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Back in the era of parachute pants and Valley girls, a young man in his 20s from Blair, Nebraska, was the king of Omaha-area popular-music radio.

Scott O’Hanlon, who worked under the moniker “Hot Scott,” handled the key 7 p.m. to midnight shift on KQKQ — Sweet 98 during the late ’80s and early ’90s, spinning pop music in the pre-grunge erathat echoed out of the boom box speakers and car stereos of Omaha teens as they did their homework or cruised Dodge Street.

“He was fearless. He wasn’t scared to be on the radio with potentially hundreds of thousands of people listening,” said Jay Tweedy of Phoenix, a longtime friend and co-worker. “He loved entertaining, you could tell.”

O’Hanlon died Sunday of a heart attack in California, where he moved after leaving Omaha in the 1990s. He was 53.

Many Omahans now in middle age associate Hot Scott with “Sprite Night,” hugely popular teen dance parties at Peony Park.

“I was young. ... I started that gig when I had just turned 20,” O’Hanlon said in a 2014 World-Herald story. “I was only slightly older than the crowd I was performing for.”

Chrissy Briggs became friends with O’Hanlon in the early 1980s. She said he was a charismatic person who knew how to fire up the “Sprite Night” crowd.

She said he would dance onstage to the songs he played, and would shout to the crowd, asking for song requests.

The teens would shout back.

“He would get the crowd going,” she said. “He was just larger than life.”

O’Hanlon had a wide circle of friends, she said, and loved inviting people to his big apartment in northwest Omaha where he would fix pasta or grill some meat.

California-born O’Hanlon spent the first few years of his life in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne before moving to Blair in 1974 with his mother and his stepfather, Michael O’Hanlon.

In Blair, he was active in high school drama and choir. He was charismatic and very popular, Michael O’Hanlon said.

The family lived across the street from Blair High School. Michael O’Hanlon remembers Scott was grounded at some point and confined to his room. Tweedy met O’Hanlon in high school in Blair in the early 1980s.

“We always knew Scott was going to be something,” Tweedy said. “He was out there. He was definitely going to win the award for most likely to make you laugh.”

In 1983, at age 17, he tried out for Sweet 98’s “Supermouth” contest, where the winner would get a year-long on-air shift for music station then based in Council Bluffs.

He had a 30-second on-air audition. Tweedy recalled that his routine poked fun at Blair “celebrating the installation of the third electronic streetlight.”

He won. As part of the deal he also got a new Pontiac Firebird, a grown-up salary and a west Omaha apartment.After his year was up, the station hired him permanently as Hot Scott.

Eventually, he worked a 7 p.m. to midnight shift. For a station like Sweet 98 and its contemporary-hit-radio format “nights are huge. That is where you attract an enormous amount of teen audience,” said Tweedy, who followed his friend to work at the station, becoming the DJ known as “J.T.”

Hot Scott became well-known around Omaha, leading teens at Rosenblatt Stadium in a pledge to say no to drugs and alcohol, giving motivational talks at schools and riding an elephant through downtown for the circus with then-Gov. Kay Orr.

And there was the hugely popular Sprite Night, held on Peony Park’s outdoor Royal Grove dance floor on Thursdays. O’Hanlon would travel to Peony Park in a limousine with contest winners and entertain the crowd with the best of late-1980s pop music.

But Sprite Night dances came under criticism. Neighbors hated the events, citing noise, fighting and underage drinking. Peony Park’s management canceled it in June 1991.

A little over two months later, Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Sweet 98-style pop wasn’t so popular anymore. In February 1992, the station replaced almost its entire on-air lineup, saying a market study showed listeners found the announcers were “getting old and stale.” O’Hanlon was out the door despite his continued popularity. He was 26.

O’Hanlon eventually moved back to California and later became director of marketing, advertising and public relations at the Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach.

In 2013, Omaha musician Matt Whipkey reached out to O’Hanlon for help in researching what would become Whipkey’s concept double album “Penny Park: Omaha, NE: Summer 1989,” with 21 songs about being young in Omaha during that era.

“He gave me a lot of background,” Whipkey said. “He was super nice about it. He didn’t have to get back to me.”

“He was encouraging and that was great,” Whipkey said. “That’s what … an artist needs to hear when he embarks on such a thing.”

World-Herald staff writer Michael O’Connor contributed to this report.

#2-Published in the Pilot-Tribune July 10, 2018

To hundreds of thousands of listeners, he was “Hot Scott,” a popular DJ working the 7 p.m. to midnight shift on KQKQ — Sweet 98 — during the late '80s and early '90s in Omaha.

To his family and friends, Scott O'Hanlon was “intelligent, sarcastic, charismatic and strong willed.”

O'Hanlon, a 1983 Blair High School graduate, died July 1 of a heart attack at his home in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was 53.

It's those qualities, O'Hanlon's sister, Michaell O'Hanlon said, that carried him throughout his career.

“He thrived on attention and no better place to get that then being the hottest DJ in town,” she said. “He managed to keep his shows fresh and entertaining, but he wanted something different and something more, so he moved back to southern California.”

O'Hanlon was born in California, where he spent the first few years of his life before moving to Blair with his mother, Linda, and step-father, Michael O'Hanlon.

At Blair High School, Scott was active in theater, often playing a lead character.

“(He) had a lot of energy in him about entertaining,” said Jay Tweedy of Phoenix, a longtime friend and co-worker.

O'Hanlon began his radio career after winning Sweet 98's “Supermouth” contest in 1983. He was one of 640 applicants that was narrowed down to 10 finalists before he was named the winner.

O'Hanlon received a one-year contract to DJ four hours a day and a salary of $20,000. He also got a custom Pontiac Firebird and a $1,000 wardrobe.

O'Hanlon was a natural entertainer and radio was an ideal match for him, Tweedy said.

“He really was a true talent,” he said. “I think he really loved holding an audience. I think he was a natural fit for it — fit like a glove.”

O'Hanlon turned his one-year contract into a career as he hosted the 7 p.m. to midnight shift. Sweet 98's listeners best remember Hot Scott as the host of “Sprite Nite,” popular teen dance parties at Peony Park.

“Sprite Night was sort of like in the 80s, the sock hops of the 50s,” said Tweedy, who also graduated from BHS and followed O'Hanlon at the station as the DJ known as “Jay T.” Both also worked at a DJ club called The Edge of Town.

On Thursday nights, a limousine would arrive at the station to pick up Hot Scott and contest winners to take them to Sprite Nite, held on the Royal Grove dance floor at Peony Park.

Bridget Larzalere, O'Hanlon's step-sister, said her brother's personality drew people to him.

“He was the center of the party, always,” she said.

Only three weeks before his death, Hot Scott returned to Omaha for the Sprite Nite Reunion weekend.

In the late 1990s, O'Hanlon moved to Huntington Beach, where he became the director of marketing and advertising for Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. He also served as the master of ceremonies at countless charity events.

“The Waterfront Beach Resort has lost a dear friend, master of ceremonies, colleague and leader,” the resort said in a statement. “Huntington Beach has lost a community champion and its biggest Fourth of July, US Open of Surfing and HB Airshow fan.

“Needless to say, his larger-than-life personality and presence will be missed more than words can ever express.”

O'Hanlon's family adored him. Larzalere said she would miss “everything” about her brother.

“He was just here. It's wrong. I don't get it,” she said through tears. “I miss his loudness, his laugh.”

Since news of his death has spread, family members have discovered the impact Scott has had on many people, Michaell said.

“He has touched more lives than we will ever know,” she said.

Scott is survived by his fiance, Shawn Mitchell; father, Raymond Gagne; brother, Robert Gagne; sisters, Michaell O'Hanlon, Stacey O'Hanlon, Becky Gagne, Shannon Estupinan and Bridget Larzalere; step-father, Michael O'Hanlon; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. July 27 at West Lanes in Omaha.

Memories of Scott O'Hanlon

“While in Muncie, Ind., for the Thespian convention, everyone saw our name tags and where we were from — Blair, NE. Many assumed that meant Northern England, so Scott and I and several others spoke in an English accent (not event close to an actual Northern England accent, but that didn't seem to matter) the entire time. Scott O'Hanlon's shenanigans always made me giggle.” — Abby Jensen

“Never saw him without that amazing smile on his face and would always light up the room wherever he was! Class of '83 will never forget you!” — Melissa Stan-Preister

“My memories of Scott go back to the Blair Pool days, where we all 'lived' during the summer. He was always running around, wet and brown as a bear, and would often ask if I had any money! I would find a quarter somewhere, and off he would go to get popcorn or a frozen Snickers, and then back to the pool. He was a darling, happy-go-lucky kid, never changed a bit.” — Jill Rogert Tobin

“Scott was a kind soul who easily entertained others. It was not surprising that he worked professionally in the vacation/resort industry, and appeared to excel at it. We who knew him can honor his legacy by welcoming and being hospitable to those who most need a break from the daily challenges life brings.” — Kent Ferris

“He made a huge impact on people. You go from growing up listening to him on the radio. I listened to him every night back then. … He was all heart. That dude would have done anything for anybody. I don't think he had a bad word for anyone. He lived life to the fullest.” — Tim Welch

Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clipping on file at the Blair Public Library.