Don Donovan
Dan Donovan, whose real name was Blaine Harvey, was a radio veteran whose career dated back to the glory days of rock ‘n’ roll.
Born in Philadelphia on January 22, 1941, Harvey got interested in radio growing up in little Biglerville, Pennsylvania. He began his career there at WGET, later moving to WSBA in York, Pennsylvania. In the early 1960s, after studying journalism at Penn State, he moved on to WICE Radio in Providence, Rhode Island. He then moved to WMEX in Boston and WCBM in Baltimore before beginning a ten-year run, as “Dangerous Dan Donovan” at WFIL AM in Philadelphia. “The station was performing at its peak, and its ‘boss jocks’ ruled the airwaves,” said Gerry Wilkinson, CEO of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.
He came to KS95 FM, in the Twin Cities, in 1979, and joined KOOL 108 FM in 1991. “The Geezer,” as he called himself, was one of the region’s best known and best loved DJs with his popular afternoon drive and Sunday oldies shows. City Pages named him “Best Twin Cities FM Radio Personality of 2006.” In 2007 he celebrated fifty years in radio.
Blaine Harvey, whose on-air name was Dan Donovan, died August 31, 2014, after a heart attack, at the age of 73.