekend slot works with his mail carrier schedule. He said he isn’t interested in jumping back full-time into the “dream of radio.”
“I can’t say it enough, like, I’ve already lived an extremely charmed life, and all of my radio dreams have come true. But the thing about it is, and this is something that a lot of Black people tend to not understand, I’m good with where I am,” Love said on deciding to continue his full-time job delivering mail while also continuing his passion delivering hits.
Though he isn’t interested in doing radio full-time at this time of his life, Love said the impact he’s had on Chicago is not lost on him and happily knows the Birthday Line from his WGCI days will “outlive him.” He also understands the high regard the Chicago’s Black community holds for its radio personalities.
“That’s always been a part of our history, our rich history as Black folks,” Love said. “That’s where we went for information. Even though there’s been a lot of consolidation with radio stations, I think the importance of local radio will always be here, especially in Chicago where radio personalities have been people that our listeners not only grew up with but are iconic in so many different ways. “
Debuting on V103 is a full circle moment for Love, who said he feared going to the station during his days at WGCI.
“I told one of my co-workers, Al Greer, I was like, they’re gonna have to get me kicking and screaming to go to V103. When I was at ‘GCI years ago, that was where the old folks ended up,” Love said.
Now, Love said, he understands the importance of having local voices make that shift, bringing up Chicago personalities such as V103’s Joe Soto, Bioncé Foxx and Crazy Howard McGee as examples of those whose audience watched grow and make that pivot while continuing to be pillars in the community.
Love joins a station with a storied history. V103 was once home to Herb “The Cool Gent” Kent, the first Black person to be inducted into the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame. The Chicago icon passed away in 2016 at age 88 but is remembered as a pioneer in radio and as the longest-running DJ on earth as he was on air for over 70 years.
“I think with a company like iHeart, they understand, even though there [is] Steve Harvey in the morning and you have Keith Sweat at night, which are nationally syndicated shows, the rest of the day cards are filled with local broadcasting and even Friday night, Saturday night, Saturday afternoon,” Love said. “I think in a market like Chicago, it’s always been this hub of radio personalities and locally, I think, that’s always been needed.”
Love said the response to his joining V103 has been like a warm embrace. He said he has enjoyed meeting younger radio personalities such as WGCI’s Zach Boog, Keke and others who revere him and credit the “Bad Boys” for their start.
“It’s like they treat you like you’re a real celebrity, like I was a rapper,” Love said. “That is just the culture of Chicago, once you are embraced by this city it’s for life.”
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