Larry Lujack passed away last night. Another legend stolen from us by cancer. Uncle Lar, as he was affectionately known during is WLS heyday, was 73. It would be at this point that we'd include a few YouTube clips, a SoundCloud link or two, obligatorily reminding us all of Lujack's greatness, but, unfortunately, I can't.
I can't because Lujack's greatness walked the earth like a cranky, cowboy boots-wearing giant at a time before every two-bit overnight radio show on the planet was immediately available as a podcast.
If it had, I guarantee ol' "Superjock" would be revered the world over for his cantankerous wit and propensity for the perverse. Can you imagine grabbing the latest "Animal Stories" or the "Cheap Trashy Show Biz Report" as a podcast every day? Holy shit, today's brain couldn't hold that much funny after years of going entire seasons of "Saturday Night Live" without laughing.
To those who have no idea who I'm talking about, imagine matching the greatest radio voice in the world to the last guy on the planet who should have one and you might get an idea of just what it was that made the man so great. He and Tommy were "WKRP In Cincinnati" before there was such a thing.
As a kid, I would step onto the school bus most mornings miserable that another fine day was about to be ruined by forced schooling and, within minutes, Uncle Lar and his faithful sidekick "Little Tommy", would have the entire bus laughing.
Some of it might be out there - there's an "Animal Stories" CD from back in the day selling for $60 on Amazon - but most of it remains stored only in the heads and hearts of the millions of schoolkids within earshot of WLS in the '70s and '80s.
Thank you and goodbye, Mr. Lujack.
You were already missed.
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animal stories
cheap trashy showbiz report
larry lujack
little tommy
superjock
tommy edwards
uncle lar
wls