New CLE Episodes with Gary Sandy and Rick Dees

06 November 2025

New CLE Episodes with Gary Sandy and Rick Dees

“Chachi Loves Everybody” Podcast Releases Must-Listen New Episodes Featuring Two Pop Culture Icons

Audio Brand Builder and Host Chachi Denes Gets Real With Radio Icon and Hall of Famer Rick Dees, Host of Internationally Syndicated “The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown,” and Acclaimed Television and Broadway Actor, Gary Sandy – Known as the Unforgettable Andy Travis on “WKRP in Cincinnati”

LOS ANGELES, CA – November 5, 2025 — Benztown, a global leader in radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles, announces the release today of two new episodes of Chachi Loves Everybody, an original podcast produced by Benztown and hosted by Benztown President and audio brand builder Dave “Chachi” Denes. The episodes feature Chachi’s special guests, Rick Dees, the iconic internationally syndicated radio host of The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown, and Gary Sandy, acclaimed television and Broadway actor known for his indelible role as program director Andy Travis on the classic comedy series WKRP in Cincinnati.

Both Dees and Sandy will be honored as Giants of Broadcasting by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation at the 2025 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony on November 14th at Gotham Hall in New York City.

To listen to the new Chachi Loves Everybody podcast episodes, visit: https://bit.ly/ChachiLovesEverybody.

On the first new episode of Chachi Loves Everybody, Rick Dees, a People’s Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated performing artist, and Radio Hall of Fame inductee, chats with Chachi and his listeners about topics including:

His early misadventures in radio as a high school and college student in North Carolina
The story behind creating the 1976 satirical novelty song “Disco Duck,” how it became a hit, and how it got him fired
Getting tapped by Dick Clark to go on-air in Los Angeles, and becoming a household name in L.A. and beyond
The entertainers and unlikely sources that inspired him as a performer and storyteller
Learning to invest after people tried to steal from him, and his financial advice
Why he bought a farm in Kentucky
Creating the Weekly Top 40 and how it became the longest continuously running countdown show ever.
Starring in a late-night show opposite Johnny Carson
His other ventures including his farm, his own app, cookbook, and launching Home Living, which became the Cooking Channel
And more!

In the second new episode of Chachi Loves Everybody, acclaimed actor Gary Sandy takes listeners through topics including:

Growing up in Dayton, OH, and aspiring to be an actor
Moving to New York and working odd jobs before becoming getting his break playing soap opera bad boys
What it was like broadcasting live for 50 million people in the groundbreaking daytime drama, As The World Turns
How he landed the role of Andy Travis on WKRP in Cincinnati
What went on behind the scenes of WKRP and his favorite moments from the show
The demanding but fulfilling life acting on Broadway and national tours
Performing a one-man show at the Grand Ole Opry
Advice for breaking into the TV business
And more!

Chachi Loves Everybody takes listeners with Denes – better known as “Chachi” – as he sits down for candid conversations with broadcasting legends, master brand builders, up-and-comers, and media innovators, revealing the true stories behind their successes and their insights into building iconic brands.

About Rick Dees

Rick Dees is an American radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the 1976 satirical novelty song “Disco Duck.”

Dees is a People’s Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated performing artist, and

Radio Hall of Fame inductee. He performed the title song for the film Meatballs. He co-founded the E. W. Scripps television network Fine Living, now the Cooking Channel, and has hosted Rick Dees in the Morning at KIIS-FM and KHHT in Los Angeles. Today, he continues his own syndicated daily radio show, Daily Dees, and the syndicated Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown. He is also the voice announcer on the network Rewind TV.

About Gary Sandy

Gary Sandy was born on December 25, 1945, in Dayton, OH. He attended Wilmington College of Ohio and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. His first professional role was a part created for him in the daytime drama As The World Turns. Over a seven-year period, he continued playing villains in the afternoon on Another World, Somerset, and his favorite, The Secret Storm.

Gary is best known for his role as program director Andy Travis in the classic television series WKRP in Cincinnati. His portrayal of “America’s Favorite Program Director” is credited with inspiring many to go into the radio profession. Gary received critical acclaim for his role in Norman Lear’s All That Glitters and has made countless TV guest appearances including Murder She Wrote, F.B.I. The Untold Story, The Young Riders, L.A. Law, and Diagnosis Murder. Television film credits include: Melvin Purvis: The Kansas City Massacre, Shell Game, For Lovers Only, and Nashville Grab. Feature film credits include: Hail to the Chief, Some of My Best Friends Are, Troll, and The Last of the Cowboys opposite Henry Fonda. He was also in the Academy Award-nominated film The Insider.

Gary has appeared in many Off-Broadway productions, most notably The Children’s Mass produced by Sal Mineo, and made his Broadway debut in Saturday, Sunday, Monday, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. He also starred in several interesting attempts to turn plays into musicals for Broadway, including: Sheba, the musical version of Come Back Little Sheba; Luv; from the play by the same name; and Windy City, the adaptation of The Front Page. He has performed in over one hundred theatrical productions, but the roles for which he is most proud are: the Pirate King in the Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance, Mortimer in the Broadway revival of Arsenic and Old Lace, the title role in Barnum, Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth, Billy in Billy Bishop Goes to War, Buck Holden in Nite Club Confidential, Charlie Baker in The Foreigner, Starbuck in The Rainmaker, Milo Tindle in Sleuth, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie, Terence O’Keefe in the national tour of Breaking Legs, Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl, Will in The Will Rogers Follies, Him in I Do! I Do!, Gene Glimmer Inside Man, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Mack Sennett in Mack & Mabel, Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd in the national tour of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opposite Ann Margret, as Erie Smith in Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie and the seven productions he has done as Harold Hill in The Music Man. For the past couple of years, Gary has been winning awards with live radio drama and also continues to make appearances in theatrical productions.