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Dennis Mitchell became enamored of The Beatles at age 9. After seeing their photos in the newspaper, he asked his mother
what they were all about, and she told him they were “a bunch of guys with weird
haircuts.” Though she made no mention of music, Dennis found out soon enough
what the buzz was about in early 1964. He also became a disciple of the legendary British disc jockey John Peel,
who at the time was still making a name for himself as John Ravenscroft on KMEN in San Bernardino, California.
Dennis would call and pester John to play deep tracks from Beatles albums, and John would always oblige.
Dennis planted the seeds for a career in broadcasting by co-hosting his high school’s weekly radio
Top Ten countdown show on Saturday mornings. Honing his craft at stations in San Bernardino
and Redlands, Mitchell began working full-time in radio in Las Vegas in 1981,
and hasn’t looked back.
In the early 1980's, a handful of radio stations across the US began running Beatles music on Sunday mornings under
the title "Breakfast With The Beatles." Typically, the playlist would be randomly generated, leaving Beatles fans happy to hear an hour of music by their
favorite band, but wanting more in the way of background information and fan participation. One such station was in
Las Vegas, and at the start of 1991 Dennis became the first live host of the show, doing extensive research and
digging deep for interesting facts, rare recordings and interview clips.
He would go on to produce more than 500 consecutive unique one-hour programs and win several local media awards.
In 1999, Dennis brought the program to the worldwide web, by way of a unique replay device developed by his
friends at Powers Productions, Inc. This non-commercial device allows listeners to hear the show "any time at all,"
and the listener base continues to grow world-wide, with Mitchell receiving e-mails from Sweden, Japan, Canada, and
every region of the U.S.
After "Dennis Mitchell's Breakfast With The Beatles" established nine affiliate FM stations, syndication was acquired
by Wilbur Entertainment of California. Since then the show’s U.S. radio affiliate list has grown to more than 50,
plus three internet stations. It is the most listened-to and widely syndicated "Breakfast With The Beatles" program in the world,
and has been running on radio consecutively each week longer than any program with that title.
Dennis was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame in August of 2004. He was chosen (along with Lenny Kaye
and Sid Bernstein)to contribute to the liner notes of "Meet The Smithereens," the tribute album released in early 2007.
In March of 2007, Mitchell was honored as Best Local Radio Personality in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's "Best of Las
Vegas" edition, and in May 2008, Las Vegas Weekly honored him as "Best Morning Radio Personality."
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