On-air pair Ben & Patty reflect on decades in radio as they head for Hall of Fame

By Jill Callison, for Pigeon605

“People think I love him, but I don’t,” said Patty Dee, looking — with obvious affection — at her longtime partner, Ben Davis.

For his part, Davis doesn’t hesitate to poke back at Dee — something about a past romance with a trucker from Pukwana.

But both statements are accompanied by gusts of laughter as the radio announcers push through another four-hour shift behind the microphones at KKRC Radio. After all, they’ve been face to face in those chairs, with nothing but radio equipment and laptops between them, for close to 30 years as co-hosts in the Results Radio family.

Most of that time was spent sending out country music over the airwaves, followed by what is called “hot AC” — adult contemporary music from the ’80s, ’90s and the present. It’s the past 13 months presiding over rock ‘n’ roll that has brought them to Saturday’s honor, however. They will join two years’ worth of bands, promoters, locations and others at an induction ceremony into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame.

Between the two of them, they describe being placed in the South Dakota Rock & Rollers Hall of Fame as “surprising, cool, thoughtful, unexpected” and “freaking awesome.” It caps off what already was a heart-pounding year when they could once again play Journey and The Cars and Earth, Wind & Fire — not just for themselves but for a larger audience — rather than acts like Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne.

In August 2020, KKRC returned to the music that Davis, Dee and much of their audience grew up with, songs that evoke memories that will never fade away.

“But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song, it’s for people like you that keep it turned on.” Elton John is singing that song on a Tuesday morning in Sioux Falls, but it takes Dee back to growing up in Montana in 1970.

“I can see this on our turntable, you know, in our little stereo, the 45 going ‘round and ‘round with the orange and blue and yellow label,” she said.

The songs she plays on the radio now are the ones she grew up to, but now her perspective is different. Dee likens it to putting on a comfortable pair of mittens.

For Davis, who was raised in northeast Iowa, one of their show’s slogans sums it up: You lived them, we play them.

“They’re all memories,” he said. “It’s powerful, part of a person’s life.”

Davis and Dee have been part of each other’s lives officially since January 1994. Unofficially, they met a couple of years earlier when Dee worked mornings at KPAT Radio where Davis had a part-time night shift. He would be leaving as she was arriving, and they would exchange a few words.

“We would bump into each other, and she always impressed me as being delightful,” Davis said, followed quickly by Dee’s self-deprecating quip, “I don’t know what gave you that impression.”

A few changes in jobs and formats later, both announcers were working for Results Radio at KIKN, then the new country station. Davis had the morning show with a female partner, who one day became ill. Dee stepped in, and something — chemistry? karma? pure luck? — happened. Three days later, the couple were the proud parents of “The Ben & Patty Show.”

It has been a magical radio marriage ever since. She says it’s him, he says it’s her, and together they make a family of listeners feel right at home. You need that interaction in life, Dee said, and you also need it in your community.

“One of the things we define the show as is that conversation you have over the breakfast table over a cup of coffee,” Davis said. “It’s a group of friends having a party over the breakfast table. But it’s topical and local, what’s going on in Sioux Falls, because you’re our demographic.”

It’s a party that their listeners are invited to join in through various call-ins, questions of the day posed on Facebook and regular guests. For 22 years, Todd Heitkamp , meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service, called in with a report on what was happening in the skies. Within 30 seconds, Davis can come up with a list of reasons why the partnership ended — none of them flattering to Heitkamp, of course.

Tuesday, Heitkamp is there on his first visit since the format changed to what’s billed as “Sioux Falls Greatest Hits.” Freshly tanned from a trip to Hawaii, Heitkamp is there to record announcements for the upcoming Ice Institute hosted by Dakota Angler, his bait and tackle store.

First, though, is a visit with old friends and a chance for the three pals to tease each other on and off the air. Topics range from travel to weather to Dee’s recent surgery to grandkids to the pandemic and the first day of fall.

Before he leaves the control room, however, Heitkamp turns serious, praising Davis and Dee’s commitment to keeping their listeners safe in changing weather and to volunteering at multiple charity events throughout the years.

“You two complement each other,” he said. “I’ve been with the Weather Service for 35 years, and these two are unmatched in their dedication to Sioux Falls.”

Dee has been in radio more than four decades, and not every male partner welcomed a woman into the control room.

“Like I always tell Ben, I’ve been on the radio for 42 years, and every year that he wasn’t part of it wasn’t a good year,” Dee said. “I worked with some dandies. Or I did shifts on my own.”

Davis had worked at smaller AM stations, the ones where you read area obituaries to listeners and then switched to “selling dirt on an on-air auction” in the next breath before coming to Sioux Falls. He has, Dee said, “a smidge” less experience than she does because he’s “a smidge” younger.

Both Davis and Dee appreciate the Results Radio atmosphere and praise Scott McGuire, director of content, and fellow announcers like Adam North, Al Helgeson and Angela Todd, among others, who also have decades of experience. They describe general manager Don Jacobs as a genius who, in a time of shrinking markets cause by options like SiriusXM – “It’s evil,” Davis said – lets his staff “do things” that draw in listeners.

That includes their on-air banter, honed by 27-plus years of familiarity. How well do the two know each other? Let’s see:

Patty, what’s Ben’s favorite color?

“My gosh,” she said.

“I’m not sure Ben knows,” Davis said.

“He wears yellow a lot,” Dee said, gesturing at the hoodie he’s wearing. “I bought him that.”

“Yellow,” Davis agreed. “Or plaid.”

Ben, what’s Patty’s favorite destination spot?

“She likes to go out east to the ocean, the upper northeast, Oregon,” Davis said. “Pardon me, the northwest. She likes to go out for the dark, dreary weather.”

“That’s true,” Dee agreed.

Davis knows Dee’s favorite band — Tonic Sol-fa — and Dee knows Davis’ favorite snack: “Anything in front of him.”

Dee may call Davis a “horrible, horrible little man” when they are caught up in the teasing, but true sincerity comes when they describe each other.

“We’re dear friends,” Davis said. “I look forward to coming to work every day and getting to work with Patty.”

“He makes me laugh,” Dee responded. “He’s the funniest person I’ve ever known. Also, the kindest and smartest. He’s very good at playing what my very-Italian father would say, ‘playing stupid.’ He’s funny and fast on his feet, and even when I feel like sh**, he’ll make me feel better.”

Hall of Fame inductees

The South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association will honor its 2020-21 inductees at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall in Sioux Falls.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of the 2020 event; honorees from that year will be celebrated this weekend also.

Inductees include the following:

• DJs: Ben Davis and Patty Dee
• Production crew: Scott Nesbit
• Bands: Felix, Indigenous, Cokeley, Midwest Coast, Rich Show, Trees, Rox, The Rumbles and Blue Things
• Promoter/booking agent: John Steever
• Spirit of the Music Award: the late Tony Johnson, the late Kevin Newcomb and the late Dennis Cokeley
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Gordy Zens and Chris Gage
• Ballrooms/dance halls/night clubs: The Bar-barian and Clark Playhouse
• Music store: Haggerty’s Musicworks