Talent: ROGER ASHBY
Station: CHUM Toronto
Date: March 4, 1972
Time: 45:37 (unscoped)
13:09 (scoped)

Roger Ashby first appeared on the CHUM Chart September 6, 1969

Roger Ashby may be a big-city jock, but his roots are in smaller locales. The long-time CHUM broadcaster grew up in Brantford, Ontario, where he used to broadcast from a mock radio studio in his basement. Only his mother and father could hear his show, but it was a start.

Ashby's first radio job was as an operator at CKKW Kitchener, Ontario, In 1967, he landed a weekend on-air gig at CKKW's new FM station, CFCA. Later that year, Ashby - who had planned to go to college - was hired to do all-nights at CKOC Hamilton. So much for college - he was a jock! In 1969, CHUM program director J. Robert Wood offered him the all-night show at the legendary Toronto station. Ashby took the job and within two-and-a-half years landed the shift he had coveted since the age of 10 - middays at CHUM. He held it for several years before moving into programming.

Ashby returned to the air in 1982, when he became a "temporary" replacement on the CHUM morning show. He did the show for three years. The Ashby morning show included the Oldies Hour from 5-6 a.m., an offshoot of Ashby's amazing Sunday Morning Oldies Show which was a CHUMstaple from 1980 to 2009.

Ashby did his last CHUM-AM morning show in August 1985, but within a month moved on to another challenge - the morning show at CHUM-FM. Since then, the team of Roger Ashby, Marilyn Denis and Rick Hodge (Darren Lamb since 2008; Jamar "J. Niice" McNeil since 2018) has created one of the most popular morning shows in Canada.

Ashby signed off his final CHUM-FM show on December 5, 2018, ending a run of 49-and-a-half years online at CHUM-AM or CHUM-FM.

Enjoy Roger Ashby on CHUM from March 4, 1972 here.

Enjoy Roger Ashby on CHUM from March 4, 1972 here.

(The Bill Dulmage Collection)