Kevin Matthews (radio personality)

Kevin Menear (born March 12, 1956), known professionally as Kevin Matthews, is a Midwest United States radio personality, best known for his 12-year association with WLUP-FM "The Loop" and its one-time sister-station, WMVP "AM 1000." Matthews became popular for his off-kilter take on various topics. He's known for doing voices, including that of his irascible sidekick, sportscaster Jim Shorts. One of his bits was encouraging his listeners to yell out "Free Bird!" at various concerts, whether it was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, or Barry Manilow. One incidence of this was a heckler shouting "Free Bird!" as well as the names of Matthews and Shorts at a Bill Hicks show, prompting Hicks' "Hitler had the right idea" rant.

During the summer of 1986, KWK-FM brought Matthews to St. Louis from WLAV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but he was fired the next year. During his time in St. Louis he began calling into the Steve Dahl & Garry Meier show on The Loop in Chicago, often doing an impersonation of then-President Ronald Reagan in impromptu comedy bits with Dahl and Meier. He was hired by The Loop in March, 1987 as the weekday overnight and Sunday host. A month later, AM 1000 started simulcasting The Loop, including Matthews' show. Soon thereafter, Matthews' show began broadcasting exclusively from the AM dial between Jonathon Brandmeier in the morning and Steve & Garry in the afternoon. During this era, Matthews made occasional comedy-concert appearances in the Chicago area. He also promoted a line of clothing featuring himself and his characters. His fans were referred to as "Kev-Heads".

In September, 1993, just five months after renewing his contract to continue middays on AM 1000, Matthews moved back to The Loop as morning man when it switched from album rock to talk, and AM 1000 flipped to an all-sports format.

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