Rock Radio Scrapbook

 FROM THE ARCHIVES

Talent: JOHN RODE
Station: CKFH Toronto
Date: November 11, 1969
Time: 6:10



Toronto skyline in 1960

Toronto has changed a lot since 1969, and so has that city's AM radio dial.

The station featured on this aircheck, CKFH, has undergone one of the greatest upheavals. 'FH switched to an oldies format in 1973 before completely abandoning rock when it became a country station in 1975. In 1981, station founder Foster Hewitt sold the station to Telemedia after 30 years of ownership. The 'FH calls disappeared after the transaction and CJCL was born.

CJCL attempted a talk-based format early in its existence as Metro 1430. That later morphed into a Music of Your Life format which lasted until 1991. That year, CJCL became Canada's first all-sports station as "The Fan 1430". In 1995, "The Fan 1430" swapped frequencies with CKYC 590 - the former CKEY - where it remains today as "The Fan 590."

Toronto skyline in the early 2000s

As for CKEY, it doesn't even exist on the AM band anymore. In 1969, CKEY was a full-service station, boasting one of the city's most respected news staffs and an easy listening music format. In 1984, 'EY switched to a gold format as Solid Gold CKEY and later the KEY-590. The CKEY calls disappeared in 1991 when the station became Country 59, CKYC. Today, the former CKEY is at 1430 on the dial and has an ethnic format as CHKN. The CKEY calls are now used by an FM station (Wild 101) in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Moving up the dial, the Toronto station at 680kc in 1969 was CHFI and it had a beautiful music format. In 1971, CHFI changed calls to CFTR and soon became a Top 40 station (the CHFI calls remained on FM). After 22 years of Top 40 magic, CFTR in 1993 became an all-news station as 680 News.

When Toronto radio listeners turned to 740kc in 1969, they heard the city's CBC AM outlet, CBL. In 1999, CBL moved to 99.1 on the FM dial (as "Radio One" or CBLA) and the frequency went silent but not for long. On Jan. 8, 2001, CHWO 1250 Oakville, Ont., was reborn as AM 740 Toronto with a standards-oldies mix.

A listener to CFRB 1010 in 1969 would have heard a full-service station with easy-listening music. Now it's a news-talk station.

1050 CHUM was a Top 40 station in 1969. It's now TSN sports radio.

Unchanged in format is CHIN 1540. It was a multilingual station in 1969, and still is. And you'll hear the French CBC outlet (CJBC) at 860 now, just as you did in 1969.

If you had tuned into 640kc in Toronto in 1969, you might have received some interesting DX catches, but nothing local. That frequency now is occupied by CFMJ (AM 640) with a talk format. The station traces its history to country music giant CFGM Richmond Hill, Ont., originally at 1310, later at 1320 and 640.

Enjoy John Rode on CKFH in 1969 here.

(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)

Talent: MARSHALL ARMSTRONG (newscast)
Station: CKFH Toronto
 Date: November 11, 1969
Time: 11:29

Marshall Armstrong (1945-2009)

Like many Top 40 stations of the day, CKFH is remembered mainly for its music. But there were other great elements too, including Toronto Maple Leaf hockey and entertaining and informative newscasts. Among the many voices heard on 'FH news during its rock 'n' roll years (1967-1975) were George Wilson, Jim Ward, Bud Riley, Jack Allen, Robert Murdock, Bob Payne, Barrie Bailey, Bill MacKissock, Robert E. MacIntyre, Matt Wootson, Jack Malloy, Glen Cole, Brian Hill and the gentleman appearing on this aircheck, Marshall Armstrong.

When 'FH debuted as a rock station in 1967 they did something a little different in the scheduling of the news - headlines at 14 past the hour and details at the 30 mark. Considering that CKFH was at  1430 on the dial, it was quite easy to remember when the newscasts were! By 1969 - the year this newscast was made - 'FH had moved to a format already in use by many other rock stations at the time: 20-20 news. In the case of CKFH, this involved headlines at 20 past the hour and details at 20 before the hour.

There are a few things to listen for in this newscast. It starts with a story on a proposed domed stadium in North York, an idea promoted by borough mayor James Service (one wag suggested calling it the Service Centre.) It would be another 20 years before Toronto actually got a domed stadium, and it was built downtown, not in North York.

At the 52-second mark, you'll hear a 34-second actuality - a little longer than we are used to on music-formatted stations these days. Later on we hear that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has a date with "divorcee" Barbra Streisand. How shocking, the prime minister dating a divorced person!

At the 3:28 mark, we hear about a psychologist who suggests slugging your husband is a good idea, an effective way to let off steam. You can hear this for yourself and shake your head.

At 4:11, we hear a fluff piece about the "Executive Sandbox," complete with a clip from a Simpson's "salesgal."

There's a skyjacking story at 4:48 - air piracy was a relatively new phenomenon back then. At 5:40, future Toronto mayor Mel Lastman is interviewed (he was a North York alderman back then.)

There's lots more too, including sports and weather. Listen to it here.

(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)

More 1969 airchecks here!

 


Download your free RealPlayer
to hear this aircheck via your PC, iPod/iPhone or Blackberry

Click here for technical help
 

 

RETURN TO ROCK RADIO SCRAPBOOK