Las Vegas FM radio legend, rock pioneer dies at 72
His legal surname brought to mind a powerhouse rock vocalist. Martin Belter, “Big Marty” to rock-music fans throughout Las Vegas, has died.
The longtime personality at KOMP 92.3-FM died early Saturday morning. He was 72. Belter had suffered a series of strokes beginning in the early 2000s and never regained the ability to walk.
Nevada Broadcast Hall of Fame announced Belter’s death on the organization’s Facebook page.
“Marty was a well known figure in the local rock ‘n’ roll scene, and is famed for bringing it to the forefront in the 80’s,” the post read. “Big Marty was inducted into the Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in 2004, where he leaves a forever footprint.”
Former KOMP morning-show host and “Big Marty’s” on-air partner Craig Williams had reportedly been looking after Belter over the past few years.
The man known as Big Marty was big when FM radio was huge.
“He was larger than life. I met him in ’86, when I started, and when he walked down the hall, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s Big Marty, “Williams said Monday afternoon. “He was ‘Big Marty’ on the air, but we just called him ‘Big.’ He was a big talent.”
Williams once asked Belter to sign the first check Williams ever earned in radio. It was for $1. This would be the first time Williams had ever spoken to Big Marty.
“I was an intern, and I took this check in and was asking everybody to sign it,” said Williams, today a promotions manager for KOMP’s parent company, Lotus Broadcasting. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, Big Marty! Will you sign this for me? He looked at it and growled, ‘Yeah, give it to me. I’ll sign it. You better hang on to this, because there ain’t too many of these in radio.”
Over the years, Belter was an on-air partner with popular Vegas rock-broadcast personalities Lark Williams and Mike Culotta. FM-radio vet Freddie Woods of “Graveyard Chaingang” said he owed Belter his start in radio.
Bell remembers Belter encouraging him to stray across boundaries to bring rock music and a rebel attitude to Vegas.
“I broke every rule, I played all the songs off the playlist,” Woods said. “He and GM Tony Bonnici stood by me for 16 years of rock ‘n’ roll bliss.
When Belter died, he took a piece of Las Vegas FM-radio history with him.
“He was Las Vegas’ first rock DJ giant, and his shadow looms large at Lotus Broadcasting,” Woods said. “He was a major part of my life. This was when radio DJs were your friends, your information, and your excuse. There will never be another Big Marty.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.