Rock Radio Scrapbook
FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Talent:
JACK ARMSTRONG
Stations: Various
Date: 1965 to 1987
Time: 9:32
(Jack Armstrong on CHUM in the late '60s/Photo courtesy Bill Dulmage)
He is the undisputed champion of rock radio's screamers. Nobody rocked the airwaves quite like Jackson Armstrong, the "All American Boy".
Armstrong started his radio career at WCHL Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1960 and continues it today at another North Carolina station, WMQX-FM in Winston-Salem, N.C. In between, there have been about two dozen stops at stations as far north as CHUM Toronto, as far south as WHYI Miami, as far east as WMEX Boston and as far west as KFRC San Francisco.
Jack Armstrong died March 22, 2008 at his home in High Point, N.C. He was 62.
Here's a time sweep of his career, with clips from 19 of the stations he worked at.
(Produced by Dale R. Patterson)
Talent:
JACK ARMSTRONG
Station: WIXY Cleveland
Date: October, 1966
Time: 22:40
Jack Armstrong got his start in his home state of North Carolina, at stations like WCOG Greensboro and WAYS Charlotte. His first out-of-state radio gig was in 1966, at WIXY Cleveland. As he did throughout much of his early career, Armstrong held down the evening shift at "Wixie". He was part of WIXY lineup that included Jerry Brooke, Johnny Canton, Johnny Walters, Al Gates and Bobby Magic - names which echo only in our memories now but which resonated loud and clear at the time.
Hear Jack Armstrong on WIXY here.
(Scrapbook archives)
Talent:
JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: June 16, 1968
Time: 15:23
Anticipation was in the air in June, 1968 when CHUM announced that a new voice would be coming to the station. Just who would it be?
The answer - as revealed shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 16 - was Jackson Armstrong. And if pure excitement was what you wanted, he didn't disappoint. Nobody screamed louder or longer than "Supermouth". When he arrived at CHUM in June 1968, Armstrong had already started to build his legend at such stations as WMEX Boston, WKYC Cleveland and WAYS Charlotte, N.C. (as John Larsh). That reputation only grew during his eight-month stay in Toronto.
CHUM was on the brink of switching to the Drake format at the time of this aircheck. On it you can hear some of the classic latter-day PAMS jingles, and of course the very hyper Armstrong delivering a masterful performance. We remember hearing Armstrong live on his first CHUM show, and much later obtained an aircheck of it. Now you can enjoy it via the magic of the Internet.
Hear Jack Armstrong's first CHUM show here.
(Scrapbook archives)
Talent:
JACK ARMSTRONG
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: June 22, 1968
Time: 11:29
(Logos courtesy Bill Dulmage)
Late-spring, early summer 1968. Exciting times for Canada ... and CHUM!
Trudeaumania was everywhere. Elected to replace the retiring Lester B. Pearson as Liberal leader in April, former justice minister Pierre Trudeau won a majority government June 25 as prime minister and a symbol of generational change.
Baseball came to Canada for the first time with the awarding of a major league franchise to Montreal on May 27. The team became known as the Expos after the memorable Expo 67 the year before.
Wide-eyed visitors were gazing down from the top of the new Toronto-Dominion Centre. At 222.8 metres, it was the tallest building in Canada when it opened May 14.
Canada had its first heart transplant on May 31, the 18th in the world. The recipient was Albert Murphy of Chomedy, Que., a 59-year-old retired butcher. He died 41 hours later.
Medicare, providing free medical care to all for most procedures, became law in Canada on July 1.
On the radio front, fast-talking deejay Jack Armstrong arrived in Canada for his first show on CHUM June 16, and a followup program June 22. The shows went so well that he was given a full-time shift at CHUM - the only Canadian station this Top 40 legend ever worked at.
This aircheck features Taylor Parnaby with a live report from the Canadian Open golf tournament, and lots of great CHUM jingles, imaging and commercial segments from the time. As for Jack himself, he's on FIRE!
Hear Jack Armstrong's second CHUM show here.
(Scrapbook archives)
Talent: JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: July 16, 1968
Time: 13:59
Jack Armstrong and Brian Skinner did
back-to-back shifts on CHUM from June, 1968 to January, 1969 and they were
featured in back-to-back CHUM Charts. (Logos courtesy Craig Smith/CHUM
Chart Page)
Sometimes the story behind the aircheck almost as interesting as the aircheck
himself. In 1968, Toronto-area resident Ron Brokenshire was planning to head
back to his native England, having been in Canada since 1967 for what he called
a "working vacation." Brokenshire decided to tape some CHUM programming as a
reminder of Canada. He did that, then met the woman who became his wife and
wound up staying in Canada.
In March, 2000, this tape and others came to light as a result of a chance conversation I had with Ron at our local curling club. Thanks to Ron - and his desire to tape a reminder of Canada - we can now hear what CHUM sounded like in July, 1968.
Hear Jackson Armstrong here.
(The Ron Brokenshire Collection)
Talent: JACK ARMSTRONG
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: February 11, 1969
Time: 11:03
Among Jack Armstrong's many stops: 13Q in Pittsburgh
Nearly two dozen stations in 10 states and one
province, from Toronto in the north, Miami in the south, Boston in the east and
San Francisco in the west. Such was the much-travelled career of the legendary
Jack Armstrong.
Big Jack got his radio start in his home state of North Carolina, with a gig at
WCOG Greensboro in 1964 as John Larsh. He was still rockin' over 42 years later
when he signed off his final show at WWKB Buffalo, N.Y.
In between, Armstrong worked at two other North Carolina stations - WAYS
Charlotte and WMQX Winston Salem. He made five radio stops in California, at
KTNQ/KHTZ, KFI and KKHR Los Angeles, KFRC San Francisco, and KBOS Tulare, Calif.
He had two Ohio stops, both in Cleveland at WIXY and WKYC. There were also two
Pennsylvania gigs, at Pittsburgh stations WKTQ (13Q) and KDKA.
Also on Armstrong's resume: Florida (WHYI Miami), Indiana (WIFE Indianapolis),
Connecticut (WPOP Hartford), Colorado (KTLK Denver) and last but not least
Ontario (CHUM Toronto). He also did a one-night stand at WNBC New York as the
"Unknown Deejay" in 1978 (there was also a one-off gig at WNTC Potsdam, N.Y., in
1970). Yes, it's been quite a career for one of the greatest Top 40 jocks of all
time.
Enjoy Armstrong on CHUM
here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)
Talent:
JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Station:
CHUM Toronto
Date: February 16,
1969
Time: 20:44
Little did listeners tuning in to CHUM in early 1969 realize that Jack Armstrong would soon be gone from the station. Armstrong, who joined CHUM in a blaze of publicity on June 2, 1968, did his final show there on February 20, 1969. He details his somewhat rocky relationship with CHUM management in this 1971 interview with Jon Wolfert here.
While Armstrong's stay at CHUM was brief, the time he spent there was memorable. He was really rocking the night this aircheck was made, just four days before his departure. Check out the references to WABC jock Cousin Brucie and Armstrong's editorial on student violence.
Rock Radio Scrapbook is pleased to present Jack Armstrong here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)
Subject:
INTERVIEW with JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Station: Unknown
Date: June 24, 1971
Time:
13:39
Jackson Armstrong left CHUM in 1969 on, to put it mildly, less than good terms.
"Supermouth" was hired in a blaze of publicity at CHUM in June, 1968 but relations soon soured between him and management.
In 1971, Jackson Armstrong was interviewed by Jonathan Wolfert of PAMS about his CHUM days and other radio topics. Only the CHUM part is included here. This no-holds-barred interview tells the behind-the-scenes story of Armstrong's hiring at CHUM, the controversial switch to the Drake format and Armstrong's departure from CHUM in early 1969.
This aircheck is a classic, much sought-after by collectors. It has been copied many times so the quality is less than ideal, but it is still quite listenable.
Hear the Jackson
Armstrong interview here.
(NOTE: CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE)
(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)
Talent: JACK ARMSTRONG
Station: WKBW Buffalo,
N.Y.
Date: February 28, 1973
Time: 29:26
When Jack Armstrong left WKBW in February, 1973, the station was faced with a daunting task: how to replace him? The answer: they held a contest.
It was called the Great American Talent Hunt, and for 10 nights 'KB listeners were treated to a variety of jocks all competing for Armstrong's vacated 6-10 p.m. shift.
Here's the complete list of contestants and their station
at the time if available:
Monday, March 5 - Dick Kemp
Tuesday, March 6 - Andrew Jackson (Big Ange,
WPRO, Providence, R.I.)
Wednesday, March 7 - Judd Coursey
Thursday, March 8 - Shane (WLEE, Richmond,
Va.).
Friday, March 9 - Greaseman (WAXC Rochester,
N.Y.).
Monday, March 12 - Mike St. James (WFTL,
West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Tuesday, March 13 - Bruce Clark (WKAZ,
Charleston, W. Va.)
Wednesday, March 14 - The Janitor (WLOF,
Orlando, Fla.)
Thursday, March 15 - Jim Carter (WBAB,
Babylon, N.Y.)
Friday, March 16 - Super Shannon
The Janitor was declared the winner, but he didn't last long at 'KB and was replaced by Shane. Another contestant - Super Shannon - also did the evening shift at 'KB later in the decade.
NOTE: Albert Hammond, Harry Chapin and either Peter or Paul from Peter, Paul and Mary did guest shifts, co-hosted by Don Berns, March 1-3. They were not part of the contest, however.
Enjoy Jackson Armstrong's final show on WKBW here.
(The Craig Smith Collection)
Talent:
JACK ARMSTRONG
Station:
WIFE Indianapolis
Date:
April, 1977
Time:
2:48
Jack Armstrong moved to the west coast in 1978 but not before making one last eastern stop in the '70s - at WIFE Indianapolis.
Armstrong was not exactly married to WIFE - he was only there a couple of years. But we do have an aircheck of him.
Hear Jack Armstrong at WIFE here.
(Scrapbook archives)
Talent:
JACK ARMSTRONG
Station:
KTNQ Los Angeles
Date:
August, 1978
Time:
6:43
After firmly establishing himself a legend in the east for a decade-and-a-half, Jack Armstrong took his act to California in the late '70s. Needless to say, the Golden State warmed to his act - he spent more than a decade there.
First stop in California for Armstrong was KTNQ/KHTZ Los Angeles in 1978 and '79. That was followed by a stint at KFI from 1979 to 1981.
Armstrong spent two years at KFRC San Francisco (1982-84) before returning to Los Angeles at KNX-FM/KKHR (1984-86). The man with the powerful lungs then moved to KBOS in Tulare, Calif., in 1988 (his last CHR gig), before resurfacing in the east in 1997 in his home state, at WMQX Winston-Salem, N.C.
In 2003, Armstrong returned to his old stomping grounds at WWKB Buffalo, N.Y., with a daily oldies show out of North Carolina.
Hear Jackson Armstrong on KTNQ here.
(Scrapbook archives)
Talent:
JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Station: WHTT-FM (Oldies 104) Buffalo, N.Y.
Date: June 10, 2000
Time: 20:24
They say you can't go home again, but Jackson Armstrong proved
them wrong. Returning in June, 2000 to Buffalo, N.Y. - scne of some of his
greatest radio moments in the early '70s - Armstrong wowed 'em with some classic
"Big Jack" moments.
Sounding as fresh as he did at WKBW from 1971-1973, Armstrong did a full oldies show (as opposed to an interview) on the Oldies 104 (WHTT-FM) Rock 'N' Roll Radio Reunion Weekend. Yes, he gets the station ID wrong a few times, and misidentifies a Paul Revere and the Raiders song, but for the most part it's classic Armstrong. He even takes a few interesting calls, including one from long-time Scrapbook viewer Sam Ward. All in all, it's great Top 40 radio.
Enjoy Jackson Armstrong - introduced by long-time Oldies 104 jock Brian J. Walker - on WHTT-FM here.
(The Bill Dulmage Collection)
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