Rare, Recently-Discovered Recordings of the
Dick "Two Ton" Baker Show
on WGN Radio in Chicago - c. 1951, 1957

Dick "Two Ton" Baker (The Music Maker) was a popular figure on Chicago radio for about 4 decades. He worked mostly on WGN radio and, later, on WGN Television doing popular children's and variety programs.

KFMJ's Bob Kern remembers listening to "Two Ton" Baker's radio shows as a kid growing up in Chicago. "I can vividly recall listening to Two Ton, and eating my breakfast corn flakes before heading out the door to Portage Park School in the morning, " said Bob. "Two Ton Baker was a tremendously talented guy. He sang, played piano, and had an infectiously happy personality that reached right through the radio speaker and made you feel good."

Some old brittle tape recordings of some of "Two Ton" Baker's early radio shows have recently been discovered by "Two Ton" Baker memoribilia collector Dick Baker. Dick shared those great old programs with us at KFMJ.

Dick said these shows were found in a box of tapes given to him by "Two Ton" Baker's daughter Debby. Because of events talked about on the shows, it's thought that both shows are from 1951 on WGN radio.

Dick Baker writes: "At one point he mentions that it's January, and at another point the singer mentions that she's doing a Cole Porter song from the new show "Out of This World," which opened on Broadway in December. 1950, and closed in May, 1951."

"There are some bizarre aspects to it. For one thing, there's background noise, people talking, babies babbling. At one point, I even throught I heard a dog barking." The kid's voice could possibly be "Two Ton's" daughter.

Dick Baker writes: "He mentions that New Trier High School is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The school was founded in 1901.

We're pretty sure both shows aired on WGN. The announcer on the show is Howard Dorsey, who was a staff announcer at WGN.

This is a short clip from one of Dick "Two Ton" Baker's early morning radio shows on WGN. He does more of a disc jockey-type show in this short clip. It's thought its from 1957.

To find out more about Dick "Two Ton" Baker
or to share memories or memoribilia,
please visit Dick Baker's great web site at: