Rock Radio Scrapbook

Airchecks: 1962

Talent: GARY SUMMERS
Station: CKOC Hamilton, Ont.
Date: January 20, 1962
Time: 2:04

(Logo courtesy Rob Muir)

Broadcasters have a tendency to move around quite a bit, but not all. Some have the good fortune to spend most of their careers at the same station. A good example is Gary Summers of CKOC.

Summers was at CKOC as a deejay in the early '60s and still there as sports director in the early '90s. In between, he established himself as one of Southern Ontario's most popular and enduring radio personalities. When CKOC celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1997, his reunion appearance on the morning show was both informative and emotional to his many fans.

Rock Radio Scrapbook presents Gary Summers here.

(Scrapbook archives)

Talent: LUCKY CORDELL
Station: WGES Chicago
Date: Summer 1962
Time: 20:09

Lucky Cordell  is remembered as one of the top R&B deejays of the ’50s and ’60s, and as a groundbreaking radio executive. But the man known as the "Baron of Bounce" also made another indelible contribution, as a long-time leader of Chicago’s African-American community.

Born in 1928 in Granada, Miss., Moses Lindberg "Lucky" Cordell served in the U.S. Army during the Second World War before starting his radio career. Legendary jock Al Benson hired him at WGES in 1952. Later in the decade, Cordell jocked at WGRY in Gary, Ind., where he hosted the immensely popular "House of Hits" program. While at WGRY, he was unanimously voted "Honorary Mayor of the Negro Community" in a poll of local newspapers.
      
Cordell worked at several stations in the Chicago area - including WGES - before landing at WVON (Voice of the Negro) at the birth of that legendary station in 1963. Cordell became WVON program and music director in 1965, was promoted to assistant general manager in 1968 and became general manager in 1970. Under his direction, WVON increased its ratings and almost doubled its advertising income, while becoming one of the most influential stations in U.S. history.

Cordell joined the Chicago Urban League in the late ’60s and has remained an active member of Chicago’s African-American community for years.

Enjoy this very special aircheck of Lucky Cordell on WGES here.

(Scrapbook archives)

Talent: PALLIE PASCOE
Station: CHAB Moose Jaw, Sask.
Date: August 10, 1962
Time: 6:14/8:15

He didn't have the smooth baritone voice. His delivery needed work, definitely. But Pallie Pascoe was absolutely beloved by his listeners at CHAB Moose Jaw, Sask., in the early '60s. His sportscasts and this well-circulated aircheck in particular are the stuff of legend.

Listening to this slice of 1962 radio will take you back to a simpler time when the medium was a little more homespun, a little less predictable.

We have two versions of this aircheck. The longer version - donated by Chris Mayberry - can be heard here. (8:15)

The shorter version - donated by Dan Haber - is here. (6:14)

Now for some trivia: Pallie Pascoe played second for Saskatchewan in the 1932 Canadian men's curling championship.

(The Chris Mayberry and Dan Haber Collections)

Talent: BILL BALLANCE
Station: KFWB Los Angeles
Date: December 1, 1962
Time: 15:45

"Bill has many imitators, but no rivals." So gushed Time Magazine in the 1970s. The subject of the piece was Bill Ballance, one of southern California's most popular announcers.

Much of Ballance's reputation was gained during his years at KFWB from 1955 to 1965. He held down the evening shift during many of those years and in 1958 became one of the original "Swingin' Seven Gentlemen" when Chuck Blore and KFWB introduced the ground-breaking Colour Radio format.

Ballance was a great communicator, a reputation enhanced later in his career by his controversial talk show "Feminine Forum." That early 1970s show is considered to be the forerunner of the "shock talk"genre later made popular by hosts like Tom Leykis and Howard Stern. All told, his radio career spanned four decades, with stops at KNX, KFWB, KGH, KGBS, KABC and KWIZ Los Angeles, KOA Denver, KNBR San Francisco, KFMB San Diego and Honolulu stations KHVH and KGMB.

Ballance died September 23, 2004 at the age of 85.

Hear Ballance on KFWB here.

(The Jim Southern Collection)

Talent: RED ROBINSON
Station: CFUN Vancouver
Date: 1962
Time: 21:37

Red Robinson retired from full-time radio in November 2000, but you can't keep a good deejay down. As of 2010, Robinson was still broadcasting a weekly oldies show on CKCL-FM Vancouver. Details at Red's web site, www.redrobinson.com.

Robinson helped pioneer rock 'n' roll radio in Canada from the very dawn of the genre in the 1950s. His legend grew over the years in stints at Vancouver stations like CFUN, CJOR, CKWX and CISL, and Portland's KGW. During his 50-plus years in the business, he has appeared with virtually all of the great music stars of the '50s and '60s, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison and Fats Domino. Robinson was elected to the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1997.

Robinson's final weekday morning show was Tuesday, November 7, 2000 on CISL. But we remember another finale from 38 years earlier on CFUN.

Hear Red Robinson (with Dave McCormick) here.

(The Bill Dulmage Collection)

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