Larry Lujack's Klunk Letters - WCFL 1974

I woke up to Larry Lujack on WLS back in the early 70's. He had the morning show there until 1972. I always enjoyed his "Klunk Letters" at 7:30 AM. In 1972 he moved to the afternoon shift on WCFL. It was difficult to receive WCFL in Peoria, IL due to interference with a local station on the adjacent channel. I finally found radios that would separate the channels and began recording the 5:30 PM "Klunk Letters" on reel-to-reel. Unfortunately I didn't keep the tapes. Years later I discovered these recordings and obtained them through a mutual aircheck collector. They were made by Tim Benko of "Windy City Airchecks" and I'm so grateful to have them from one of my favorite DJs. While Lujack is more known for his "Animal Stories" with "Little Tommy" (Tommy Edwards), his "Klunk Letters" were a real treat. There is a mention of my own hometown of Peoria on these recordings. Hope you enjoy this sample of a broadcast legend.

[@javajoelradio]

This era of Lujack > any era of Imus or Dahl. Letterman has (even?) cited him as an influence and you can hear it here. This tape was a revelation when I first heard it in the mid 90s. He was a pioneer. Underrated comedic talent. Right up there with the very best the 60s and 70s comedy had to offer, regardless of medium. Smart. So much more than just a "radio dj".

[@larryware1]

Thank you for your comment, Java Joel. He was my favorite at the time. I could only pick him up on a 1968 Ford car radio, which I still have, and a 1959 Sherwood tuner from WCFL. Those were fun radio days!

[@mooseriddle]

Larry Lujack was a true radio GEM! When my family moved from Chicago to Washington DC one of the first things I did was start searching for either WCFL or WLS when the sun went down and was excited to find Larry on the radio!!

[@larryware1]

So glad you had the opportunity to hear Lujack when he was on the radio. He was a real one-of-a-kind DJ. My brother-in-law, an electrical engineer student at the time, was the one who told me about Lujack. I listened as much as time allowed to his air antics. Loved his harmless sarcasm and off-beat comments - especially for the station manager and his sponsors, but then, that's why his show was rated so high. Thanks for the comment. I have more Lujack that I'll share in the future.

[@johnvrabec9747]

As a former Chicagoan, I love all these YT channels that upload these gems. I wanted to be a DJ when I was a kid. Super CFL and the Big 89 was always on my transistor radio, and my Mo and Dad had either WGN or WJJD on.

[@westhigh1976]

I saw Larry Lujack at the Slack Shack in Aurora...he was there doing a promo...at the end he gave away a bunch of records...closer inspection found they were promo records that never went anywhere and by people you never heard of...funny guy though...he did a great gig on Svengoolie once...

[@larryware1]

I wish I could have met him. He wasn't really a people person, however. Funny about the records.

[@jameswinburn6843]

The on the job radio was always tuned to Larry Lujack and Animal Stories and Clunk Letters were our favorites. So I wrote several letters that were read on the show. If you hear the animal story about a bat mauling my brother Ivan, that was me. There were several others but I can't seem to remember them after fifty years. Old Uncle Lar and Little Tommy were hilarious. Glad to see they're remembered.

[@scottbailey1560]

Thank You so much for posting and sharing! I'm a huge Larry Lujack Fan! I miss him! Bless You!

[@larryware1]

Hi Scott! You even have Lujack as your KZbin photo! Lujack was my favorite DJ through the 70s. I was SO disappointed when he left WLS for WCFL in 1972. I could barely get WCFL in Peoria due to their weak signal down here. I loved his brash humor and off-the-cuff comments. So glad you enjoyed this snapshot of Lujack during his "Klunk Letter" days. He was a total original.

[@scottbailey1560]

@@larryware1 Sorry for this late reply as well. I had changed my Google/You'reTube Avatar to what I currently have. I'm looking for a better picture of Larry Lujack. Soon the 2022 Election is coming, in sprit, Larry Lujack is the "President of The United States 🇺🇲", not Joe Biden! I need a Facebook Account, Judy Lujack I think is on there. We need to let her know Joe Biden Sucks, only her late husband could straighten out America! 🇺🇸

[@SWC44]

@@scottbailey1560 DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS!

[@CyberGizmo]

Hey you put it up again...yay! Thanks Larry

[@larryware1]

You're so welcome! Finally!

[@johnfreim1085]

Wow, this is great and good quality too. I tried to get 'CFL in Peoria too - they used to say that you could hear this station better in Pittsburgh than in Peoria. RIP Supe.

[@larryware1]

So glad you enjoyed it. Lujack was a one-of-a-kind radio personality.

[@John3one7]

Just read something interesting "L.L. was the only person I ever copied" - Rush Limbaugh

[@larryware1]

Seems like I had heard that too. Larry Lujack copied (his pauses) off of Paul Harvey.

[@Page-Hendryx]

Limbaugh copied LL's "dadalup dadalup dadalup" (heard in the beginning of this clip).

[@Raellives]

@@Page-Hendryx thats really interesting. Thanks.

[@brizepp]

Thank you! I have been a radio DJ for 33 years. Someone handed me a cassette aircheck of SuperJock in ‘88 and said, be like this guy. I’ve since been on a mission to find all I could. This is pure gold!! A thousand more thanks.

[@larryware1]

You are welcome!

[@farmasyst]

At 15:04....The Top 40..Singles are all classics and are played continuously today.

[@michaelwayne7887]

Thank You Tim Benko!!!!

[@scottbailey1560]

Kind of Sad, today marks 7 years that Larry Lujack has been gone. I always post about him on this day. He made WLS and WCFL. It wasn't his choice his career ended early at WLS, he had lost his son. Just too hard for him to go on. He tried to make a come back in the 2000s, but too much time had passed. People didn't know who he was or acted like they cared, like on this day, why are we making a big deal over Tom Cruise and his COVID bashing? If Ole Uncle Lar was alive, he trash Tom Cruise and Scientology. Larry Lujack so missed, 7 years ago today, he went to meet Jesus!

[@larryware1]

Lujack was certainly a legend of his time. I waited many afternoons by my 1968 Ford car radio in the basement, finger on the record button of my reel-to-reel to catch his Klunk Letters at 5:30 on Super CFL. He was truly funny and always struck out of the blue with his comments. My brother-in-law, who lived near Chicago, recorded a couple air checks of his short lived days in FM radio. I wasn't too impressed. He didn't have the same edge. Still, he was perfect for his time and even became more popular when he returned to WLS in 1976 to do his Animal Stories with Little Tommy (Tommy Edwards). Thanks for you comment, Scott. Today marks a sad day. Hard to believe it's been 7 years.

[@scottbailey1560]

@@larryware1 I'm sorry KZbin didn't make me aware of your comments. I only subscribe to one channel, that is Pastor Melissa Scott. Anyhow, I didn't get to know or listen to Larry Lujack until 1972 or so on WCFL, because as the sun was going down, I could get WCFL and WLS on my AM only pocket radio! During the daytime, I listen to 1300 WMAK out of Nashville. 1300 WMAK was a Rocker back then for me. I'm much younger than most posting about him. Listening to him was like listening to your Dad at my age. Larry Lujack was much old enough to be my Dad. What I loved about Larry Lujack, he was not nasty on the radio, he didn't put down different types of music he played, for example, Disco hit during the mid 70s and died out in the very early 80s. Did Larry Lujack put down Disco like Steve Dhal? Absolutely not. Larry Lujack was a pro, and a humble man over the radio. As he said on WCFL (Super CFL) the last day the station was Top 40-Pop/Rock and some R&B, (March 15th, 1976, I was listening) Larry Lujack said "I love a little bit of all kinds of music". Larry Lujack meant that. He went back to 890 WLS in September of that year. He never said a bad word about a song he was told to play. I think Tommy Edwards went on in the early 90s to be Program Director at 97.9 WLUP, "The Loop" after Larry left WLS-AM/FM in 1987. Mancow Muller told me Larry Lujack befriended him when he tried to come back into the Chicago Market on 103.5 in 2000. I don't think Mancow would lie, but perhaps people forgot about Larry Lujack, didn't know who he was, or didn't care. Larry Lujack been gone about 13 years at the time, also people loved all the "Drama" between Mancow Muller and Howard Stern. Larry Lujack probably caredless about Stern. I can't believe Howard Stern is still on XM/Sirus Radio where Larry Lujack could have been there, but Larry Lujack might have not been happy on there. Larry had sarcastic attitude when wanted to be that way. I wonder if Howard Stern could handle Larry Lujack being like that towards him?😆📻

[@amfm889]

21:14 Classic Lar losing it.

[@Raellives]

What is the sound in the background? Kinda sounds like a old grandfather clock tick tocking away.

[@larryware1]

He apparently had a wind-up clock in the control room.

[@scottbailey1560]

I'm late at posting this, it's Christmas Morning 2021. I think I'm correct in my math, It's been 9 years since the passing of the "King of Rock Radio", Larry Lujack. I sat in my chair this morning thinking, what jokes would "SuperJock" throw at Joe Biden, Donald Trump, AOC, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, etc. Would Larry Lujack give us a #LetsGoBrandon "Shout Out"? Would he be making jokes at Jennifer Aniston and the 25th "Friends TV Show" Reunion in his "Cheap, Trashy Showbiz" Report, and on his Showbiz Report in 2021, would SuperJock hit Social Media to mock other Hollywood Celebrities that have lost it in the 2020 Election? Rest In Peace Larry Lujack in 2021-2022.😊🇺🇸

[@larryware1]

Hi Scott. Thanks for the comment. I'm sure Larry would have a lot of material to work from. He wouldn't have tip toed around today's issues. So glad a few tapes of Superjock still exist like this collection. Have a great day.

[@seanfarias3499]

Didn’t Larry give don Geronimo a handy in the studio ?

[@larryware1]

Don't know.

[@savannahga7320]

Homo. R every today, nothing like the smell of shlt 1st thing every morning, pure evil

[@FRANKSNAKE71]

What the hell would possess you to make such an absurd accusation?

[@seanfarias3499]

@@FRANKSNAKE71 it’s the word around the dj world.