The golden days of music radio are discussed with John Records Landecker, one of the premiere disc jockeys of the era. For years he ruled the nighttime airways on WLS, Chicago — heard in 38 states. Venture back to the halcyon days when radio was fun.
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20 comments :
Don't be nervous, don't be rocky,
You're our teenage guest disc jockey, now
Boogie check, boogie check, ooh, ahh
Pilot Joe
Barney: I remember hearing that bit during Bob Sirott's afternoon show.
What a fun episode.
Great jock... great station. Did he ever consider changing his middle name to CD or download? OK ... OK.
At one point almost 15 years apart [he was way after me] we were on the same station in Cleveland......well, let's say same frequency. By the time he landed there, it had undergone a call letter change and 2 or 3 different format changes. Of course, I had no where of the success that he had.
Ted Danson speaking about the 40th anniversary of Cheers: "Everything I do is because of the popularity of that show."
https://www.etonline.com/ted-danson-on-cheers-40th-anniversary-everything-i-do-is-because-of-that-shows-popularity-exclusive
Friday question
Is there a big event planned for Cheers' 40th anniversary on September 30?
One of those 'other stations' John went to after WLs, most forget this, was Toronto. Yep, Records was the morning man for CFTR in Toronto for maybe a year then went back to Chicago. I think it was around 1980. I still remember the Toronto subway cars being full of "Landecker Has Landed" posters. I guess it didn't work out for him or he just missed home but I listened every morning.
When I was at WSU in the mid to late 70s, Larry Lujak at WLS was the nation's top DJ. Legend was that Lujak had at one time in the beginning of his career, been fired at KRPL which was in Moscow, Idaho, just down the road.
Many memories listening to this. MusicRadio
One of the things I loved about terrestrial, analog, AM radio was when late at night the signals could bounce long distances. (i.e. depending on what the ionosphere was doing.) You could pick up stations from all over the country. I don't know if I ever heard WLS, but I might have. Now with digital signals I sometimes can't even get the local stations clearly.
M.B.
Speaking of Cheers,
Casey and Jean Kasem's property auction is this Thursday (March 17) and there's a bunch of Cheers memorabilia. Initial prices don't seem outrageous.
Speaking of JRL, best night jock I ever heard. Favorite line from back then... going into a singing jock shout jingle..."Why did I get into radio, to have people sing my name."
@Katana - I listened to Landecker on CFTR back in the halcyon days when there was still "Top 40" radio. I don't think that he was ever comfortable there. Just my opinion.
What fun! I grew up in central lower Michigan and I remember being able to hear John Records Landecker, along with the Boogie Checks.
Also, back in the 70s in that same central lower Michigan, there was a daily program on one of the local stations called "Swap Shop", where people called in with whatever they wanted to unload (or acquire).
I got to know him, listening from over the border in Buffalo on his brief expat stint at CFTR-AM in Toronto. His signature bit there was what he called "TTC," as in their subway system name, only around there it stood for "Trudeau Talks Cute." It was in the style of Dickie Goodman break-in records only with news clips of Pierre being turned into the punch lines. Alas, 680's long gone all news and JRL's back on this side of the Peace Bridge, but an updated TTC for Justin would be marvelous fun, eh?
TTC = Toronto Transit Commission. Not *just* subways, also buses and streetcars.
Thanks for showcasing JRL. I grew up about 90 miles from Chicago so listening to WLS was an everyday thing. As a high school then jr. college student in the mid-70s, I rarely missed his show. It was irreverent fun to say the least. Now that I look back on that time, I see there was something sort of zen about hearing Larry Lujack tell me Animal Stories at breakfast bracketed by John's Boogie Check at the end of the day.
Does anyone recall the NYC station and DJ that hosted "Bird Flight"? I woke up every morning listening to Charlie Parker and it was an inspiration to start the day.
Various details about John’s stint at CFTR can be found here:
https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic_mobile.php?id=5519
I'd forgotten the Trivial Pursuit game from his show! That was on the air when I listened, probably circa 1982, when the game didn't really hit the US for a couple of years after that. It was created by a couple of guys from Niagara-on-the-Lake, so it probably counted as Canadian content....
as, likely, did his 8:00 bump with the Real Don Pardo introducing "Live from Toronto, it's the second half of the John Landecker Show" and JRS referencing the "chair recognising the Honourable Member from the Radio Riding!" with the Lone Ranger theme playing under it. ("Riding" is Canuckistani for "parliamentary district.)
I found an aircheck for the first hour-plus of one of his CFTR shows in that era, and it all came back: the opening theme with "You're Out of the Dark" from WIzard of Oz; "Can I Get A Witness News" (riffing on the day's headlines while spoofing the Buffalo-based "Eyewitness News" shows that Toronto relied on for their US content); bantering with the traffic reporters. It wasn't the same after he left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLqSYCC9chI
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