Chuck Buell started his radio career early, building a one watt broadcaster in his bedroom at the age of 12, and working on-air while in high school in Rapid City, S.D. He came to the University of Denver in 1963, working at KDAB on the weekends, but within a year, was the afternoon jock on Denver’s premiere rock station KIMN.
While at KIMN he was prominent in KIMNs listener promotions including the famous 14 hour whirlwind trip that took 80 listeners from Denver to see the Beatles live in St. Louis during their second American tour in 1965.
Chuck remained at KIMN for four years until lured away to WLS-AM in Chicago, where he did evenings, afternoons and became music director. He helped break hit records by then up and coming artists like Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, Elton John and John Denver.
Buell returned to KIMN in 1978, once again handling the afternoon drive slot which was crafted to be a “morning show in the afternoon”. As AM radio began to wane in popularity, he moved to FM and a morning slot at Y108 in 1983, giving that new station instant credibility in the market. He left in 1986 for KMOX in St. Louis where he hosted morning drive and a talk show.
Buell has also worked in the San Francisco, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego markets. He was the station voice for KMGH Channel 7, KBTV Channel 9 and KWGN Channel 2 at various points in his career and has hosted in-flight entertainment programs for Continental Airlines. He continues to do freelance voice work.
Mark Koebrich began broadcasting while still attending college at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, rewriting news copy for a local radio station. That led to television work and a job at WTHI in Terre Haute in 1974 and later at WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky in 1978. He spent three weeks in Guatemala following a team of Kentucky medical professionals working there.
Koebrich came to KBTV Channel 9 as the southern bureau reporter, but was soon brought to Denver to help launch 9NEWS’ morning news program. He anchored in the mornings for 6 years before moving to the 4:30PM newscast with Linda Benzel.
He has anchored in all dayparts for 9NEWS but has had his longest tenure in the 4PM and 5PM newscasts. He hosted the live studio show “Good Afternoon Colorado” in the early 90s which led to a spinoff show for the Discovery Channel called “Start To Finish”.
As a reporter, he was a national correspondent for Gannett’s USA Today the Television Show in the late 80s. He reported live during the Pope John Paul II visit to Colorado for World Youth Day and during numerous live breaking stories. He’s covered 3 Olympic Games and 4 Super Bowls for Channel 9 and was the station’s consumer reporter.
Koebrich has won a dozen Emmys for best spot news coverage, best anchor and best documentary. He retired from KUSA in March, 2016.
A native of Palisade on the western slope, Glen Plumleigh got his first television job as a studio cameraman at KREX in Grand Junction while attending Mesa State College.
He came to Denver in 1963 to work for KWGN Channel 2, first as a studio cameraman, but soon became a news photographer and reporter. He was Chief Photographer when KWGN received the prestigious National Press Photographers Award for overall station excellence in 1970. Plumleigh later would become the station’s Assistant News Director.
Plumleigh left Channel 2 to work for the Coors Brewing Company producing the show “Second Century” which addressed topics in the brewing industry for Coors employees and distributors. He served as a photographer, editor and on-camera host for the program. He later founded his own production company, Video Production Associates, where he continue producing for corporate and non-profit clients.
A love of travel led Glen and his wife Charlotte to take every opportunity to explore the world, always with a camera in hand. Glen and Charlotte Plumleigh were killed in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 which went down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia in September, 1998.
Don Roberts entered broadcasting industry after serving 20 months in the Pacific Theater with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He went to an audition with a friend, but was told that his voice and confident demeanor would make him a natural for the radio.
He started at KFXJ in Grand Junction and worked in Cumberland, Maryland and Keene, New Hampshire before moving to Denver in 1956. He hosted live big band remotes for KIMN and the Mutual Radio Network at Elitch Gardens’ famed Trocadero Ballroom. In 1958 he moved to KOA where he worked on both radio and television including as 10PM news anchor.
Throughout the 60s, Roberts was a top-rated morning host for KLZ-AM. He anchored news, weather and sports for KLZ Channel 7 during this period and was the narrator for the station’s national Emmy Award winning documentary “The Road To Nowhere”
After leaving KLZ in 1972, he worked at KAAT, KKBB and KEZW hosting programs featuring big band music. He had a long career with his own production company producing over 500 commercials and industrial recordings. His love of words led to his being the pronouncer of the Rocky Mountain News Spelling Bee for 14 years.
Roberts passed away on March 5, 1995.
Leroy Smith came to Denver in 1936 and established himself as a prominent businessman in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood at his Rhythm Records and Sporting Goods shop at 2619 Welton Street. By 1943, he was booking performers at his own Voter’s Club.
In 1948, he became Denver’s first black disc jockey when KFEL-AM broke from their standard music format at midnight to play Rhythm and Blues and early Rock n Roll. “Rockin with Leroy” featured records he brought from his record shop and introduced Denver audiences to black artists seldom heard on the radio before. KFEL became KIMN in 1954. He continued hosting his show until 1960.
In the late 50s, Smith began promoting larger shows featuring R&B acts including B.B. King, Lloyd Price, Fats Domino and LaVern Baker in venues from Texas to Wyoming. He continued to promote concerts into the 1970s.
Smith was also the Denver publicity man for Muhammad Ali and was honored by Governor Roy Romer in 1987 for his service to the people of Colorado. He died in 1989 at the age of 77.
