Member Profile: Meet Denny Long, Riding the Radio Waves of the Twin Cities

By Mary Em Burns

Currently a full-time host, co-host and producer with WCCO-AM radio, longtime local member Denny Long is actually a hometown boy. After growing up in the “Nordeast” area of Minneapolis, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota and originally planned to study law enforcement. Fate, however, had other plans. One day while walking across campus, he noticed a sign posting volunteer opportunities at the university radio station. With visions of DJs and rock stars dancing in his head, he volunteered and began working at the station, thus beginning a journey of more than 50 years in radio. Not too long after he began his University of Minnesota radio experience, Long dropped law enforcement studies and enrolled in Brown Institute’s broadcast training program. In 1964, after obtaining his certificate, he was hired by a local radio station in Webster City, Iowa, for his first real broadcast job, where he worked as an on-air announcer and DJ, covering an early morning/late afternoon split shift. Long wasn’t thrilled by the job hours or the location, and after only a few months, moved on to an Owatonna, Minnesota, radio station, moving ever closer to his hometown.

Denny Long

Although fate had nudged Long onto his dream career path, luck brought him an unexpected detour. About the same time that he was beginning his radio career, the Vietnam War began escalating. In 1967, the Selective Service Act was made law, and the draft lottery number Long received was very high. In order to avoid being drafted, he decided — with encouragement from friends and family — to enlist in the Army National Guard for a six-year commitment. This not only allowed him to stay in the U.S. as long as he fulfilled his training requirements, but also allowed him to continue growing his broadcast career in Minnesota while fulfilling those obligations. After completing his mandatory training, Long returned to the Twin Cities and was hired to work as a DJ for station KRSI in St. Louis Park, where he worked from 1967 to 1971.

Finally, in 1971, Long was initiated into a union shop when he was hired by WCCO radio to work as music director with some on-air hosting duties, for both its AM and FM stations. Shortly after he began working at WCCO, he was approached by another long-time union radio staffer (and former AFTRA Local and National Board member) Rich Holter, who convinced Long to join the negotiating team for their 1972 AFTRA contract discussions. Although Long admits that he was scared and didn’t feel qualified, Holter and the other union negotiators proved to be great mentors. Long has remained a part of the WCCO radio member leadership team, participating in every contract negotiation since that date.

After about two years as music director for both WCCO stations, they split into two separate entities, although still sharing studio space. Long decided to continue working with the AM station, with about 30 union members covered under the contract. At the time, the FM station operated as a separate bargaining unit, under a separate AFTRA union contract.

Long currently hosts and co-hosts several different weekend shows on WCCO-AM, covering topics as wide-ranging as car care, lawn and garden, home improvement, real estate, health care and more, and during the week he also does commercial production. He occasionally acts as a celebrity host for WCCO-sponsored travel adventures, providing listeners a chance to hobnob with this consummate on-air talent and allowing Long a wonderful opportunity to vacation while on the job.

Throughout his lengthy tenure in radio, Long has experienced ups and downs (including a 24-day period in 1979 when WCCO AFTRA members honored an IBEW strike at the station. He still loves a picket line), but freely admits that his radio career has been a dream job for him, as is proven by his easy on-air patter with a variety of guests on the weekend programs. But the job has also challenged him in different ways over the years, with producing and behind-the-scenes work, and shop steward duties on behalf of his fellow union members. When recounting some of the many highlights of this extended career, Long mentioned his chance to meet and/or interview various music and movie stars during his tenure at WCCO, including a memorable encounter in his younger days with actor Gregory Peck.

As you can tell, Long has enjoyed riding a cresting wave through the Twin Cities radio scene, noting that he feels “very fortunate to have experienced so many exciting moments,” and hoping to continue the adventure as long as possible. Although his deep love of radio keeps him going, he shared that it really is the people he has had the pleasure of working with and learning from over the years that have made it all worthwhile.

This item was originally featured in the February 2015 local newsletter.