Hey, Pops

Episode 05 - Through the Airwaves: Honoring Pop's Voice and Legacy

• Cori Orak

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In this emotional episode, host Cori takes listeners on a moving journey through her father’s legacy, sharing touching clips from his professional career, personal moments, and beloved family memories. Cori includes heartfelt tributes from her dad's colleagues and friends, reflecting on his impact in the Twin Cities radio community and his unwavering support for his family. Listeners will hear not only his memorable voice but also rare, personal audio capturing his essence beyond the microphone.

Key Takeaways

  • Tributes from Colleagues: Warm recollections from WCCO coworkers and other radio professionals highlight Cori's father’s kindness, humor, and impact on those around him.
  • Professional Clips: A montage of radio segments, ad spots, and audiobook narrations celebrating her father’s versatility and influential voice in the media.
  • Personal Moments: Private clips from family gatherings and commute recordings with jazz music in the background capture intimate, cherished memories and their shared love of music.
  • Reflections on Loss: Cori reflects on the bittersweet journey of going through her father’s archives, reconnecting with his voice and presence.

Links:


Radio Clips from WCCO:


Audiobook excerpts:

  • Never Chase Men Again by Bruce Bryans (narrated by Dan Culhane)
  • Dating Deal Breakers That Drive Men Away by Bruce Bryans (narrated by Dan Culhane)
  • Ice Breakers by Tom “Big Al” Schretter (narrated by Dan Culhane)
  • Pre-Closing For Network Marketing by Keith & Tom “Big Al” Schretter (narrated by Dan Culhane)
  • The Complete Three-Book Network Marketing Leadership Series by Keith & Tom “Big Al” Schretter (narrated by Dan Culhane)


Commercial Compelation:



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[00:00:00] Speaker: Hello, lovely listener. This is actually take two. I just recorded an intro and there's some motorbikes in the background of this one, and I just don't care, but I recorded one a second ago and it was just a cicada in the back some jungle noises and motorbikes is fine, but a high pitched cicada humming in the background, maybe not the best for all of you out there listening.

[00:00:24] Today's episode is boy, it's a, it's a rollercoaster was surprisingly or not so surprisingly very emotional. I had a few tears shed, okay, more than a few, but I thought I was just going to pull up clips from professional things my dad did, but I've restarted recordings, a few things throughout the most recent years, and some of them are, uh, radio announcements of his passing.

[00:00:50] I'm going to include those and I will put in the show notes the sources of where I got those from. But a lot of them just do a great job of having a little composition of some of his work. [00:01:00] But also it's just really beautiful to hear people talk about my dad so lovingly. Those are hard to hear. Those Those got me, but that's why I'm doing this and I'm going to be honest, I'm probably going to take a nap after this because it wiped me out.

[00:01:15] But I will share. I think I've got three sections of audio, so I'm going to start with the heavy and end with the light. So I'm going to start with a few clips of the announcement of his passing, which has some of his coworkers. sharing some stories of him, which is just makes my heart so full and hurt so bad at the same time.

[00:01:36] Then I'm going to share a little collage of just professional audio clips that I have from over the years. Some from radio archives from the 80s, some from him on the quick trip, which I shared before, but I'm going to share again. Um, and some of my favorites is the audio book narrations because, uh, quite a few of them are dating books [00:02:00] and they are for women to find men.

[00:02:03] And no, he did not write Any of the books that I'm sharing? Yeah, they're, they're hilarious books that he's narrated for, and I'm going to share some of those. And then I have, oh, I hope the mic picks up this big burst of wind. If not, I just want you to know that my dad just gave me a big wind hug in a moment.

[00:02:25] I needed it. So the final section is just a few random clips of him just talking from files that I have. It's not a lot because he's always behind the camera. Part of this journey of going back and, and looking through everything was seeing just how much he captured. He has, you know, clip upon clip of events that he wanted everyone else to remember.

[00:02:48] And I have a lot of home movies at home in Minnesota, which I don't have access to where he might be talking a bit more, but. The few that I do have make my heart swell. And it was [00:03:00] amazing because I got to watch all these clips of my wedding party from 2009. And he captured so many great moments from it.

[00:03:09] There's some videos from trips out to Portland where he was spending time with my brother and my niece and nephew, actually from the nephew visits. He has mostly photos. So some of these video clips are little audio excerpts from the video clips are from. When my niece was just a baby, I think 2008, 2009, 2010, somewhere around there.

[00:03:28] And just have, you know, a few just hearing his voice offhand in non professional speak, which is what I miss the most. I also got to see like some videos of him scuba diving when I was looking through some, some of his archives. There's a few of these clips of just videos of his morning commute to Minneapolis.

[00:03:47] And it must have been a horrible blizzard year or snow year, but he set up a camera on his dashboard and it's just kind of like his commute in the snow. But I can hear the jazz he's listening to in the car, which [00:04:00] just tugs at my heartstrings because we both have a huge love for jazz. But yeah, get ready for this trip with me.

[00:04:07] It's. It might be a little bit longer than my normal episodes, I'm not sure, but I'll play a little of the theme music from this podcast in between the sections, um, just to shift gears, but I might not speak during it. We'll see how it goes. I'm recording this before I edit it all together because I've already watched a few things and cried from it, so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to have the energy to record this.

[00:04:30] after I had it all cleaned up and put together, which is what I usually do. But we're going with the flow. We're learning and exploring. And yeah, just letting it go how it wants to go today. So sit back, relax, and welcome to episode five. All day and all the time. Hey, I'm Kori and this is Hey Pops. Okay, so this is the tough one.

[00:04:57] I'm going to play these back to back. These are [00:05:00] From WCCO, my dad's last, um, company he worked for. The first one is Adam Carter. Second one is Chad Hartman. Literally something special. And it's really powerful to hear that not only did they want to share amongst the team at WCCO, they wanted to let all of the listeners would listen to my dad for damn near 40 years.

[00:05:24] Let them know what happened as well. So this is the hard one If you want to skip it, it's about eight minutes long so you can skip it. It's too much 

[00:05:38] Speaker 2: He wasn't a show host here at WCCO radio. But if you've listened to the station or even seen locally produced television ads, you've heard Dan Culhane's voice about the art of 

[00:05:47] Speaker 3: living and how to achieve success in modern life.

[00:05:50] For more information on these stories and more, catch us on the web at MNbound. com. Advisory services offered through wealth. 

[00:05:56] Speaker 2: His broadcasting professionalism aside. Dan [00:06:00] Culhane was a constant friend and often a sounding board for those of us here at WCCO Radio. Dave Lee says Culhane always had time to listen.

[00:06:07] It was just a place where we'd go sometimes and just kind of 

[00:06:11] Speaker 4: let off steam between each other. And it was, we'd just be good listeners, which everybody needs. 

[00:06:15] Speaker 2: And he usually supplied some candy or other sweets in his studio. to make sure those guests were frequent. A native of Superior, Wisconsin, Dan Culhane was instrumental in helping KQRS become a classic rock juggernaut in the Twin Cities.

[00:06:29] Speaker 5: 92 KQRS playing a better variety of music, more of the classic. One of our lines is we don't scream over your favorite rock and roll. That offends a lot of people to hear people talking over the beginning of the song and the end of the song. So, the music is the start here. Cohen 

[00:06:41] Speaker 2: was paired with a newcomer to the radio station, Tom Bernard, who began his legendary career as one half of the Tom and Dan show.

[00:06:48] Speaker 6: I got so lucky to walk in. To a job that had Mark Rosen, Dan Culhane, and Lee Balzac. Three real pros. 

[00:06:57] Speaker 7: Dan Culhane has not gone to sleep yet. [00:07:00] He came right over from the stadium to KQRS and put together a highlight tape. All the guys are involved in this thing. And, uh, you go ahead and explain it, Dan. All right, you just did explain it.

[00:07:11] After the game, all the comments from all the players. Dan 

[00:07:14] Speaker 2: Colhane was also a dedicated hockey official, but a multiple myeloma diagnosis in 2019 combined with the pandemic kept him away from the rink until just recently when he got an okay to get back on the ice. But earlier this month, Dan tested positive for COVID and was eventually hospitalized.

[00:07:32] His wife, Nancy, posted the sad news Sunday morning that Dan had died. Dan Culhane is survived by his wife, two Children and two grandchildren, as well as numerous friends, including his family. Here at WCCO Radio, Dan Culhane was 62.

[00:07:55] Speaker 4: Hello, everybody. It is a, uh, Monday, Chad Hartman, Adam Carter, [00:08:00] Dan Cook, NewStock830, WCCO. I wish, I truly, truly wish we were starting on better news, but, um, we all lost a friend yesterday. Dan Culhane passed away. Dan Culhane has been a part of Twin Cities Radio for 40 some years. I think a lot of people still think of Dan with Tom Bernard.

[00:08:34] KQ in the mid eighties, starting the most, uh, remarkable run in twin cities radio. In fact, Tom Bernard is going to join us today at two 35 to talk about the early days with Dan Culhane, Dan Culhane as a radio professional and as a human being, we all should aspire To [00:09:00] that level, friendly, self deprecating, willing to help everyone to needle everyone, sometimes absentmindedly, but Dan was always there.

[00:09:18] I first met Dan working with the McClure channel. He was there for 16, some years at CCO 11 years. And over the weekend, Uh, Dan Culhane passed. We here at the station have known for a while, for well over, I mean really about closing in 18 months, that Dan was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and he faced those challenges with the dignity and the grace that you would expect.

[00:09:50] And he was making progress and among the things Dan loved to do away from radio was referee hockey games. He had been doing that forever. [00:10:00] And he got the okay and in early to mid February he was diagnosed with COVID. And he went through a difficult time recently and he passed away this weekend and this radio station and this radio community is a lesser place without Dan Culhane.

[00:10:22] All of us here on the show knew him well. When I thought of Dan and Clear Channel and Dan and WCCO radio, I thought all the people but I thought most of all of my friend Tom Mooney. Tom has some fancy title, market controller here at, uh, Intercom, CCA Radio and in St. Louis. He's a brain wizard. But he's a longtime friend of mine and, and I just thought of Tom and Dan talking all the time.

[00:10:57] All the times that, that Tom would come down, [00:11:00] his floor was one floor up and Tom would come down and if I saw him, we might, you know, needle each other a little bit. But I, I, I knew there was probably an 85 percent chance he was going to talk to his friend Dan because those guys were so close. And most importantly to Dan's.

[00:11:17] Wife, Nancy, and all the people close to Dan, I wish them only the best. You know, Adam and Dan, I want them to jump into this conversation, also feel the same way. But Tom, as I bring you in, I thank you for coming on. 

[00:11:30] Speaker 8: No, tell 

[00:11:31] Speaker 4: people about your, absolutely. Tell people about your friend, Dan. 

[00:11:35] Speaker 8: Dan, you've touched on a few points and you mentioned the radio community.

[00:11:41] It's the community in general. Dan was a quality human being. Um, Always had a smile on his face. Positive. Funny. You mentioned the needling. Um, it wasn't a day that went by where, um, I didn't take some sort [00:12:00] of abuse from him for some reason or another. And, you know, well deserved. But it was fun. And like you said, I would go down and I would talk to him at least two, three times a week.

[00:12:13] We'd get together. If I didn't come down, he'd come up and wonder what was wrong with me that I hadn't been down there yet. Um, he cared about people. He's not only a friend for everybody in that building around, but he was a mentor as well. He helped people. And that's something that's, you know, really sticks out is, The, the help he gave to anybody and everybody, and he was very selfless.

[00:12:42] Speaker 4: Everybody. In this conversation knows how feeble I am technically and when, when you host a show, you have to do some other things, whether it's promos or commercials and Adam, you chime in this 95 percent of the folks can pick it up quickly. I'm [00:13:00] I'm lost. I am the quintessential deer in the headlights.

[00:13:03] And there was one guy who helped me out. All of the time, and it was called, Hey, and he would needle me, but they basically just get in here and then I would go in there and he would bail me out all the time. He had all those treats in there. So I would go in there and I just would get just kind of a, uh, update on Dan and what, what his mind was.

[00:13:26] Adam, just talk about your interactions with Dan here at the station. 

[00:13:29] Speaker 2: Well, for, for the larger audience, um, I am. certain that 95 percent well, if you listen to this station with any regularly, it's 100%. But if you've been exposed to the media and television or radio, I bet you 95 percent of people in this town have heard Dan's voice because he's done so many.

[00:13:48] He did so many. Um, voiceover work for different programs and things like that. And you know, in this business, you have voices that you go to for certain to emote certain things, you know, uh, [00:14:00] for, for different kinds of ad you want to get across. Dan's voice perfectly matched who he was a very comforting, soothing voice.

[00:14:08] And you, you nailed it about just. The, how would you, he would, he would help our newsroom and different series we do with production music. He would provide us, uh, during the hockey tournaments, uh, I would be glued to the state hockey tournaments, uh, in the newsroom and had the TV up and he'd walk in and we'd sit there and kind of watch, you know, five, 10 minutes of it.

[00:14:26] And then I realized I'm late to do the news because we'd get so into it. 

[00:14:32] Speaker: Here's a little collage, um, from audio books. Like I said, some of them are dating advice books, uh, aimed towards women. 

[00:14:41] Speaker 3: If you consider yourself high maintenance and have absolutely no problem keeping a man's interest longer than a few weeks, then more power to you and keep doing what you're doing.

[00:14:50] But if you think you may be giving off that high maintenance vibe that turns men off after they really get to know you, listen on. Do not speak ill of your exes, especially if you're [00:15:00] just getting to know a guy. Do not speak negatively about your past relationships. Habitually badmouthing your exes in front of men who barely know you won't earn you their pity.

[00:15:10] It'll only earn you their repulsion. 

[00:15:12] Speaker: But then there's also some marketing ones and um, I actually listened to Marketing one out in the car before I went into the celebration of life because I just, I needed to hear my dad. 

[00:15:26] Speaker 3: The curse of the information collectors. When we talk to prospects, the only decision our prospects have to make is if they want to start a business or not, or if they want to buy our products and services or not, you look like a depressed full time loser.

[00:15:41] Would you like a chance to be a winner? Oh, no, but I was only trying to help. Have you ever had this experience? Let's say that you sponsored someone with poor finances. You wanted to help him succeed. You worked hard. You picked him up for training. You made his phone calls for him. You bought products for him.

[00:15:56] You even sponsored a few distributors and placed them in his [00:16:00] organization. This 

[00:16:03] Speaker: one I love because it brings me back to. My entire childhood and being, playing with toys or hanging out with friends and hearing my dad from the other room because this is a compilation of commercials he was on in the Twin Cities area.

[00:16:19] Speaker 3: Visit any one of the Twin Cities Baker's Square restaurants today. Burger, fries, and pie, only at Baker's Square. Making technology work for you starts with making stores that work for you. Like the reimagined Best Buy store locations in Minnetonka, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Oakland. Hello, 

[00:16:38] Speaker 10: passengers. This is your captain speaking.

[00:16:41] If you look out the right side of the plane, you'll see the Greek Islands. Those of you on the left side can look down and see Indonesia. 

[00:16:48] Speaker 3: At the Home Depot, buy Ortho Home Defense Max Perimeter and Indoor Insect Killer with Wand and get Ortho Bug Be Gone Max Ready to Use Spray for free. 20 inch No!

[00:16:59] Kidding, [00:17:00] right? In the States! Powerball jackpots up 

[00:17:01] Speaker 9: to 

[00:17:04] Speaker 3: 40 million, and with that kind of money, you wouldn't just have a cabin on the beach. Lake, you'd have a cabin on every lake. Make this holiday season your best ever by enjoying your time together with the refreshing, invigorating taste of Seagram's ginger rail.

[00:17:21] Speaker: I'll set the scene for this one. Picture a grainy VHS home video tape. Brown carpets, pastel snowsuits. My mom with permed hair, my brother with a bowl cut, and me as a chubby little 1-year-old walking around. In a sweatsuit, this is a few little audio clips of a video my dad took in 1985 of a bunch of us kids playing out in the snow with my cousins, and it's amazing.

[00:17:52] Not only does my brother crash his sled into the house. Um, so you get to hear his little kid cry, but you [00:18:00] get to hear my dad flat out lie to him and say there's no film in the camera. He's just looking at pictures and he's actually recording him. So enjoy. 

[00:18:09] Speaker 11: Hey, there's 

[00:18:11] Speaker 9: Robin. 

[00:18:12] Speaker 11: JP.

[00:18:19] Cory.

[00:18:28] Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm feeling 

[00:18:31] Speaker 11: my job. Hey, Jojo.

[00:18:38] Where are you going, Joe? What? 

[00:18:41] Speaker 9: Where are you going? I wanna 

[00:18:43] Speaker 11: go. How come it doesn't work, Joe? What? The film is all gone. I'm just looking at pictures, Stuart. So you can have mama help ya. 

[00:18:56] Speaker 9: Give me a hug. 

[00:18:59] Speaker: [00:19:00] What? Let me 

[00:19:03] Speaker 11: see, you got a bruise on your head? 

[00:19:07] Speaker: This is a super sweet little clip from a video from my dad's visit to Portland of, uh, just adorable little exchange between my dad, my big brother, and my niece Joy.

[00:19:20] It was great. 

[00:19:21] Speaker 5: Bye bye. Now it's recording. Bye bye. It wasn't recording. Oh, it wasn't recording? That's funny. Uh huh. Now it is. Now it's recording. See ya. Bye. 

[00:19:32] Speaker 9: You can't end it. You can't end it. You can't end it. Oh, 

[00:19:37] Speaker 7: what's that all about? Are you 

[00:19:43] Speaker 9: going to show a tantrum? Tantrum on 

[00:19:51] Speaker: the camera? all for listening to this one.

[00:19:55] Like I said in the beginning, I'm recording this before I have the final episode put [00:20:00] together. Normally I record my main interview, edit it, and then post it. And then bookend it with my intro and outro. But this one was heavier than I intended it to be. And I am in and out of crying. And I don't really, I'm not shying away from recording while crying.

[00:20:19] But I do know that after the first half hour of doing this exercise of watching some of these clips and listening to them, I'm also just exhausted, emotionally exhausted. So I am recording this. before I do the meat and potatoes of the episode. And I just, I cherish this project. I cherish every single person that listens to it.

[00:20:42] I thank all the people around the world that are listening to it. It's crazy. There's people everywhere, which warms my heart. And I'm grateful to have this project to stay in touch with my dad, to be able to revel in some memories, to be able to explore my grief and explore [00:21:00] my relationship, but also just to share him with you.

[00:21:02] So thank you. This means the world to me. Next week, I'm going to have missed calls. I'm hoping to have a few call ins or to read a few stories that people have shared of my dad, a little bit of a different vibe. And, uh, that's it. I love you. Stay safe, stay healthy, learn something, and see you next week for Mr.

[00:21:23] False.


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Cori Orak

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