The late DJ Dick Biondi made a lasting impression on Jack Dreznes, a longtime resident of Chicago’s West Beverly neighborhood who now lives in Tinley Park.
That is why he was an early supporter of “The Voice That Rocked America,” a documentary about Biondi premiering in long form on Nov. 14 at Beverly Arts Center’s Baffes Theatre in Chicago.
“As a kid I’d have my transistor radio under my pillow, listening to his show at night,” said Dreznes, who owns Beverly Records in Chicago with his brother, Randy Dreznes, of Oak Forest.
“(Biondi) was one of our only sources of entertainment. He played the music we liked. What our parents were listening to was easy listening and big band. In the early ’60s, WLS was our lifeline to the modern era.”
According to the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66, which inducted Biondi into its inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2021, he was credited as the first U.S. disc jockey to play the Beatles’ “Please Please Me.”
“Introducing the Beatles to Chicago was one of his biggest legacies plus just being a uniter for the kids to hear the music they wanted to hear, introducing all of us to things he enjoyed and bringing new music we enjoyed too,” Jack Dreznes said. “He was very innovative and crazy. He was fun.”
Billed as Chicago’s oldies headquarters, Beverly Records regularly collaborated with Biondi in the early 2000s by transferring records to MP3s so they could be played on the all-digital WLS radio station.
“One thing we all enjoyed in later years, after he went to a couple different shifts back and forth, is he would call the store and ask for records people had asked for that he didn’t have,” Dreznes said.
“We would send them to him. He would play them on the air and give us credit, a little plug for supporting him,” he said.
Dreznes said Biondi cared for listeners and would go out of his way to find these obscure songs.
“He told people that if they were looking for hard-to-find records to call us and they did,” Dreznes said. “That was free advertising you can’t buy. Recommendation from a legend like that meant a lot.”
Beverly Records, which has the tagline “Where vinyl still lives,” co-hosts the screening and fundraiser, which begins with a 6 p.m. reception in the Atrium with refreshments and a cash bar.
Longtime broadcaster Scott Childers, a southwest suburban resident, is master of ceremonies for the event featuring The Fabtones performing 1960s hits at 7 p.m. in Baffes Theatre, where the film screens at 7:30 p.m. and is followed by a Q&A with director and narrator Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice at 8:30 p.m.
“She and I go way back to when she first started doing this project,” Dreznes said. “I jumped right on board because I wanted to see the movie. I have seen it a couple of times. It’s wonderful.”
Film interviews include Frankie Avalon, Harvey native Tom Dreesen, Nick Fortuna, Carl Giammarese, Al Jardine, John Records Landecker, Tony Orlando, Walter Parazaider, Jim Peterik, Paul Shaffer, Bob Sirott, Jimy Sohns, Dennis Tufano, Frankie Valli and Brian Wilson.
“I want her to get all the clearances she needs and raise enough funds to get the movie produced and out there,” Dreznes said.
Half of the event’s proceeds go toward funding the film about Biondi, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998. The other 50% goes toward Beverly Arts Center’s BACinema program.
Enzweiler-Pulice, who met Biondi in 1961 and started a fan club for him, conducted a sneak preview of “The Voice That Rocked America” a few years ago at Beverly Arts Center and did a fundraiser for the documentary in 2019 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park.
“It’s doing something that’s going to go down in history for my generation,” said Dreznes about why Beverly Records is among the film’s official sponsors.
“It’s an honor to be mentioned with all the luminaries she’s got as sponsors. I’d help her any way I can.”
‘The Voice That Rocked America’ premiere
When: 6 p.m. Nov. 14
Where: Beverly Arts Center’s Baffes Theatre, 2407 W. 111th St., Chicago
Tickets: $23 nonmembers; $21 members
Information: 773-445-3838; thebeverlyartscenter.com
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
