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The Charlie Ritenburg
Treasury
A Rock Radio
Scrapbook
Special Section
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I've been blissfully retired since January 2016
after finishing 35 1/2 years with The Canadian
National Railway. For the first half I was a Radio
Technician and then when that department downsized, I
spent my final nineteen as a Signals & Communications
Tech. The radio job involved two-way VHF and UHF radio
systems and was somewhat close to my dream of being in
the broadcast industry, but as it turned out, I was much
better off financially. Prior to starting at CN in 1980, I worked part
time for Dominion Grocery Stores, first in
London, Ontario, from 1972 to 1976 then in Toronto from
1976 to 1980. Previous to that I delivered newspapers for
the London Free Press from 1970 to 1973.
My elementary school years were spent at Sir
Winston Churchill Public School in London from
1960 to 1970. I then attended secondary school at H.B.
Beal from 1970 to 1975. After moving to Toronto
in September of 1976 I attended Ryerson
University from 1976 to 1980.
After moving to Toronto, I had the privilege of
working for one of Canada's greatest radio stations, 1050
CHUM. In 1977 I applied for an operator's position
only to find that I was somewhat over-qualified for the
job. Production director Warren Cosford suggested
that I stay with my electronics program at Ryerson and
aim for a more prestigious engineering position with the
company.
Shortly after meeting Warren, he became the
program director for CHUM-FM. While I
continued at college, he gave me a number of part-time
assignments to assist him gather data on other stations
that competed with CHUM-FM. He attempted to
get me into an engineering position in 1980 but
unfortunately for me, someone else with more experience
got the job.
During my years at CN, I stayed in touch with
Warren and by the turn of the century, signed on as one
of his e-mail list members. Warren's original
"Radiopro" list occasionally hosted dinners in
which I met many of the CHUM veterans
such as Dick Smyth, Doug Thompson, J.
Robert Wood plus many many more.
A few years before, in 1993 I started up
"The Monday Nighter," a monthly meeting that
encompassed a few record collectors, radio buffs and
eventually, many broadcast veterans who loyally have been
attending up to present day. The meetings moved from the
basement of my Mississauga house to a nicer one in my
present home in Richmond Hill. Between Warren's list and
word of mouth, many legendary radio personalities have
been at The Monday Nighter.
In my retirement, I hope to keep the Monday
Nighter alive along with my weekly partnership with Doug
Thompson where we continue to work on the CHUM archives
along with many other radio goodies from North America
and around the world. Along with travelling with my
marvellous wife Janis and now owning a cottage, being a
bigger part of Dale Patterson's Rock Radio Scrapbook will be another fun challenge that I
intend to focus on!
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Talent: DICK WILLIAMS
Station: CFPL London, Ont.
Date: January 7, 1965
Time: 47:30 (unscoped) (Upgraded
3-8-13)
No one stood taller in London radio than The Tall One.
Dick Williams spent nearly half a century
on the air in the Forest City, beginning in 1961 at CFPL. Williams
was only 16 years old when he started his radio career in 1956 as
program host at CKCR in Kitchener, Ontario. He moved to WSAI Cincinnati
in 1958, and also jocked at KDEO San Diego and KROY Sacramento,
California, before bringing his quick wit and masterful sense of
timing to CFPL. A natural entertainer, Williams also did a
dance show at CFPL-TV called Dick
Williams Wing Ding that featured live
performances and appearances by the other CFPL ``Lively
Guys.``
Williams left CFPL in 1969, and later
jocked on London stations CJBK, Q 97.5 (CIQM) and Oldies
1410 (CKSL). He left full-time radio in 2006 to concentrate
on voice work at dickwilliamsvoice.com.
Enjoy Dick "The
Tall One" Williams on CFPL here. 
(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)
RESTORATION by Charlie
Ritenburg
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: BRIAN SKINNER
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: December,
1965
Time: 1:01:18
(unscoped)
(Montage
courtesy Bill Dulmage)
Brian Skinner came over to CHUM from
cross-town rival CKEY as a swing shift deejay in 1963.
The Prez was promoted to full-time duty when he replaced Dave
Johnson in the 7-10 p.m. shift in the fall of 1965. Johnson
had been doing the evening shift since the station's Top 40
beginnings in 1957 so Skinner had big shoes to fill. But CHUM listeners
weren't disappointed as Skinner combining his cornball sense of
humour with a cacophony of bells, whistles and tambourines to
create an unforgettable listening experience. Nothing was
too zany for Skinner, who brought real-life CHUM janitor Jerry
Kowalski onto the air to tell corny jokes in his broken
Polish accent.
The fun lasted until 1968, when CHUM tightened
up its programming and Skinner was relegated to the all-night
show. The Prez did his last CHUM show July 15, 1969 and
later went into teaching in Seattle.
Hear Brian
Skinner on CHUM in December, 1965 (UNSCOPED) here.
(The Charlie
Ritenburg Collection)
RESTORATION by Charlie Ritenburg
For more
classic CHUM airchecks, visit The CHUM Archives
Talent: JOHNNY WILLIAMS
Station: CKLW Windsor, Ontario
Date: October 27, 1968
Time: 49:42 (unscoped)
8:33 (scoped)
(Photo courtesy Jay Golden)
Johnny Williams (not to be
confused with the KHJ jock of the same name) was a
Michigan radio mainstay. He spent many years at CKLW and
also appeared on WNIC-FM (his nightly "Pillow
Talk" show was the number-one
rated night-time show six years in a row.)
Williams also jocked at WTRX-FM Flint,
Michigan, WOHO-FM Toledo, Ohio, WYSL-FM Buffalo,
New York, and WQXL-FM Cleveland.
He has also served as Program
Director of "The Heart,", the love channel station on XM
Satellite Radio, and has been an imaging voice for XM's 50's
Channel, Kids Channel, Radio Classics and Vox
Channels.
Williams died April 16, 2020.
Enjoy Johnny Williams on CKLW (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Johnny Williams on CKLW (SCOPED) here.
(The Tom Howard Collection)
RESTORATION by Charlie Ritenburg
More of the
Big 8 at The CKLW Years
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: TED
RICHARDS
Station: CKLW
Windsor, Ontario
Date: June 29,
1973
Time: 30:14
(unscoped)
8:42
(scoped)
Photo
courtesy Charlie O'Brien
Hound Dog Lorenz ... Wolfman
Jack ... Charlie Tuna ... Top 40 radio was full of
great nicknames in its glory days. And many of those nom de
plumes had to do with animals, fish and fowl.
There was Ralph "Birdman" Lockwood, Hoss
Allen, Joe "The Rockin'
Bird" Niagara, Johnny Rabbit (and Jimmy
Rabbit and Wonder Rabbit), Alison "The
Nightbird" Steele, Russ "The
Moose" Syracuse, Jim "The
Vanilla Gorilla" Wood, Coyote
McCloud (and Rufus Coyote), Bob Robin, Tiger
Bob Raleigh and Terry "The
Bear" Steele. To name a few.
There was another "Bear" - Ted "Teddy
Bear" Richards. Enjoy him on CKLW (UNSCOPED) here.
There was another
"Bear" - Ted "Teddy
Bear" Richards. Enjoy him on CKLW (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg Collection)
RESTORATION
by Charlie Ritenburg
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: WAYNE McATEER
Station: CJBK London, Ontario
Date: March 11, 1974
Time: 58:37
(unscoped) (Upgraded 5-1-17)
16:31 (scoped) (Upgraded
5-3-17)
Ever wonder how radio stations get their call
letters?
The story behind CJBK's calls is an
interesting one indeed. It starts in 1967, when CJOE went
on the air at 1290kc. They took over the frequency vacated by CKSL,
which moved to 1410 in 1964. CJOE began airing rock
music from 7 p.m.-midnight in 1970, and by 1971 was rock all day
and night. Rick Richardson purchased CJOE in
1972 and decided to change the call letters. Bill Dulmage of the Canadian
Communications Foundation tells Rock Radio Scrapbook the story behind that.
"On
September 6 at 12:00 a.m., "The Big Switch" took place
in conjunction with the opening of the Western Fair ... CJOE
became CJBK.
Why CJBK? Richardson wanted call letters that began
with "CJ" to differentiate the station as much as
possible from competitors CFPL and CKSL.
Otherwise, the call letters did not have any specific meaning.
Some however believe that Mr. Richardson was a fan of WJBK-AM Detroit
when he was working at a Windsor radio station. As a result, he
might have chosen the "JBK" from WJBK for CJBK."
And
that's how CJBK
came to be!
Enjoy Wayne
McAteer
on CJBK (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Wayne
McAteer
on CJBK (SCOPED) here.
(The
Don Shuttleworth Collection)
RESTORATION by Charlie Ritenburg
Talent: TRUCKIN' LENNIE
& SKIP O'BRIEN
Station: WGCL Cleveland
Date: June, 1974
Times: 49:19 (unscoped)
13:40 (scoped)
(Pictures courtesy Charlie Ritenburg)
It's one thing to hear the
aircheck.
It's another to hear the story behind the
aircheck.
Charlie Ritenburg tells us
"the rest of the story" behind this classic 'check.
"These pictures (above) are the two radios that
I listened to WGCL (G-98)
Cleveland from London Ontario with. I first heard G-98 on
the Sony clock radio in early 1974 after discovering the
existence of WDRQ-FM Detroit only
days before while travelling close to the Motor City.
The "circuit board" radio was a high school project
that also received G-98 along with
"Rock 102" from Buffalo and many
other FM stations from Cleveland, Detroit, Kitchener, Hamilton,
Buffalo and occasionally Toronto in stereo. This was the receiver
which the G-98 air check from 1974
was recorded from onto a medium quality, non dolbilized cassette
deck with a low bias "Audio Magnetics" brand tape.
Both radios were connected to the "rabbit ears" TV
antenna that are shown with the "circuit board" radio
to receive these distant signals. I still use these very same
rabbit ears today with my home sound system in Richmond Hill and
the Sony clock radio is still working and waking me up
from my night table after nearly 38 years of reliable
operation."
Enjoy Truckin' Lennie and Skip
O'Brien on WGCL (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Truckin' Lennie and Skip
O'Brien on WGCL (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg
Collection)
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: STEVE ELLIOTT
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: August 28, 1976
Time: Pt. 1 - 1:02:31 (unscoped)
Pt.
1 - 14:26 (scoped)
Pt. 2 - 59:03 (unscoped)
Pt.
2 - 14:26 (scoped)
It's Steve Elliott's last show on CHUM and
he goes out in style.
After a rousing send-off by Pat Riley,
Elliott gives his listeners a show to remember him by, with a
non-stop energetic performance despite the late hour. Luckily his
entire show - the first of five parts - has survived and you can
hear the first hour below.
Elliot cut his teeth at CKCY Sault Ste.
Marie in the early '70s, went to CHUM, then embarked
on a four-decade career in radio and TV in the Canadian west as Terry
Reid. His radio stops have included CKLG, CKKS-FM and CHQM-FM Vancouver
and CISF-FM Surrey, B.C.
Reid/Elliott has also been heard as the commercial
announcer for Global TV Vancouver, and
imaging/commercial announcer at CTV/BellMedia Alberta.
His list of credits include president of Voicewerks.
Enjoy Steve Elliott on CHUM (Pt.
1 - UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Steve Elliott on CHUM (Pt.
2 - SCOPED) here.
Enjoy Steve Elliott on CHUM (Pt.
2 - UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Steve Elliott on CHUM (Pt.
2 - SCOPED) N/A
(The Charlie
Ritenburg Collection)
Talent: BIG JIM
Station: CHAB Moose Jaw,
Saskatchewan
Date: September 1, 1976
Time: 30:55 (unscoped)
8:05 (scoped)
CHAB rose from the ashes of one of Canada's
first non-commercial radio stations.
CHAB's forerunner - 10AB - went
on the air April 23, 1922, broadcasting from the Moose Jaw YMCA.
Originally at 1200 KHz, it was licenced as a non-commercial
station with 50 watts of power. The station was originally
supposed to have been run by the Moose Jaw Amateur Radio
Association, but they couldn't afford it. The Kiwanis Club took
over until handing it back to the Moose Jaw Amateur Radio
Association in 1924.
Lack of financial support led to 10AB's demise
on November 11, 1933, as the station signed off with Rudy
Vallee's "I'm Heading to the Last Round-up." But
five weeks later, on December 17, 10AM returned to the air as a
commercial station, CHAB, and the station grew from there.
One of its first major hires was Elwood Glover, who left in
1938 for a storied career at the CBC. It later became a
Top 40 station, as we hear in this mid-'70s aircheck of "Big
Jim" at CHAB.
Just who was "Big Jim?" After this
aircheck was posted we got an e-mail from a viewer saying that he
was pretty sure "Big Jim" was Jim Ripley, a.k.a.
the Bionic Ripley. He later went to CKY in Winnipeg
before moving to C-JAY and CKIK in Calgary.
Ripley also hosted "Home Cookin'", a TV show on CFCN-TV Calgary
simulcast on C-JAY which also featured local acts.
Hear "Big Jim" (UNSCOPED) here.
Hear "Big Jim" (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg
Collection)
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: MIKE COOPER, DAVE WILLIAMS
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: October 7,
1976
Time: 1:01:24
(unscoped)
18:50 (scoped)
His relief is late, so Mike Cooper has
a little fun with it.
With Dave Williams running a little late, Coop amps up
the energy big-time in this highly entertaining aircheck from the
fall of '76.
Williams eventually arrives with his own special brand
of radio magic, but not before Cooper literally sets the
transmitter on fire with an electrifying performance.
Cooper left CHUM a month after this
aircheck, then moved to CKGM Montreal before
returning to Toronto at CFTR. He would later jock in
Toronto with morning shows at Key-590 and CHFI-FM,
co-hosting with Erin Davis at the latter.
Dave
Williams (Doug Thompson/CHUM Archives)
Dave Williams (real name David Wolfe)
also jocked at CHUM stations CJCH and ATV Halifax,
and MuchMusic. He was program director in the mid-80s
at CKGM Montreal, where he had previously been a
jock.
Also heard on this aircheck: Brian Marter with
the news.
Enjoy Mike Cooper and Dave
Williams at CHUM (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Mike Cooper and Dave
Williams at CHUM (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie Ritenburg
Collection)
Talent: TOM KENT
Station: 96X (WMJX)
Miami
Date: May, 1978
Time: 49:12 (unscoped)
14:16
(scoped)
Description by Charlie Ritenburg
I first discovered 96X-FM in Canada of
all places! After a heavy afternoon rain storm in late June of
1976, a few friends and I were in my car in a field outside of
London Ontario dialing around the FM band on my under dash
"Roberts" FM-cassette car stereo. Next to London's
179,000 watt FM96 on 95.9 MHz (CFPL-FM) was
a station booming in that was playing "Ball Room Blitz"
by Sweet. Then a few commercials ran that mentioned
numbered street names like New York City has. Once the music was
back, a high energy jock introduced "Oh What A Night (Dec
'63)" by the 4 Seasons with the call letters WMJX.
The signal was very strong but intermittently switched in and out
and eventually disappeared altogether. A few months later I
explained this freak reception to Pat Riley, a CHUM DJ
who used to work at the 100,000 watt 96X. From that
point I knew that this phantom signal had actually come from
Miami Florida which was over 1500 miles to the South of me! Truly
amazing, especially on the FM band!
Knowing this, I had a friend (Brian Pietrzyk)
record some 96X air checks when he traveled to
Florida in December of 1977. But in May of 1978, Brian and I
returned to Hollywood Florida where I had the chance to record my
own stereo air checks of 96X on my Toshiba reel
to reel machine. At the time he had a Pioneer KP-500 car stereo
with the FM Super Tuner so we used that with a power supply to
record a great sounding signal on 96.3 MHz in
our trailer. I recorded a reel of Y100 along
with a number of other South Florida stations but WMJX was
my main focus after that most amazing day when it made the long
haul to London Ontario Canada!
Tom Kent was a high energy disc jockey who
worked at many great radio stations like WHBQ Memphis, WIXY & WGCL Cleveland, WMJX Miami, KLIF Dallas, WLS Chicago, WAVA Washington
and later became the program director of WBZZ Pittsburgh.
He also hosted many syndicated radio shows and started out like I
did with his very own pirate radio station. You can appreciate
the energy and excitement.
Enjoy Tom Kent on 96X (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Tom Kent on 96X (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie
Ritenburg Collection)
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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Talent: DAVE
SAWYER
Station: CJME Regina
Date: June 25, 1984
Time: 47:04
(unscoped)
15:28
(scoped)
You've heard of ideas that were
ahead of their time?
This idea was behind its
time.
AM stereo was thought to be the
saviour of AM radio in Canada and the U.S. when it came out in
the '80s. Many stations adopted one of the four technologies - C-QUAM, Harris
Corporation, Magnavox and the Kahn-Hazeltine
System. But there were a multitude of problems. First, the
competing technologies proved to be a problem as it confused
consumers. Also, AM stereo was adopted too late as many listeners
had moved to FM and weren't about to come back to AM, which was
moving into news-talk sports programming anyway. Interest in the
technology faded and by the early 2000s hardly any stations were
using it. What started out with so much promise was a forgotten
relic.
One of the Canadian stations to
use the C-QUAM system - which became the standard in
Canada - was CJME. The Regina station went on the air in
1959 with an easy-listening format, however it soon went Top 40.
By the '90s they were an oldies outlet. The music died for CJME at
midnight on September 7, 1998, when the station played its final
song - "American Pie" by Don McLean. The next day
they went to a news-talk format.
Enjoy Dave Sawyer on CJME in C-QUAM AM
stereo (UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Dave Sawyer on CJME in C-QUAM AM
stereo (SCOPED) here.
(The Charlie
Ritenburg Collection)
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
online streaming fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
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