Remembering Rocky Rococo. R.I.P. James Pedersen

Pizza icon dies at 67

It was a sad day when staff at Midwest Family Broadcasting heard James Martin Pedersen had passed away.

News broke Monday Pedersen died Feb. 4 at the age of 67.

The Rocky Rococo pizza icon had been coming to the La Crosse, Wis., stations to record promos for over 25 years. He had been the face of the Madison-based pizza chain since 1976.

“We were hoping that he was going to be here on Friday,” said Susie Carlson, who worked with Pedersen at Midwest Family for a quarter century. “He would have had his poem ready. And he would have had his balloon ready. And I’m sure he would have come in with pizza. It would have sweetened all of us up around here.”

Here is a Valentine’s Day promotion Pedersen recorded at Midwest Family Broadcasting (MWF). It came off the top of his head, as they often did with Pedersen. And it seems to fit, so very appropriately now, after his passing.

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Pedersen had a presence when he came to the stations downtown. Of course, there was the white coat, the white hat, the shades and the moustache. But, for those who knew him at MWF, it wasn’t what he wore, but what he did and said. He came in character, and the staff was always excited to see what he was going to come up with that day.

“One time he came into the radio station and, unbeknownst to me, he picked up our speaker phone and he buzzed the whole building that he was in the building,” Carlson said. “That’s the kind of guy he was.

“He was fun. He was all about fun. He’d come into the station and he was one of those bigger-than-life people.”

Pederson’s specialty was this time of year: Valentine’s Day. He worked with a script. One he usually wrote. But then, after those were recorded, he’d free-style a bit, as Puck from MWF’s 95.7 the Rock remembers.

“He did so many different voices,” Puck said. “Not only Rocky Rococo, but he did a number of different characters, all on his own. Most of it almost all ad-libbed. I mean right on the fly. And he was just quick. And funny. And witty.

“He came here on a semi-regular basis, especially this time a year for Valentine’s Day. They were, pretty much, the originators of the HEART SHAPED PIZZA.”

Listen to Carlson’s and Puck’s comments on the pizza icon that so many at the MWF loved and will miss.

Susie Carlson

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Puck

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