The Human Times # 9 | The "Good Old Days" of Rock Radio
Written by: Marianne Moro

For those of us old enough to remember, radio was once a kinder, gentler medium. Now I listen to and enjoy shock jocks and wacky morning "Zoos" as much as anyone. Howard Stern was never a problem for me, it's just that after 15 years you get burnt out on an endless parade of strippers, deformed midgets, and unintelligible rants from listeners and you need a breather. The reported downturn in Howard's ratings proves that people can tire of anything, no matter how initially weird, disgusting, or titillating.

The first DJ I remember hearing was a guy named Art Roberts on WLS-AM 890 in Chicago. I stayed up late Sunday nights when I was supposed to be asleep school the next day, while my moms radio played the mellow voiced DJ spinning platters like "A Rose And A Baby Ruth" and the Fendermen. At first I thought the show had no commercials, then I realized the commercials were actually woven into the convivial stories the DJ told. These are among my first memories of anything.

As I grew up, so did WLS. Soon, the smooth patter of Art Roberts and Barney Pip gave way to the deadpan sarcasm of Larry "Uncle Lar" Lujack. Within a year, the music metamorphisized, with Gogi Grant replaced by Janis Joplin and the Fendermen usurped by Sergeant Pepper era Beatles and "In-A-Gadda-La-Vida". Uncle Lar was neither happy-voiced announcer nor hippie dippie weatherman; he forged his own unique style of understated sarcasm. It's no surprise David Letterman cites him as an early influence. With well-known DJs then or now, known for being over the top, yelling and screaming, Lujack played against type. Lar had true daily comedy bits on his show instead of screaming teeny-bopper shenanigans. Examples included the "Klunk Letter of the Day" - a letter from a listener reamed by Uncle Lar or the "Cheap Trashy Show Biz Report" (Lar putting celebrities in their place with a simple "umm-hm" and moving on to the next story. Radio ad legend Dick Orkin contributed two serials, Chickenman and the Tooth Fairy, that were similarly tongue in cheek. (These serials appeared on dozens of other stations in the late 60s and early 70s.)

Lujack left WLS for rival station WCFL in the mid-70s. A true illustration of how radio - as well as other media - have changed to favor the performer over management occurred when Lujack, unable to get out of his contract, was forced to stay on when WCFL changed its format to beautiful music. "Beautiful music" was the 1970s equivalent of New Age music - mostly the type of Muzak you hear on elevators. Fortunately, Super CFL bought out Lar's contract, and a few months later, he was back at WLS.


Uncle Lar now shared the airwaves with such notables as Tommy Edwards, Kris Erik Stevens, Ron Britian, John Landecker (more on him later), and in the 1980s, Steve Dahl and Garry Meier (of Disco Demolition fame.) There was no love lost between Lujack and Dahl, as Steve insulted him mercilessly without explanation or provocation. This resulted in the infamous confrontation episode, where in Steve and Garry left the studio rather than explain why they were constantly bagging on Uncle Lar. Lar took over the airshift, and put Steve in his place. (I'm leaving Garry out of this one.)

Next to Lujack, the most lauded and popular DJ at WLS was John Records Landecker. (Yes, that's his real middle name - he insists.)To a certain extent, Landecker carried on the deadpan tradition of Lujack, but he was cheerful, not grouchy. Landecker let go with teen DJ silliness on his "Boogie Check" which was essentially a segment that featured teen callers hamming it up while he challenged and insulted them. Let's face it, this was a time when humor only needed to be silly, not obscene.

Landecker also penned a litany of parody songs such as "Make a Date with the Watergate." The song was subsequently banned by the ABC owned station, allegedly from political pressure. A parody of "Walk On The Wild Side" didn't contain anything derisive except for the bad imitation of David Frye doing Nixon and the chorus of " and Martha Mitchell goes do-do-da-do." Landecker followed this with "Press My Conference" which paid homage to the Dickie Goodman parodies of 1960s, complete with snippets of current hit songs. With characters like "Linda Shoelace", this time capsule is all the more amazing as it occurred in between spinnings of "Cat's In The Cradle" and "Sunshine On My Shoulders."

Steve Dahl and Garry Meier joined WLS after a stint at "The Loop - FM". They were consistently hilarious from Disco Demolition through the end of their partnership; they weren't afraid to tell it like it was. Everyone from station management to other DJs to callers were harangued. I have 2 hours worth of cassettes from their 1985 shows on LS and the grin never leaves my face from the first bit onwards.

Lujack is retired, and living in New Mexico. (He always used to threaten that he'd leave radio to become a forest ranger during his rants.) Landecker conducts a morning show in Chicago an oldies station. There are no more Boogie Checks; maybe soccer mom checks would be more appropriate for his new demographic. Steve Dahl is still on the radio in Chicago with his own show. Garry is still on the airwaves as well, doing a topic based talk show on WLS-AM. On Steve's show the topic is basically Steve, but the show is at its' best when wife Janet calls in.

**You can listen to airchecks from these DJS and other '60s and '70s icons like Charlie Tuna, Gary Owens, and Loehman and Barkley at www.reelradio.com. **