W
hen you have already been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame , the National Radio Hall of Fame , and you are featured in the radio wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , you might think that there isn ’ t really anything left to accomplish . But when John Records Landecker recently got a call from WGN Radio , he didn ’ t look at it that way .
“ In my memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name I wrote that I would never go back to do a nightshift at a music station ,” he says . “ I admit I did think about that when they called me about this show . But this is nothing like what I was doing previously ( on WLS FM ). The marching orders I was
By Rick Kaempfer
LANDECKER STICKS AT WGN
John Landecker
given here was ‘ don ’ t lose the license ’ and ‘ make it to the top of the hour ID on time ’. That ’ s it . Hmmm . They addressed every concern I had . I thought to myself , if I believed everything I ever told myself I could do , if I didn ’ t do it now , then when ? Even if I bomb , at least I gave it a shot . I mean this is WGN ! At night . What an opportunity !”
If there was one itch he hadn ’ t fully scratched in his amazing career , WGN was it . “ WGN has always been the top of the radio pyramid as far as I ’ m concerned . I ’ ve gone in and out of here several times over the years , and nothing ever came of it . This time is different . In a way this is a culmination of everything I ’ ve ever done in radio , with another opportunity to use everything I ’ ve learned , go in with a great attitude , and begin with a clean slate . It ’ s a matter of experience . The way we ’ re doing this is very low stress , and that ’ s such a nice change of pace from previous stops .”
One important change was he was being permitted to do his type of show . He wasn ’ t being shoehorned into a show that didn ’ t feel right for him . He calls this newest incarnation , “ The John Landecker Radio Oasis .” “ I knew that I did not want to be confrontational or political ,” he explains . “ I didn ’ t want to be discussing rioting with aldermen , or finances with Terry Savage , or medical developments with some doctor from Northwestern on a regular basis — if at all . I wanted to stay away from the stories that are causing people to grind their teeth — the grim reality everyone deals with every day . And I was thinking that a lot of people are driving while they listen , and when you drive down the toll road , and you run into an oasis , you know that you can stop there and relax . You can leave the pressure of driving behind . Have a cup of coffee or something , go to the bathroom , chill out and take it easy , if just for a short time . When you ’ re in the desert and you see an oasis , you know you can get water , even though you ’ re still in the desert . This is the radio version of that . I ’ m trying to be fun in the middle of un-fun . I don ’ t think there ’ s really anything like this on the radio anywhere these days .”
And this time it really feels different for John . “ The first huge difference is that WGN radio is the only radio station owned by Nexstar Media . All those past radio stations I worked for were owned by radio conglomerates that owned multiple radio outlets in the same city , dividing the workforce between those outlets . You weren ’ t asked to work for one station . No no no . You had to work for five . Engineers , promotions , sales , and more were doing at a minimum , double duty . That ’ s the biggest difference so far here at WGN . There ’ s only one owner . You have a direct line to the very top of the company . There ’ s no bureaucracy in between . If I want to talk to Sean Compton , I can just call him up .”
And he likes the atmosphere amongst his colleagues . “ There ’ s a real camaraderie at WGN among the personalities . It ’ s a much more enterprising WGN . They aren ’ t tied down to pre-conceived notions of ways of doing things . They just converted the 4-7 block into an afternoon news block with Steve Bertrand . They ’ ve got John Williams doing jokes . Bob Sirott doing giveaways . It ’ s a fun station that doesn ’ t take itself nearly as seriously as it used to , unless of course we are doing news . Everything else is friendly , not overtly political , and full service . I love the atmosphere .”
After being a music jock most of his career , he calls this new type of show a hybrid . “ WGN has a limited deal with the licensing companies , and so we can only play 90 seconds of any song before violating the licensing deal . I ’ ve been doing edited versions of songs that last less than 90 seconds . They all have a beginning , middle , and end . I ’ m calling this the attentiondeficit-disorder playlist . Some stations play the best music . Some play the most music . We play the shortest music . It ’ s been fun . People are getting into it .”
One person getting into it the most is John Landecker himself . “ I don ’ t want sound too saccharine , but this has been a blessing . An unexpected gift out of nowhere .”
John Landecker can be heard from 7-10pm weeknights on WGN Radio ( 720 AM ).
16 illinoisentertainer . com november 2020