On Air Staff
Uncle Buck
Ed was born and raised in Grand Rapids, but got his start in radio “on a dare” in Big Rapids while attending Ferris State University. In January 1967 he first hit the airwaves as Larry Cole. Buck then came to Grand Rapids and got his first full time job doing Top 40 radio at WERX-AM.
The station switched formats in June of 1968, and Ed moved to the FM band for the first time at WXTO-FM. He did a show there called “Campus After Hours” where the music choices were up to him. He also recalls having to spend his paychecks to get new music for the show.
In the summer of 1970, WXTO was bought and turned into WGRD-FM. Ed left and went to WAFT-AM here in Grand Rapids. It was totally free-form, progressive station, but it too was purchased in the fall of 1970, and it went from playing Steppenwolf one morning to Anne Murray the next. Needless to say, Ed moved on.
He booked local bands and played in a couple of them for a few months until he got a call from WLAV in January of 1971. At the time, WLAV-AM was rockin' and number one in the market. WLAV-FM was playing Easy Listening hits of the day, and it was at that time the station decided to change his name to... Ed Buchanan.
In 1972, in a cost cutting measure, the station switched to automated oldies 24 hours a day. Ed ran the automation for a few months and decided to move on. He did a short six months at WMUS in Muskegon before being called back to WLAV in the fall of 1972. At the time Ed was on the air playing Album Rock from 10 PM to 4 AM... the rest of the day WLAV was still automated oldies. The Album Rock was doing well at night though, so they decided to expand it. Ed called up Aris Hampers to join him, and the two of them were live from 7 PM to 5 AM. Finally in 1973, WLAV-FM went full-time Rock, and Ed moved to Middays. There is one more station story however. In the Fall of 1979, Ed quit WLAV-FM over their plans to use consultants to chart the course of the station. He ended up at WFFX-FM, The Fox 101, which was LAV’S rival in the Rock market. On Memorial Day 1980, The Fox switched formats to Country Music, becoming the first FM country station in Grand Rapids, WCUZ-FM. Ed stayed there for almost 15 years. In 1995, after conflicts with management over the direction of the station, Ed left, and actually thought of getting out of radio after almost 30 years.
But then, WLAV-FM fired their Program Director and brought Tony Gates back. Ed called Tony, and Ed Buchanan was back on Middays in May of 1995. In 2002 Ed moved to the Morning Train Wreck with Tony Gates, and when Kevin Matthews returned in 2005, Tony moved to Afternoons and Ed stayed in the morning with the Kevin Matthews Morning Show.
