SPARK NEWS: KEN NORDINE “A VOICE THAT COULD GIVE YOU CHILLS” DIES AT 98 • THE TOP 15 PODCAST ADVERTISERS

Ken Nordine 1920 - 2019 (image from Nordine's website)

Ken Nordine was truly a voice artist like no other. For more than seven decades his voice and creative projects graced radio, recordings, appearances and videos in Chicago and around the world. He died on Saturday (2/15) at his home on Chicago’s North Side.

Nordine will be known forever for creating Word Jazz, an original art form he once described this way:

“This is word jazz in morphing pictures” and described it as something that “looks like it was done under the influence of LSD.”

This is an apt description. Jerry Garcia was one of Nordine’s biggest fans. Garcia invited Nordine to perform with the Grateful Dead at their legendary 1990 New Year’s Eve concert in Chicago. A writer at the time called Nordine “an underground hipster for the ages.”

Readers can learn more about Word Jazz on Nordine’s personal website [link].

KEN NORDINE WAS “RAISED ON RADIO”

Nordine in later years (Tribune pic)

In a wonderful tribute/obituary in The Chicago Tribune [link], writer Rick Kogan talked about Nordine’s lifetime love of radio:

“Ken Nordine [was] one of the few people in the history of radio to use the medium to its fullest potential.”

No radio station that was closest to Nordine’s heart was WBEZ-AM. His announcing career started at the station in 1938 when the station was the voice of Chicago’s public schools. He took his announcing skills on the road to stations in Michigan and Florida. He returned to Chicago and became the voice of WBBM AM/FM/TV.

Nordine was a fan of NPR from the first day he first heard it. He took Word Jazz to the network in the late 1970s. It was an early hit on public radio stations.

When folks in Chicago think of Nordine, they will likely think of his commercials. He was sought by ad agencies and a small fortune doing voiceovers. Perhaps his most unforgettable spot was for his beloved Chicago Blackhawks. He called them “Cold Steel on Ice.”

David Greene had a wonderful feature about Nordine earlier this week on Morning Edition [link]. There are also several Word Jazz audio/video essays on YouTube. Here is one of the best called Man in the Moon: