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Russell Dale Martin (born October 4, 1960) is an American radio shock jock in Dallas, Texas. He has worked in the Dallas radio market for over 26 years. Martin hosted the #1 rated The Russ Martin Show on KLLI Live 105.3 in Dallas, until December 8, 2008 when KLLI switched formats to a Sports Talk station called "105.3 The Fan" (now KRLD-FM). On July 12th, 2010, Russ returned to radio with his new morning show on 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL), which can be heard weekdays from 6AM to 10AM.

Biography

Martin grew up in Pleasant Grove, a large, working-class neighborhood in southeast Dallas, where he graduated from W.W. Samuell High School. Martin's radio career began in the 1980s at KGVL 1400 AM in Greenville, Texas, working 6 p.m. to midnight running the board for religious programs.

In 1982 Martin was hired by KTLR 107.1 FM in Terrell, Texas, to play country music on weekends. A year later in 1983 he was hired by KAAM 1310 AM in Dallas as a part-time weekend disc jockey. In 1986 Martin was hired for another part-time position by the Satellite Music Network for an oldies format, and later worked part-time for Z-Rock while still working at KAAM and KAFM.

In 1987 Martin was hired by top 40 station KEGL, "The Eagle", in Dallas. He also hosted a talk show on Sunday nights at KEGL. He hosted the television shows Hot TV and Hot Tickets which ran from 1988 to 1994 on the then local FOX affiliate KDAF.

Charity work

Known for his local charity work, Martin founded The Russ Martin Show Listeners Foundation in 2002 which benefits the families of police officers and firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty. The Foundation also coordinates an annual parade called the Heroes Day Parade. In 2006 he formed "The Russ Martin Show Experience", a band made up of RMS cast members, regular guests and local musicians. The band performs rock cover songs at live venues and at an annual "White Trash Party" to raise money for charity. The shows benefit The Russ Martin Show Listeners Foundation.

Russ also serves on the advisory board at Operation Kindness, a no-kill animal shelter in Carrollton, Texas.

Interests

Russ Martin's interests include 1960s television show character Batman as portrayed by Adam West, as well as his near-obsession with James Garner as the character Jim Rockford. Martin also owns a collection of classic TV show cars such as a Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee replica, two 1966 Batmobile replicas, a replica of the Mach Five from the cartoon, Speed Racer, and most recently the 1976 Ford Grand Torino from Starsky and Hutch.

The Russ Martin Show

The first incarnation of The Russ Martin Show began following the departure of The Howard Stern Show from KEGL. In 1997 he was asked to fill morning drive time slot. Within two years, Martin's ratings had surpassed those of Dallas veteran radio personality Ron Chapman's ratings.

In 2000, Martin left KEGL following a contract dispute. The Russ Martin Show reappeared on KYNG, a station that had previously been country-western music. Martin began his first show at KYNG on April 6, 2000, once again filling the morning drive time slot. When Howard Stern was picked up by KYNG, The Russ Martin Show moved from its morning drive slot to 3-7pm. In 2003 KYNG changed its call letters to KLLI and took on the Live 105.3 branding.

The Russ Martin Show has no more consistently high ratings for KLLI since his show debuted on 105.3. In 2005 D Magazine named Martin best radio talk show host in the DFW area.

In December 2008, Live 105.3 changed its format to include more live sports programming, and Martin was eliminated during the switch.

On July 1, 2010 97.1FM KEGL ran a promo announcing the return of The Russ Martin show. The show began airing on July 12, 2010 in the 6am-10am time slot.

Arrest

Martin was arrested on July 18, 2008 following an incident on July 14 where he allegedly assaulted his fiancee in his Southlake home. Martin was jailed for a short time before posting a $10,000 bail and being released. On July 10, 2009, Russ Martin pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor assault in a Fort Worth criminal court and received two years deferred adjudication.

See also

• List of radio stations in Texas
• KRLD-FM

References

1. ^ RussMartin.INFO - Who is Russ Martin?
2. Published on December 5, 2004, Page 1D, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
3. Live 105.3
4. The Russ Martin Show
5. http://www.operationkindness.org/AnimalSponsor/MercyService_RussMartinSpeech.pdf
6. RussMartin.INFO - 2007-04-03
7. The Dallas Morning News 10/22/1999
8. The Dallas Morning News 1/27/2002
9. D Magazine August, 2005.
10. http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/archive/1053-Changes-Format-Drops-Russ-Martin.html
11. http://www.kegl.com/pages/russ_martin_show.html
12. http://static.cbslocal.com/station/ktvt/docs/2008/july/martin.pdf
13. http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/Russ_Martin_Sentenced

External links

• Russ Martin Show FAQ and Audio Archives
• Russ Martin's Auto Repair
• Operation Kindness
• Harder Beat Magazine article
• The Heroes Parade
• Reward Increased In Animal Cruelty Case from Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA
• RussMartin.com
• Best Radio Yakety-Yakker article from D Magazine

• Articles needing cleanup from July 2009
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from July 2009
• Misplaced Pages pages needing cleanup from July 2009
• 1960 births
• Living people
• American talk radio hosts
• People from Dallas, Texas