If the gravelly Chicago voice on the far right end of your AM radio dial suddenly sounds a lot louder, it’s only because the station’s signal just got stronger. Joe Gentile’s delivery, which ranges from a near whisper to not quite a scream, hasn’t changed, but on April 2, WJJG 1530 doubled its power from 760 watts to approximately 1,500. Four days later, the host of the Joe Gentile Morning Show and the owner of the station (the call letters are his initials) has done his usual: spun a little Frank Sinatra, called Dan Rather “a bit pink” (and, worse, bald), and asked for calls on the topics of hazing and education: “Are you pleased with the way your kids are being taught?”
The 80-year-old retired car dealer, nicknamed “the Baron of Barrington,” didn’t have radio stardom in mind when he bought the former WKDC in 1994. “I think, OK, let me buy it and we’ll see if we can sell more cars,” he says. Neal, who started working with Gentile two and a half years ago, adds, “Joe figured if radio commercials to sell cars was good, an entire station with all-day commercials would be even better.”
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Having made a fortune selling cars, Gentile has become something of a dignitary himself. He spreads his name and wealth around. He gives freely to his alma maters, Saint Ignatius College Prep and Loyola University–he donated millions to build Loyola’s gymnasium, the Joseph J. Gentile Center, and hosts Joe Gentile Day at Wrigley Field, which benefits Saint Ignatius. He’s raised money for the World War II memorial in Washington and has a VFW post named after him. He says the display of photographs in his apartment and at the station is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s given the rest to Loyola. “There’s a thousand pictures at the Gentile Center,” he says. “I take care of them pretty good.”
“We just signed him up,” Gentile adds. “What’s the kid’s name?”
Gentile is still looking for callers to tell him how far he’s throwing his voice. Neal says the station is getting to Valparaiso and Milwaukee. One caller tells them, “I’m in the city right now, and you’re very clear.” Neal and Dyrkacz cheer.
“Bye, Harry Caray, God love you,” he says into the microphone. “And if you look out the window you’ll see the Lord sent us kind of a beautiful sunshiny spring day for my daffodils to grow. If you got any daffodils, bring ’em to the station, because I love those yellow daffodils.” Before he goes to the health club to take a steam, Gentile has one more piece of business. “We want you to know that we have a couple of beautiful apartments available at Joe Gentile’s, at the Villa…”
