The Morning Show (Minnesota Public Radio)
Encyclopedia
The Morning Show was a morning drive-time
radio program produced in St. Paul, Minnesota and broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio
's KCMP
and other stations of the MPR network.
The show began as A Prairie Home Entertainment, first aired in 1969 on Minnesota Educational Radio with host Garrison Keillor
and engineer/sidekick Tom Keith
, known on the air as Jim Ed Poole. Keillor parodied MPR's then-classical playlist by playing pop music. The initial deviation from the classical playlist was the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda."
Keillor's good-natured sense of humor is credited with allowing him to expand the playlist. Efforts by classical music purists to remove The Morning Show from the MPR network continued until the mid-1980s, however.
Keillor's success with A Prairie Home Companion
and his writing career led him to leave The Morning Show in 1983, whereupon Dale Connelly
joined Jim Ed Poole as co-host.
The program was best known for offering an eclectic selection of recorded music and "commercials" for fantastic products and interviews with imaginary characters.
The program also featured live in-studio performances by local and nationally known musicians.
On October 15, 2008, Keith announced his intention to retire on December 11. The Morning Show was discontinued after a final live performance at the Fitzgerald Theater
in St. Paul that morning.
On December 12, Connelly began producing an online and HD radio service for MPR centered on The Morning Show's playlist and called "Radio Heartland."
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
radio program produced in St. Paul, Minnesota and broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio , is the flagship National Public Radio member network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 42-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest serving over 8 million people...
's KCMP
KCMP
-WCAL:The station began with physics experiments in 1918 when five students and a professor built a small radio transmitter at St. Olaf College. Using a wire antenna strung between the campus chapel and the college's "Old Main" , signals from these experiments were picked up as far away as New...
and other stations of the MPR network.
The show began as A Prairie Home Entertainment, first aired in 1969 on Minnesota Educational Radio with host Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
and engineer/sidekick Tom Keith
Tom Keith
Thomas Alan Keith was a radio personality who worked for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the engineer for Garrison Keillor when he began his early morning radio show from the St. John's University Collegeville studio...
, known on the air as Jim Ed Poole. Keillor parodied MPR's then-classical playlist by playing pop music. The initial deviation from the classical playlist was the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda."
Keillor's good-natured sense of humor is credited with allowing him to expand the playlist. Efforts by classical music purists to remove The Morning Show from the MPR network continued until the mid-1980s, however.
Keillor's success with A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
and his writing career led him to leave The Morning Show in 1983, whereupon Dale Connelly
Dale Connelly
Dale Connelly was co-host of The Morning Show on Minnesota Public Radio. The program was carried on KCMP 89.3 "The Current" in the Twin Cities and live on MPR's classical music network in outstate Minnesota. Connelly took over for Garrison Keillor, who was the original host along with Tom Keith...
joined Jim Ed Poole as co-host.
The program was best known for offering an eclectic selection of recorded music and "commercials" for fantastic products and interviews with imaginary characters.
The program also featured live in-studio performances by local and nationally known musicians.
On October 15, 2008, Keith announced his intention to retire on December 11. The Morning Show was discontinued after a final live performance at the Fitzgerald Theater
Fitzgerald Theater
The Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest existing stage venue in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the home of American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion. It was one of many theaters built by the Shubert Theatre Corporation, and was initially named the Sam S. Shubert Theater...
in St. Paul that morning.
On December 12, Connelly began producing an online and HD radio service for MPR centered on The Morning Show's playlist and called "Radio Heartland."