Don Black is the Program Director and on-air personality for Jammin' 98.3. He has 30 years in the radio business, but is equally as passionate about DJing in the community at festivals, clubs and parties.

OnMilwaukee recently sat down with Black and chatted about music, Milwaukee, family, the future of radio and more.

OnMilwaukee: Obviously, your work at Jammin' is full-time, but what else do you do beyond the station?

Don Black: Everything I do is related to music. I do a lot of DJing out in the city too: Man Planet, Boone & Crockett, Summer of '85 – all kinds of places. If they ask me to come out, I do it. I love doing the radio thing, but the DJing – that's my fun thing.

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Let's start at the beginning. You're from Chicago, right?

Yep. Born and raised. I grew up in Englewood, South Side of Chicago. The house my mom lives in today is the same house we moved to in 1985. I went to high school in the Hyde Park area. It was a blast. I love my home city.

Was your family musical – or how did you get interested in music and radio?

So I've always loved music. When I was a kid, I listened to the radio all the time. I had a little transistor radio I would put under my pillow and listen all night. Mostly News Radio 78. And Dr. Demento. I also got to listen to the great Doug Banks when I was in high school.

How did you get into radio?

It was my grandmother, rest her soul. She always knew who I was. When I was a kid, we played "The Price Is Right" on my grandmother's steps, and I was always Bob Barker. I was always that dude. So somehow, someway, she knew what I was supposed to be.

My grandmother was a custodian at Kennedy-King College in Chicago and they had a very popular radio station. She had bought me my first pair of turntables, and I tried to teach myself how to DJ, but that didn't work at all.

So my grandmother said, "I'm gonna take you over to the station and they're gonna show you how to mix." She drops me off at the station on a Saturday morning, and I'm waiting for someone to come out, and a girl walks out, and asks, "Are you here to audition for the show?" Um, I guess? I'm 16, but sure. I got an internship I didn't even know I was applying for. 

Your grandmother sounds like she was an amazing woman. What was your first job in radio after that?

My first job in radio was at B96 in Chicago. I got fired from that, and I'm pretty proud of it because I learned a lot. I was young and doing stuff I had no business doing, so I got fired. And it took me a while to figure out it was my fault. But I did. I held myself accountable. And it's funny, because many moons later, I crossed paths with the man who fired me, and we had a really great conversation. He told me, "Look, I'm really happy that you stuck with it, and that you learned from your mistakes."

Did you move to Milwaukee for the job at Jammin'?

Yes. The last station I worked at was in Lansing, Mich. And I'll be honest: At that point in time, I was getting to the point where I thought I might be done. You know, everything that was happening in the industry and I was just really tired. But then I got the call about Jammin, and was asked to apply as the Program Director. And it happened. And I'm really glad it did. It's been a great personal and professional challenge for me. I never programmed in a Top 50 market, and I wanted to see if I could do it. It will be 10 years in November.

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Being from Chicago, did you have preconceived notions about Milwaukee? Had you spent very much time here?

I knew about The Brewers. I knew the Packers were in Green Bay, but I didn't know how close that was to Milwaukee. What I didn't know about, and I wish I had known sooner, was about Summerfest. When I moved here, I could not wait to check out Summerfest. And the very first year, I worked (through Jammin) every single day. I would get there when it started, and I did not leave until it was over. I had to experience all of it because it was just so amazing. I call it a musical amusement park.

And now being here for as long as I have, I still love Milwaukee. I take the time to find something new all the time. At first, I found the big things to love about Milwaukee, like Summerfest, and now I'm into the little things. The smaller festivals, the little hole-in-the-wall places. Those are what's really cool. You can just go there and be who you are and talk to people and have a lot of fun.

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Where was the first Milwaukee club you DJ'd?

Mad Planet. I still DJ there every New Year's Eve. I love hanging out in Riverwest. I miss Company Brewing. Loved that spot. I mean, you could spend like $20 and get trashed. It was absolutely great. 

One of my favorite events is Lake EFX, that's Sundays at Boone and Crockett. It started as a benefit for another DJ who had Covid, and sadly he passed, but we kept the series going . People love it. And that's exactly why I love to DJ so much: because I can reach people. When I DJ, I don't stay behind the turntable all night. I'm the person who walks around and talks to people, see how they're doing. That's what I do.

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You clearly love Milwaukee, and we are so lucky to have you, but ultimately, do you want to work in Chicago again someday? Do you want to end where you started?

I've thought about that a lot, and yes, it has been the dream. But the way radio is now, I think I've left my mark on what I do, and I'm totally OK with where I am and what I'm doing.

What do you like to do in your free time that's not music-related?

I am a huge gamer. My game right now is Borderlands 4. I'll come home from a gig and play until 2 or 3 in the morning.

So what do you think is the future of radio?

I think the cool thing that we're starting to realize now is that you can get music anywhere. But you can't get personality anywhere. So what is going to set radio apart from personal playlists? It's the people that are on the air. If they know what they're talking about; if they know how to talk to their audience; if they know who they're talking to – that's the thing that's going to set radio apart. 

I'm lucky enough to work for a company that gets it. And they want us to make sure that we are in the community and talking to people, finding out what they need, what they want, what they care about. That's really important to me as a person. Plus, I've been doing this since I was 16, so there's no stopping now. 

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