John Records Landecker (born March 28, 1947) is an American

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

with a trademark saying "Records truly is my middle name" who created ''Boogie Check'', ''Americana Panorama'', and satirical songs and bits based on current events such as "Make a Date with the

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

", and "Press My Conference". He first retired from radio broadcasting on July 31, 2015. ''Boogie Check'' was the last humorous feature Landecker did each night on his show for about two minutes. A string of brief telephone calls was put on the air in rapid succession. From July 2007 through June 2012, he hosted "Into the Seventies", a syndicated weekend radio program from TKO Radio Networks. Landecker returned to Chicago radio on September 28, 2020, joining

WGN (AM) WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hoc ...

as the 7–10 p.m. weeknight evening host.

Early life and education

Landecker was born in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. His father, Werner Landecker, was a

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

refugee. His mother, Marjorie Records, was a "farm girl from Indiana". His middle name, the source of questions throughout his career, was not, as most assumed, a stage name. His mother's maiden name was Records (her full name was Majorie Victoria Records as Landecker himself told during the 2008 BIG89 Rewind on 890 WLS AM) and was given to him at birth. "Records truly is my middle name" is a saying Landecker frequently used on the air. Landecker began his radio career while in high school at a station in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

( WOIA-FM/ WOIB). He began his college career at

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

and worked for Grand Rapids station WERX. He later attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, working at stations in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

(

WILS WILS (1320 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by MacDonald Broadcasting and airs a talk radio radio format, format. It features a local news department and a mixture of local ...

) and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

( WIBG) before becoming the evening jock on the 50,000-watt WLS 890 which broadcast from

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1972.Kening, Dan.
`Big 89' Star John Landecker Back On The Air At WJMK
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''. January 11, 1994. Retrieved January 21, 2019.

Feder, Robert Robert Feder (born May 17, 1956) is an American media blogger who was the television and radio columnist for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1980 until 2008, a blogger for Vocalo.org from 2009 until 2010, and a blogger for ''Time Out Chicago'' fr ...

Legendary DJ Landecker quits WLS FM
, ''Robert Feder''. July 27, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2018. The powerful WLS clear channel signal reached across 38 states after sundown, giving Landecker ratings that are unheard of today.

Career

In 1981 Landecker left Chicago for a stint on CFTR 680 in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Landecker returned to Chicago radio in 1983 on rocker WLUP 97.9 and the following year joined

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

WAGO are native Japanese words, meaning those words in Japanese that have been inherited from Old Japanese, rather than being borrowed at some stage. Together with kango () and gairaigo (), they form one of the three main sources of Japanese words ...

105.9. Landecker remained on 105.9 after it switched to AOR as WCKG in 1985, but left the station to return to WLS in 1986. He remained at WLS until it switched to an all-talk format in 1989.Childers, Scott
WLS AM Stereo 89 - The Rock of Chicago
, ''The History of WLS Radio''. Retrieved August 23, 2018.Childers, Scott

, ''The History of WLS Radio''. Retrieved August 23, 2018.10 Questions with ... John Records Landecker
, ''All Access Music Group''. March 19, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2018. After spending time in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

at WPHR, 107.9, he returned to Chicago in early September 1993, beginning a ten-year run on Oldies 104.3 WJMK where he was the morning drive D.J. until 2003. While on WJMK, his show received the Achievement in Radio award of "Best Morning Show in Chicago" in 1997, and Radio and Records Award of "Best Oldies Morning Show in America" in 2001 and 2002. In 2006 Landecker started on True Oldies 94.7 WZZN in Chicago where he was the weekday afternoon D.J. from 3-7pm until October 10, 2007. Landecker co-hosted a radio news show with former WLS colleagu
Turi Ryder
During his time in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Landecker did a funny two-minute bit called 'Trudeau Talks Cute' in which he would ask set-up questions that would be followed by a tape recording of Canada's then-Prime Minister, the very popular

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. The initialism of 'Trudeau Talks Cute' was TTC, which was also used to play up the often-unpopular

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

. When at

Radio (Lansing, MI), Landecker would intro his show using a megaphone to simulate an old-time barker's voice. Called the "Radio Leviathan", Landecker talked over openings in the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". While doing the morning show at WJMK, he would start the "5:30 club" by having co-host Richard Cantu begin his normal newscast, then interrupt him by saying "This is Anarchy! This is Rebellion!" and stating he was tearing up the list of scheduled songs and would play listener's requests instead. He abandoned this feature soon after 9/11. Starting on January 23, 2012, Landecker was heard from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm (CT) Monday through Friday and Saturday 7:00 to 11:00 pm on 94.7 WLS-FM in Chicago. Landecker ended his tenure at WLS-FM on July 31, 2015. The show was streamed live, in parts, on

Periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

by his producer, Tony Lossano. His longtime friend and fellow DJ,

Dick Biondi Richard Orlando Biondi (September 13, 1932 – June 26, 2023) was an American Top 40 and oldies disc jockey. Calling himself The Wild I-tralian, he was one of the original "screamers," known for his screaming delivery as well as wild antics on a ...

, (whose time slot followed Landecker on WLS-FM) stopped by during the show to say goodbye. In the summer of 2020 Landecker sent an email to WGN Radio management suggesting he fill in for morning host Bob Sirott. He was immediately offered nights 7p–10p Mon–Thur.

Personal life

His daughters are writer Tracy Landecker and actress

Amy Landecker Amy Lauren Landecker (born September 30, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Pfefferman on the Amazon Prime Video, Amazon comedy-drama series ''Transparent (TV series), Transparent'' (2014–2019), as well as her supp ...

. His autobiography, ''Records Truly is His Middle Name'', is availabl
at eckhartzpress.com

Awards and honors

Landecker was elected to the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

in 2017 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2020. Landecker was inducted into the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on June 6, 2022. He is part of the second class of inductees and the second DJ inducted, following Larry Lujack in 2021.

References

External links

* * * *
REELRADIO Top 40 Radio Repository (for Landecker airchecks from the 70's and 80's, type WLS or Landecker into site's search option)Scott Childers' History of WLS RadioJohn Records Landecker aircheck (WLS, Chicago, January 1972)John Records Landecker aircheck (WLS, Chicago, August 1975)John Records Landecker aircheck (WLS, Chicago, January 1986)Amy Landecker bioWIMS AM 1420 The Talk of the South Shore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landecker, John 1947 births American people of German-Jewish descent Radio personalities from Chicago Michigan State University alumni American radio DJs Living people Place of birth missing (living people)