Tom Donohue

Tom Donohue (November 1950 - November 12, 2003), was a major supporter and promoter of local and alternative music in Bloomington for most of his life. He is responsible for bringing some national acts to Bloomington like The Flaming Lips. He started TD's CDs & LPs and participated a lot in community radio stations like WFIU and WFHB, where he had a weekly show. On November 19th, 2003, he died after complications with liver cancer. He is greatly missed by the many friends he didn't even know he had and immortalized at Rhino's, where they now have the Tom Donohue Memorial Stage. He was a very friendly and dedicated person, and was good at getting to know his customers' musical tastes and recommending new music to the more adventurous ones. Some of his customers' likened him to a bartender because of his willingness to listen to whatever was on their minds and his approachable demeanor.

Life and Work

• Was a DJ for a radio station in London, England
• Lived in Austin, Texas for serveral years in the 1980s, working at Waterloo Records
• Worked in music stores around Bloomington including Karma Records, Ozarka Records, and CD Exchange
• After working at CD Exchange for several years, started TD's CDs & LPs in partnership with Patrick from Le Petit Cafe
• Hosted his own show on WFHB
• Trained many WFHB programmers (WFHB lingo for DJs) to use the board
• Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana (where his surviving family, including one son, still lives)
• Attended college at St. Meinrad Seminary

Links & Sources

• Jim Granato's thoughts (half way down page)
• Stan Gerbig's thoughts