Brother Wease inducted into Radio Hall of Fame

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Rochester radio icon Alan Levin, AKA “Brother Wease” is now a national radio star in the National Radio Hall of Fame.

He was inducted in a ceremony in Chicago on Thursday.

"It was a shock to me that I beat guys in Los Angeles and Boston, big shows,” he said, noting that Rochester was by far the smallest city to have someone honored.

In a room full of radio giants, Levin said he felt "validated" to be singled out as "Brother Wease."

He was welcomed into the Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago and proudly delivered laughs and cringes.

Despite having spent hours talking on the radio every day for decades, and delivered countless speeches in the past, he admits a little apprehension to be speaking to the pinnacle of his radio peers.

“I can’t lie. I was very profane,” he laughed. “And I actually responded to tons of things that happened that night. They knew it was from my heart and that I could ad lib that way.”

Levin says his 36 years on his morning show have delivered thrills over time, like long easy-paced visits from iconic comedians like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler, who he says appreciated having so much time to talk instead of a few short minutes to tell jokes between songs on other station. In particular, he recalled the late shock comic Sam Kinison, who regularly performed in Buffalo, who he had as a frequent guest.

Levin also celebrated the chance to do good in the community, like when he got tattoos he still wears of sponsors to raise $9,000 for Monroe Community Hospital, and to celebrate Rochester.

“It’s a great family city,” he declared. “It has tons and tons to offer.”

As for why “Brother Wease"? Levin said at the spur of the moment, he just took his childhood nickname "Wease" and added his own salutation.

“I call everybody ‘brother,’” he explained. “‘Hey brother Joey, hey brother King, hey brother Dan, how are you doing?’ So I thought I’d be ‘Brother Wease’ and it stuck forever. If I knew it was going to last, I would have done something smarter.”

And in a sometimes angry era for talk radio, when flame wars can blow up on social media, "Brother Wease" says attacks won’t upset him. Although they might flatter him.

“When I moved you to go on a typewriter to type to me that I suck, that was great radio, bro! You typed to me!” he said.