As milestones go, Johnny Mars` 10th anniversary at album-rock WXRT-FM 93.1 in March slipped by most people pretty quietly. No ”A Decade of Service” compilation cassettes, a la Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, for Mars.
It has never been WXRT`s style to aggressively promote its individual deejays through billboards and TV commercials. If ever there was a radio station driven by the music, this is it.
Still, WXRT, blessed with such quick wits as Frank E. Lee and Marty ”The Regular Guy” Lennartz, would be appreciably less listenable if not for Mars, the station`s quickest wit of all.
”It`s nice to get recognition, but ultimately it can be a pain; just ask Michael Jackson,” said Mars, who grew up not far from WXRT`s Northwest Side studios, of his relatively low profile.
As the station`s 6 to 10 p.m. disc jockey and longtime host of the new-music program ”The Big Beat” at 11 p.m. Thursdays, Mars adds a dry sense of humor to his musical expertise.
After playing a couple of Jimi Hendrix songs on the 20th anniversary of the guitarist`s death he volunteered: ”Yes, 20 years ago today Jimi choked on his own vomit. That`s the way he went out, sad but true.” After playing bluesman Magic Slim and the Teardrops` ”Cold Women With Warm Hearts” he quipped, ”I guess that`s better than `Cold Women With Warm Beer.` ”
”Who I am on the air is really just an extension of who I am as a human being,” Mars said of his on-air style. ”I don`t really see myself as being any better or worse than anybody out there listening. They`re my peers.
”I`m just a 33-year-old guy who`s trying to survive in this world just like they are. I try not to come off as this holier-than-thou, opinionated jerk.”
One area where Mars` opinions do count is with his music selection. Perhaps because of his longtime hosting of ”The Big Beat,” which emphasizes adventurous new music and groups, Mars is perceived by a number of listeners as being the hippest of the hip at WXRT.
”I really don`t see myself as this `hipster` at all,” he said. ”I just try to find music I like, and if I`m lucky other people will pick up on that.”
Mars admits he got caught up in trying to live up to his image for a while.
”There was a time when my priorities were a little screwed up,” he said. ”I thought that in order to be on the `vanguard` of all this new stuff I had to live that lifestyle of staying out late every night and getting crazy. But that can get old pretty fast and be quite damaging on a physical level.”
These days Mars spends his free time working out. An avid runner, he has lost 110 pounds since joining the station a decade ago. No longer is he the
”Round Mound of Sound.”
”It`s kind of funny, I started out wanting to work at WXRT from growing up here in Chicago and being a regular listener,” Mars said. ”Now I turn around and boom-I`ve been here 10 years doing what I wanted to be doing at the place where I wanted to be doing it.
”I`ve been extremely lucky.”
