Lanigan Wraps It Up

By now, the news that Cleveland radio icon John Lanigan has decided to retire has reverberated around all of Northeast Ohio and beyond.

It’s not exactly a surprise.

After all, Lanigan has contemplated retirement numerous times over the past few years on his Clear Channel classic hits WMJI/105.7 “Majic 105.7” morning show.

But it wasn’t just talk on “Lanigan and Malone” on Friday morning…the long-time local radio personality had a plan, and a date.

That date is March 29th, where Lanigan will bow out after an annual station event, the “Moondog Coronation Ball” concert.

Since we’re not exactly on Oak Tree’s post-Christmas card list on this topic, we take the liberty of copying part of a station press release posted by Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com pop culture writer Rich Heldenfels:

This year’s Moondog Coronation Ball will also include special tributes to Cleveland radio legend and longtime Majic 105.7 morning man John Lanigan. Lanigan will be retiring following the Moondog concert after almost 40 years on the Cleveland airwaves – the last 27 years of which were spent on the Lanigan & Malone show on WMJI. He was also inducted in the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago last November.

Yes, as Heldenfels writes, the departure of the station’s biggest name, a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame, and a fixture in Cleveland radio for decades comes “in the midst” of an announcement of an annual concert event.

In his station’s own press release, Lanigan plays second fiddle (or lower) to “Tommy James & the Shondells, John Kay & Steppenwolf, Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone and The Family Stone.”

“Great concert, and oh, by the way, we’re saying bye to our morning man who’s been there since the mid-1980s”?

Now, we’re not discounting the possibility that Lanigan himself wanted it announced that way. He said on the air Friday that if he stayed around until “Moondog”, the station would “do something nice” for his exit.

On his own show as a telephone guest during a lengthy vacation stint in Florida, Lanigan on Friday joked “I’m never coming back” – noting the minus-2 temperature in Cleveland – and had trouble saying the word “retirement”.

He told the show’s cast members that he’ll return to the show “in a week” (presumably after the latest “Polar Vortex” event ends) and will be heard between then and the Moondog event.

According to his WMJI biography, Lanigan has been with the station since 1985, and paired with Jimmy Malone full time since 1991. Malone joined the show as a contributor to the “Knuckleheads In The News” segment that continues today.

John Lanigan’s Cleveland radio career started in 1970, when he took over morning drive at then-music station WGAR/1220 for another radio icon – Don Imus.

He left WGAR in 1983, and spent two short years in Florida before returning to Cleveland radio for good for the WMJI morning show.

Lanigan also racked up significant TV time as the host of WUAB/43’s long-running “Prize Movie”.

The succession plan for Lanigan has been in place since early 2012, when former Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 meteorologist and anchor Mark Nolan was hired for a “Majic” time slot few stations fill locally these days…middays.

Since joining WMJI, Nolan has been Lanigan’s primary fill-in, so “Lanigan and Malone” listeners are certainly familiar with him on the show.

Nolan, who had a radio background before going in front of the cameras many years ago, takes over the Monday after the “Moondog” event.

But it’s not at all clear who will join Nolan on April 1st.

We’ve long heard that Malone has no intent on staying on the air after Lanigan retires. We’ve also heard that Malone and newsman Chip Kullik have long been prepared for a post-Lanigan world.

No matter what Kullik does, we do not at all expect “Nolan and Malone” in April.

The on-air announcement is available now on WMJI’s website, in this podcast on the “Lanigan and Malone” page.

The segment has a treat for radio fans near the end – airchecks of Lanigan not only on “Majic”, but on WGAR…