''The Morning Show'', initially called ''The Morning Program'' and then for a time ''A Prairie Home Entertainment'' and ''A Prairie Home Morning Show'', was a weekday morning

drive-time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cl ...

radio program produced in St. Paul, Minnesota and broadcast on

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

KCMP KCMP (89.3 FM, 89.3 The Current) is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts a AAA music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Minnesota and covering the Minneapo ...

and other stations of the MPR network. ''The Morning Program'' first aired in 1969 on

Minnesota Educational Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

with host

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

and engineer/sidekick

Tom Keith Thomas Alan Keith (December 21, 1946 – October 30, 2011) was a radio personality who worked for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the engineer for Garrison Keillor when the latter began his early morning radio show from the ...

, known on the air as Jim Ed Poole.Kim Ode
Fans in mourning for MPR's 'Morning Show'
Star Tribune'', December 9, 2008, Accessed December 10, 2008. Keillor eventually began to parody MPR's then-classical playlist by playing pop music. The initial deviation from the classical playlist was the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

' "

Help Me, Rhonda "Help Me, Rhonda" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, appearing first on their 1965 album ''The Beach Boys Today!'' (where it was spelled "Help Me, Ronda") and subsequently in re-recorded form on the following 1965 album ''Summer Day ...

." In 1971, it adopted the name ''A Prairie Home Morning Show''. 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 Program'' from the MPR network continued until the mid-1980s, however. The program was best known for offering an eclectic selection of recorded music, ersatz "commercials" for fantastic products, and interviews with imaginary characters. The program also eventually featured live in-studio performances by local and nationally known musicians. Keillor's success with his new live Saturday radio program ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'', and a desire to spend more time with his writing career, led him to leave ''The Morning Program'' in 1983, whereupon

Dale Connelly Dale Connelly (born 4 October 1955) was co-host (with Tom Keith, aka Jim Ed Poole) of ''The Morning Show'' on Minnesota Public Radio. The program was first carried on KSJN at frequency 91.1 (now KNOW-FM, later on KSJN at 99.5 and finally on KCMP ...

joined Jim Ed Poole as co-host. The program was eventually renamed ''The Morning Show''. 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 The Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest active theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the home of American Public Media's ''Live from Here'' (formerly '' A Prairie Home Companion''). It was one of many theaters built by the Shubert Theatre Corporatio ...

in St. Paul that morning. On December 12, Connelly began producing an online and HD radio service for MPR centered on ''The Morning Shows playlist and called "Radio Heartland."

References

External links

''The Morning Show''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morning Show Minnesota Public Radio American variety radio programs American music radio programs 1969 radio programme debuts 2008 radio programme endings Garrison Keillor 1969 establishments in Minnesota 2008 disestablishments in Minnesota

Further reading

References

External links