Rock Radio Scrapbook: Aircheck of the Week

The Beatles were in town, briefly, having arrived at Toronto's Malton Airport early in the morning of September 7. They played two shows at Maple Leaf Gardens, with a matinee at 2:30 p.m. and an evening show at 8:30 p.m. The next day they played the Montreal Forum. On the CHUM Chart, House of the Rising Sun by the Animals and Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison each spent two weeks at Number One in September, 1964.

The Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League entered training camp in September, 1964, basking in the glow of their third straight Stanley Cup. Their baseball counterparts, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the minor International League, were finishing a middle-of-the-pack season. The Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League were in the middle of a 4-10 campaign that would place them last in the Eastern Division.

ROCK RADIO SCRAPBOOK asked DOUG THOMPSON about DAVE JOHNSON, and this is what he said...

"Back in the late 1950’s and early ‘60’s, when I was a teenager growing up in Oakville, Ontario, I first became addicted to C-H-U-M 1050 Toronto. I enjoyed listening to all the jocks – Al Boliska, John Spragge, Mike Darow, Pete Nordheimer (later Bob McAdorey) as well as Bob Laine, but at the time, Dave Johnson was my all time fav CHUM DJ. I listened to him every night while I was doing my homework (and even when I wasn’t).

Dave had a real feel for the music, although I found out a few years later when I started working with him, that he really didn’t care for rock’n’roll. Dave liked opera and country music (and not necessarily in that order).

Flash forward to Monday February 1st, 1965 – my first day as a CHUM board op. I sat in the CHUM AM control room to watch and learn the board for most of the day, then flew solo from 6 o’clock until midnight. I worked the last hour of Bob McAdorey’s show, then all 3 hours with Dave. He couldn’t have been nicer to me. The commercials, station jingles and promos were all on cart, but we still played 45’s from the turntables positioned on the left side of the console. Dave wore his suit and tie for the entire shift. He and I worked together 5 nights a week until October ’65 when he left for country station CFGM in Richmond Hill. He remained there until his death on October 20, 1980.

Most people didn’t know this, but Dave was extremely shy in public, which is why he always felt uncomfortable sitting in that fishbowl of the CHUM Satellite Station at the CNE or Sportsman Show.

This aircheck is from September 11, 1964, that’s 4½ months before I got to CHUM, and on this night, Davo is sounding great….just like he always did."

Morning man Wally Crouter was in his 18th year at CFRB, while Jay Nelson and Al Boliska were in their first years in mornings at CHUM and CKEY respectively. Phil MacKellar woke listeners up at CKFH and Gerry Herbert did mornings at CHFI-AM. You could hear classical music on CHUM-FM, beautiful music on CHFI-FM and English-language programming at CJBC until October 1, when it went all-French.

In September, 1964, evening jock Dave Johnson was nearing the end of a very successful run at CHUM. He started there in January, 1958, and left in the fall of 1965.