July 4, 1947 - Feb. 26, 2014

Radio around here will never be the same

When Bob Murray passed away this year we lost more than a voice – and what a voice. The familiar tones of a friend who always greeted you warmly and happily, no matter whether it had been years, or just a day, since you last crossed paths. But we also lost his unique gift of identifying what his audience needed and delivering it to them in a way that always felt reassuring, like you were right at home with him.

That was true whether he was “Crazy Bob” Murray playing the hits back in the day. Or whether he was an unconventional TV star, who may not have had the typical weatherman “look,” but who had a knack for explaining not just what was happening outside, but why. Or a gentle interviewer who could put both guests and listeners at ease. He was born on the Fourth of July and it showed in an all-American dedication to supporting charitable causes, honoring those in the military, striving to make his community a better place.

How influential was he over more than 40 years in local broadcasting? If this were a movie, this would be the point where the screen turns all wavy and sepia-toned. You would see a towering young man in front of the K-Mart on Clear Lake, clutching a microphone, wearing a headset, standing next to a portable turntable, multiple wires in multiple directions. You would see a boy of around 7 or 8, staring up at the embodiment of the voice he had heard so often on a transistor radio. For the child it was an electrifying moment, one which made an indelible impression. Not so much for the young broadcaster, who had no idea it had happened until years later when he and that child, now grown, were colleagues and co-workers.

It’s one thing to get people to tune in every day. But to take a child you’ve never met before and set him on a future career path? Now that is influential.

Yet to meet him face to face, to speak with him, you wouldn’t know that he was someone who held that kind of sway over countless listeners. Bob was as humble as he was beloved. He was a celebrity across central Illinois but he took far more pride in his family than he ever did in his fame.

To be sure, when the mike was off he could be a very different person. His well-known sense of humor was both darker and bawdier off the air. He could have flashes of temper and hold grudges. He could, at times, be insecure – a word that seems utterly out of place in describing Bob Murray. In real life, he could be complicated.

But when the microphone went on, it couldn’t be more simple: inform your audience, entertain them, make them feel like one of the family. And he did it effortlessly every day, despite an absurd schedule that had him heading to work when a fair chunk of his audience was just heading to bed. He was a throwback to an era of broadcasting that sometimes seems to be fading away. And while he is missed every day, I like to think that old radio guys never die – they just broadcast on a different frequency.

– Jim Leach, friend and colleague