Rock Radio Scrapbook
FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Talent:
MIKE COOPER
Station:
CHUM Toronto
Date: April 1, 1976
Time: 3:41
(Upgraded 10-21-08)
In his quarter-century in Toronto radio, Mike Cooper has established himself as one of the city's top program hosts. But he'll also be remembered for two of the most outrageous stunts of the 1970s.
On April 1, 1976, Cooper and a colleague played an April Fool's joke on the all-night show on CHUM. Cooper took a call on the air from a threatening-sounding person and joked about the call to his listeners. Then, right in the middle of a live read for a Knob Hill Farms spot, the "caller" came into the studio and pretended to shoot him! All went well - it sounded realistic - maybe too realistic! Police - thinking there had been a real shooting - rushed to the CHUM studios. Cooper had a little explaining to do. CHUM management then found out about it. More explaining. Well, it was a good idea at the time. (I always wondered if Knob Hill complained about having their live read interrupted).
Cooper also made headlines in the 1970s when he set a record for time on a ferris wheel. He went round and round for several days before climbing down, earning a line in Guinness and solidifying his reputation as a funster.
We don't have video of the ferris wheel ride, but we do have audio of Cooper's April Fool's prank. Hear it here.
(The Andrew Consky and Ross Carlin Collections)
More 1976 airchecks here!