Landecker on WLS? You heard that right, Chicago

John Records Landecker

Four decades after John Records Landecker first stepped up to a microphone at WLS and went on to become one of the most celebrated disc jockeys in rock and roll history, he’s coming back.

Throughout the ’70s, Landecker was the nighttime giant of WLS-AM (890), where his blazing wit, brilliant parodies and rapid-fire phone calls lit up 38 states and inspired a generation of radio personalities. This time around, he’ll be heard on oldies WLS-FM (94.7), starting this weekend with shifts from 10am to 3pm Saturday and Sunday.

“For anyone who knows Chicago radio, there’s something about John Records Landecker and WLS that just sounds right together,” said Michael Damsky, president and general manager of the two Cumulus Media stations.

The move also will reunite Landecker, 64, with Jan Jeffries, Chicago-based senior vice president of programming for Cumulus Media. The two first worked together here in the mid-’80s when Landecker hosted mornings on the former Top 40 WAGO and Jeffries was program director.

It’s not clear what plans Jeffries has for Landecker beyond the upcoming weekend shifts and holiday vacation relief. But it would be hard to imagine a better fit all the way around.

“I’m very grateful to Jan for the opportunity,” Landecker said of the WLS-FM stint. “I am so excited I’ve been practicing the call letters all week.”

Landecker’s return caps a year of surprise comebacks for Chicago radio stars in exile, including Jonathon Brandmeier, Robert Murphy, Steve Cochran, Eddie Volkman, Joe Bohannon and Kevin Matthews (via Steve Dahl’s subscription podcast network).

Enshrined in the radio wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Landecker achieved legendary status at WLS during his first run from 1972 to 1981 with such trademark bits as “Boogie Check” and “Americana Panorama.” He’s been cited as a major career influence by personalities as diverse as Brandmeier, Eric Ferguson and Rush Limbaugh.

“I used to listen to you every night after I got off the air at KQV-AM in Pittsburgh, where I was working as Jeff Christie,” Limbaugh once told Landecker, according to a 1994 Tribune profile. “I even called you at home once for advice, and you talked to me for half an hour.”

After a radio odyssey of more than 40 years, spanning stations and formats across the dial, Landecker still loves the business. During the week, he continues to host afternoons on WIMS-AM (1420) near his home in Michigan City, Indiana. The station, which also streams on wimsradio.com, last month converted his 3-to-6pm talk show to ’60s and ’70s hits, renaming it The John Landecker Music Explosion.

“Rock and roll music and the people who played it on the air are the reason I am in radio,” he said.