[Johnny Rush]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to put in a little plug...John Records Landecker will be co-hosting Live and Local with Paula Griffin every weeknight starting at 5pm on AM 1420 WIMS. Landecker currently lives in Michigan City and will be live, in studio taking your phone calls at 861-1632 starting tonight!

It was really neat to see how excited he was to be doing local talk radio, if anyone wants to welcome him, or give him any insight into what you wanna hear...it's john@wimsradio.com

Thanks!

[Southsider2k12]

Wow. Johnny that is a HUGE achievement for the station, congrats are in order!!!

[lbl]

He lives in MC!? Excellent! Well done, Johnny! You are doing an amazing job! Now, where's Larry Lujack and Little Tommy?

[JHeath]

Congrats to you, Ric, and the rest of the WIMS staff. Phenomenal addition to the on-air talent.
Can't wait to hear him tonight.

[Aaron Stay Positive Knowlton]

He is a TRUE ICON of Radio. AWESOME!!
AK

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to put in a little plug...John Records Landecker will be co-hosting Live and Local with Paula Griffin every weeknight starting at 5pm on AM 1420 WIMS. Landecker currently lives in Michigan City and will be live, in studio taking your phone calls at 861-1632 starting tonight!

It was really neat to see how excited he was to be doing local talk radio, if anyone wants to welcome him, or give him any insight into what you wanna hear...it's john@wimsradio.com

Thanks!

[Ang]

OMG!!!

(gosh! I feel so out of the loop)

I remember talking to John in Chicago a long time ago and I was so proud of that on-air conversation. All my friends heard it too and I was a small celebrity when I got to school that morning.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/16...N-lew03.article

Landecker spinning in NWI
40 years in radio biz, legend starts talk show in Michigan City, enjoys doing what he calls 'a really good show'
Comments

July 3, 2009
LEWIS LAZARE Media & Marketing columnist llazare@suntimes.com

There aren't many left, but John Records Landecker qualifies as a genuine legend in the radio industry. His newest venture -- co-host of an afternoon drive talk show on tiny WIMS-AM (1420) in Michigan City, Ind. -- may not be high-profile, but it has given Landecker a chance to reconnect with his roots in radio and help him rediscover why he remains in a business he still loves 40 years on.

We posed five questions to Landecker about his new job and his view of the radio business:
» Click to enlarge image
John Records Landecker is the co-host of an afternoon drive talk show on tiny WIMS-AM (1420) in Michigan City, Ind.



1. You've been living in northwest Indiana for six years. Did you feel the urge to remove yourself from the big city hubbub?

I didn't move to Indiana to escape the big city. The original reason was to get some space for my dogs to run without a leash. I had the house here and one in Chicago. Over time there was job loss and divorce, and here I am.

2. You've had some very high-profile jobs in radio at big radio stations. What appealed to you the most about taking on a gig as co-host of a small-town radio talk show.

I still do a talk show on WLS-AM (890) on Saturdays, and I have a nationally syndicated music show called "Into the '70s" that airs Sunday on WLS-FM (94.7) from 7 p.m. to midnight. Radio is what I do. WIMS offers the chance to re-connect with my inner radio child. In its purest form, this is what it's all about. WIMS has a studio on 10 acres underneath the transmitter lights. "Live and local" if you will. My commute is 10 minutes. Parking is free. The hours are fantastic, and guess what? It's a really good show. This is very much like the first station I worked for. Those studios were across the road from a dairy farm. I would also add that my grandfather, William J. Records, lived on a farm in Indiana.

3. Do you and your WIMS co-host Paula Griffin have much in common, and how tough is it to establish on-air chemistry with someone with whom you've never worked?

How about that Paula Griffin! Chemistry: you have it or you don't. We do.

4. Are you surprised that you've transitioned from being a music jock to more of a radio talker, and what prompted you to make the switch?

I made the transition to talk radio because I had to. Music radio is music. The personality aspect has been pretty much confined to morning shows. Mary June Rose, who was the program director at WGN-AM (720), contacted me about giving talk a try. Kipper McGee invited me back to WLS. Jon Quick, who ran WIBC-FM (93.1) in Indianapolis, had me fill in. The very first person to mention "talk" to me was Turi Ryder, a former WLS jock who has been doing talk radio for a long time. Turi and I still work together. You can check that out at www.shebopsproductions.com. WIMS owner Ric Federighi is the first person to give me a five-day-a-week talk show. The fire still burns, and I am going to stick as many irons into it as I can.

5. You got started in radio some 40 years ago. What has changed the most about the business while you've been in it?

The biggest change I have seen in radio is consolidation, and satisfaction for the stock holder taking priority over satisfaction for the listener. Lately I would say the Web and syndication. There is no reason that the show I do with Paula on WIMS could not be syndicated regionally or nationally right out of that studio on 10 acres. It's already international at Wimsradio.com. That's a beautiful thing.

[TSNSPYDER]

That is too cool. I remember when I was a kid growing up in MC listening to WLS, FM was just getting started. I remember John would always say, I'm John Records Landeker, and Records truly is my middle name".

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.post-trib.com/lifestyles/168905...diohost.article

Chicago radio legend chats it up at WIMS

July 30, 2009
By Bob Kostanczuk, Post-Tribune staff writer

It's been a while since John Landecker's heyday in the 1970s as a hero of rock 'n' roll radio in Chicago. But, at 62, he's still putting his wit and knowledge to work on an afternoon-drive show at WIMS-AM (1420) in Michigan City. Having launched his 3-6 p.m. weekday gig last month, Landecker brings along a resume that includes national recognition as Billboard magazine's 1976 Personality of the Year in radio.

Working evenings at Chicago's WLS-AM during the '70s, Landecker was a disc jockey who played pop music for kids, but he didn't necessarily act the part.

John Landecker and Paula Griffin during a recent studio broadcast of their afternoon show on WIMS-AM in Michigan City.
(Photo courtesty WIMS-AM)

John Landecker and Paula Griffin have a talk show called "Live and Local" from 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, on WIMS-AM (1420) in Michigan City.

Visit www.wimsradio.com to listen to the pair live, online.

* A best-of recap -- "Live and Local Rewind" -- airs 3 to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays on WIMS.

* Landecker also has a noon to 2 p.m. talk show on Saturdays at Chicago's WLS-AM (890) -- the station that made him famous in the 1970s.

* On another front, he hosts a nationally syndicated music show called "Into the '70s," which is broadcast 7 p.m. to midnight Sundays on Chicago's WLS-FM (94.7).

'Records' is his middle name

Not long after hitting Chicago in the early '70s as a cool jock at WLS, John Records Landecker grabbed a foothold as the DJ with that unusual middle name. "That's my mother's maiden name, and it is my middle name, and it's on my birth certificate," Landecker said. "It's the name I was born with. It was my grandfather's last name: William J. Records was a farmer in southern Indiana."

"I think one of the reasons that my performance at WLS stood out from some of the other nighttime presentations was that I was not about being a teenybopper," Landecker said in an interview this month. "I was about political satire and taking phone calls and goofin' off."

Not that much has changed.

"I'm still pretty much into political satire, taking phone calls and goofin' off," he laughed.

While cementing his standing as a young DJ to be reckoned with, Landecker kept an eye on what was in the newspapers.

He did imitations of President Richard Nixon. He was topical.

Additionally, he interacted with his audience in ways that went beyond the caller's favorite record or band.

"I took phone calls from kids that had nothing to do with taking a request or making a dedication," noted the man who's recognized in a radio-exhibit section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

A signature Landecker bit was "Boogie Check," a quick-fire string of phone calls from listeners.

"The calls were not screened; it wasn't edited," the broadcaster recalled. "It moved very, very rapidly."

Landecker said such a sequence of live call-ins was unusual for AM rock stations at the time.

At WIMS, talk -- not music -- is Landecker's focus, as he conveys the "live and local feel" that is coveted by Ric Federighi, the station's general manager.

Federighi has previously worked in the radio business with Landecker, who keeps interaction with callers rolling, while relying on time-tested instincts to keep the show fresh and spontaneous.

"It's free-form, so if John does want to play music, he can," Federighi said. "He's a wealth of knowledge."

Residing in LaPorte County, between Michigan City and the Michigan border, Landecker had already lived near WIMS for a few years when he took the afternoon job with the station's "Live and Local" talk show.

"I've known Ric Federighi for years, and it just seemed like the right thing to do," Landecker, a father and grandfather, said. "It was right down the road. I don't pay for parking. I have a 10-minute commute -- and it's a very refreshing environment."

A core enticement was the chance to make that "reconnection as to why I got into radio to begin with."

At 5,000 watts, WIMS is neither a big-city nor national force, but it does represent a key service that radio has historically provided.

"It's an opportunity to go back to what I consider to be the basics of broadcasting and that is local radio for the community that the radio station is in," Landecker said.

With offices at 720 Franklin St. in Michigan City, WIMS does high school sports -- and Landecker talks Northwest Indiana issues.

When he was spinning Top 40 singles on WLS, Landecker was able to craft an image, as well as keep the public happy with rock records.

Beginning his stint at WLS in 1972, he became wildly popular as John Records Landecker, wielding a catchphrase that cleared up any misconceptions: "Records truly is my middle name."

But the golden age of recognizable rock jocks did not last.

"The way music is presented on the radio has changed drastically over the years," Landecker said. "When I played music on the radio, it was a combination of someone playing music, but also being a personality. That is long gone."

Formats splintered into a multitude of genres -- classic rock, light rock, alternative, urban-contemporary, modern rock ... and so on.

"With each new niche came fewer opportunities for people to be personalities, along with the music," the radio veteran said.

Music -- often times much more of it -- took the luster from the DJ.

But the chatter of Landecker is the anchor for "Live and Local," which features Paula Griffin as co-host.

Griffin, a Michigan City resident, said it's "major fun" to be on the air with Landecker.

"He's a true professional," the 56-year-old broadcaster said. "It's an honor to work with him."

Humor often drives the proceedings. There has, for instance, been on-air discussion about the 1971 song "One Toke Over the Line" being performed on "The Lawrence Welk Show." Known for presenting a conservative television program, Mr. Welk apparently did not know that "toke" is a marijuana reference. Griffin said WIMS listeners heard audio of the "Toke" song being sung on Welk's show. Welk called it a "modern spiritual."

Landecker can also call on his extensive broadcasting background for quirky stories.

This month, Landecker reminisced about radio stations he's worked at where those in charge hired "the youngest, hottest women" for their sales departments.

"You can sell lug nuts, if there's a woman in a bikini," assured Griffin, who doubles as local-news dispenser for the afternoon drive.

With a signal that sweeps from southwest Michigan, west into Lake County, WIMS is banking on Landecker and Griffin to stake their claim as the region's dynamic duo of news/talk.

"We have just really sort of clicked, for lack of a better term," Landecker summed up.

Contact Bob Kostanczuk at 648-3144 or bkostanczuk@post-trib.com.

[Southsider2k12]

John's last day with WIMS is today. He is supposed to announce his new plans publicly on his show this afternoon, which starts at 3pm.

[TSNSPYDER]

Gone already. Let us know the story, Southsider. He was definitely an asset to little WIMS. I used to love to listen to him on WLS in the 70s.

[Southsider2k12]

Pretty much the story is that the guy is essentially broke after a couple of nasty divorces and not much financial planning. Sounds like he needs the money.

[Johnny Rush]

From John Landecker's Facebook page:


I saw some comments posted concerning WIMS that were way off base. Anybody who listened knows how much I love the station, Paula and Rick. Working there was the most fun I have had in radio in years. If It were not for economic considerations I would... still be there. I was not fired. I did not quit. No doors were closed no bridges were burned



Me Again:

It was great to watch him work, and he let us know that there was one scenario where if it happened, he would have to take it...it happened and he took it. No surprises, no arguments no bitter feelings on either end...and we would welcome him back if he decides to come back to MC.

[Johnny Rush]

...and we would like to welcome back to WIMS...John Records Landecker!

Starting Monday we will have Ric Federighi and Paula Griffin 6 to 9am, John Landecker and Paula 9 to noon, Doc Joy from noon to 3pm and Craig Koepke and his rotating guest hosts from 3 to 6pm...9 of the 12 hours between 6 and 6 are now live and local and taking your phone calls at 219-861-1632!

Sundays also have 6 hours of live and local talk and we are looking to add more shows in the near future. Keep listening, calling and supporting local radio, and we will continue to add to the live and local roster...that's the plan anyway...

[Southsider2k12]

It was great to hear John back today.

[taxthedeer]

It was really groovy watching Landecker co-host the pledge drive during the Peter, Paul and Mary retrospective on channel 11 yesterday.