Roy Gunderson, known to Denver listeners as “Roy the Bell Boy” and the “Ding Dong Daddy of Denver,” was one of the personalities who helped turn KIMN 950 into the city’s dominant Top 40 station at the end of the 1950s.
Gunderson joined KIMN in 1958 and took over the afternoon shift. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado records that he quickly achieved an audience share above 60 percent—an extraordinary figure that illustrates both KIMN’s dominance and the drawing power of individual disc jockeys during the early Top 40 era.
He was part of the colorful group of KIMN personalities whose on-air names, stunts and public appearances became inseparable from the station. Alongside Pogo Poge, Royce Johnson, Boogie Bell and others, Gunderson helped create a version of radio in which the announcers themselves were local celebrities. Colorado Music Hall of Fame histories continue to identify “Roy the Bell Boy” among the signature voices of KIMN’s classic period.
Gunderson’s career later took him out of Colorado. By 1961, trade reporting identified him as the former KIMN personality chosen to become general manager of a new station, KDAK in Carrington, North Dakota—evidence of the management opportunities that could follow success as a major-market personality.
Sources: Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado — Denver Radio history; Colorado Music Hall of Fame — KIMN Radio; Colorado Music Experience — KIMN Radio.
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1958: Roy Gunderson joins KIMN-AM
1958 — Gunderson joined KIMN-AM in 1958 and took over the afternoon shift.
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