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| WXRT-FM Salutes Lin Brehmer's 20 Years On The Air |
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| Written by Larz | |||
| Wednesday, 18 January 2012 13:37 | |||
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WXRT-FM is throwing an on-air party for morning show host Lin Brehmer, celebrating his 20 years on the station's airwaves. This Saturday, from Noon-2:00pm, 93.1 XRT will air a live tribute to their beloved personality, entitled "Great To Be Alive: Celebrating 20 Years of Lin Brehmer's Morning Show on XRT."
The program will be done as a live remote from South Branch Tavern & Grille, Bottleneck Management's hot restaurant in the Loop, located at 100 S. Wacker Drive in Chicago. The two-hour radio show will be hosted by Mary Dixon - Lin Brehmer's co-host and news anchor since 1993 (on & off), Terri Hemmert - Brehmer's friend and co-worker for his entire career at WXRT, as well as a Hall of Fame DJ, and Marty Lennartz - an almost 31 year veteran of WXRT, who is quite accustomed to doing live remotes for the station. Also scheduled to be in attendance is the honoree himself, the man born Franklin Brehmer. Mary Dixon said on her Facebook page this week: "I'm told it's not a roast, per se, but you never know what stories may be unearthed..." What is supposed to take place will be a retrospective of Brehmer's two decades as morning show host, along with pre-recorded messages from many musicians, celebrities, local politicians, co-workers, big name fans, and others who want to wish Lin Brehmner well and talk about their experiences with him. Also scheduled to perform a live music set is Chicago's own Waco Brothers, veterans of many of Brehmer's live WXRT remotes, especially his annual Cubs Opening Day shows. Lin Brehmer himself has selected 10 songs that best sum up his career on the air on WXRT. Fans can hear those songs (and see their videos) on the WXRT website at this link here: Lin Brehmer's 20th Anniversary Theme Songs .  Although Lin Brehmer has been working mornings on WXRT-FM for just over 20 years, he has actually been with the station for well over 26 years total. Brehmer got his professional start at Albany, NY's WQBK-FM, beginning in January 1977, where he worked for over seven and a half years and earned the on-air nickname of "The Reverend of Rock and Roll." His on-air experience and vast music knowledge earned him a job with WXRT-FM in October 1984 as the station's Music Director, moving him from his native state of New York to Chicago. Brehmer stayed in the role of Music Director for WXRT for six years. During that time, FMQB named him as "Music Director of the Year" three of those years. In 1989, Hard Report's readers voted Brehmer as "Music Director of the Decade."He exited the station in October 1990 to take a role as Program Director of Minneapolis, MN's KTCZ-FM, a station similar to WXRT-FM. That role lasted only about a year and Lin Brehmer then returned to Chicago. In December 1991, he rejoined his WXRT family, only this time, not as a Music Director, but as the late morning/midday DJ. Within a very short time, Lin Brehmer and WXRT-FM's then long-time morning show host Terri Hemmert, traded shifts. Lin took over early mornings, Terri Hemmert took over the late morning/midday shift, and the rest is history. Lin Brehmer has now been the morning show host longer than any other morning show host currently on the air in Chicago. Most importantly, for the multitude of morning listeners of WXRT, Lin Brehmer continues to be their "best friend in the whole wide world." 
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