Detroit Radio: Jim Johnson Hangs-Up The WOMC Headphones

JJ Retires at WOMC

A longtime staple of the Detroit radio airwaves is calling it a career after half a century at the mic.

Jim “JJ” Johnson, host of WOMC’s “JJ and JoAnne Morning Show,” finished his final show on Friday after announcing his plans to retire earlier this year.

Johnson started his career on 104.3, then known as WEXL, but became well known in Detroit as a morning show host on WWWW-FM and then as a longtime morning host on “JJ and The Morning Crew,” first on Detroit’s WRIF, followed by WLLZ-FM and WCSX-FM. Johnson has spent the last 13 years at 104.3 WOMC.

“Growing up, I was the kid hiding under the covers with a pocket transistor radio, so my parents couldn’t hear, listening to the greats on CKLW and Keener 13, dreaming that one day I might be able to do that,” Johnson said in a release earlier this year. “I have been so fortunate to have realized that dream and have been able to live it in my hometown my entire career. It’s really the people I have worked for and worked with that made it possible and most importantly, our loyal listeners. To quote a friend, ‘Detroit audiences are the greatest rock and roll audiences in the world” $%*#, I’ve known that for 52 years.’”

During his final show on Friday, Tim Allen and Bob Seger were among the special callers who phoned in to wish him well.