As exclusively mentioned by Chicago Radio and Media yesterday, WGN-AM will be bringing back Steve King and Johnnie Putman in a fill-in role for Labor Day morning. They won't be the only radio station with a big fill-in host that particular morning, though. Veteran Midwest radio host J.C. Corcoran, a Chicago native and an extremely well-known personality from St. Louis, MO, will be filling in for Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft on the morning of September 1st on WLS-AM.

J.C. Corcoran grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, and was massive fan of Chicago radio and television -- adoring Bozo, WLS-AM, WCFL-AM, and WGN-AM/TV. He is a graduate of St. Laurence High School in Burbank and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Corcoran is also a life-long Chicago Cubs fan. (He'd prefer White Sox fans not hold that fact against him. As a Cubs fan, he's suffered enough.)

Corcoran had worked in radio in various markets, including Omaha, NE, Washington, DC, Buffalo, NY, and Houston, TX. He had a very quick stint at Chicago's WLUP-FM in the late 1970s. However, he is best known for his 30 years on St. Louis radio. He started out as a Howard Stern-style morning radio jock on rock stations, but soon after became a top St. Louis talk personality. In addition to being a show host, he has been an entertainment reporter and critic. This was done both on the radio, and for 14 years, on St. Louis television, much like Dean Richards has been doing with WGN-AM/WGN-TV.

In addition to his radio and television work, J.C. Corcoran has also written a pair of books about life in the radio industry, specifically, St. Louis' radio world. Those books, "Real Life Stories of J. C. and the Breakfast Club...or 20 Minutes in the Dark with Madonna" (2000) and "20 Years of J.C.: The Man, the Legend, the Lawsuit" (2004) are out of print, but still able to be easily found via online retailers and resellers.

He is known as an immensely talented broadcaster, who has a large, loyal following. As a talk show host who freely expresses his opinions on a wide variety of subjects, he also has his fair share of detractors, much like Chicago's Steve Dahl, Mike North, or Chet Coppock have had to deal with in their careers. It seems his worst enemy, though, has been himself. Throughout his career, he has found himself, suspended and/or fired often.

From April 2012 until the new management regime took over, Corcoran was a popular and frequent fill-in host for WGN-AM. He was brought to the station by Tom Langmyer, then WGN Radio's highly-respected General Manager, who had previously worked well with Corcoran in Buffalo and St. Louis.

Labor Day morning's show will be Corcoran's first-ever time working on WLS-AM, a station he grew up listening to and helped inspire him want to get into the radio business. He will be on the air from 5:00am-9:00am on September 1st.

Corcoran tells CRM that he has been "practicing" saying the WLS call letters since he was about five years old. He's more than ready to say them on the air now.

While this is just a one-time fill-in role on a holiday morning, it does lend Corcoran's name to speculation of possible new hosts coming to WLS-AM in 2015 to help revitalize a legendary station struggling with its worst-ever recorded ratings in its 90-year history.

You can listen to 890 WLS-AM by downloading the iHeart Radio app.

This story and photos can be found at its original source Chicago Radio and Media by clicking on their name. Originally published on Wednesday, 20 August 2014 at 15:00 – by Chicago Radio and Media.