"Back in 1974-1975, during one of the first of Steve Shannon's many stints at 98 CKGM over the years, it would frequently occur that Steve and I would be scheduled back-to-back, particularly when oui were called upon to supply on-air duties on a Saturday or a Sunday. Usually he 2-6pm, me 6-Midnight. Previously graduated from 1470 CFOX Montreal and 680 CFTR Toronto, Shannon was coming in to the Super 98 with "the sound". The big, bold, fun, cookin' down-to-business, no nonsense Top 40 sound. One had no choice but to be super pumped when Steve handed off to you. It was at the time when I had started my Top 40 bilingual schtick on the air and Steve used to get a kick out of that, handing off to me by saying...

..."Up next...mais oui, mais oui, c'est mon ami Marc Denis mon petit chou...is here to boogie with you !" 

Well, I lost the "petit chou" and the "boogie with you" along the way over the years but the "Mais Oui" nickname he coined me with, stuck. No matter what subsequent radio stations I worked at post-CKGM, English or French, AM or FM, staff and listeners greeted me for years as Marc Mais Oui Denis ...and still do to this day. Merci mon ami Steve.

When I found out about his illness, I made it a point to pay several visits to Steve (and to Geoff Smith...God bless you!) during the fall of 2018 up in St-Hippo to offer surprise guests, support, company and some of my wife Sandi's homemade desserts. Oui laughed a lot, cried some too. 

When I asked Steve on my last visit with him how he'd sum up his checkered coast-to-coast-to-coast radio career, he replied: 

"Well, ya know Mais Oui, I won't live long enough to write that book I'd like to put together but I do have the title: 

"Steve Shannon, from the Fox...to the Bear. It was a jungle out there. Over...and out"

Enjoy Steve Shannon on CFTR (UNSCOPED) here.

Enjoy Steve Shannon on CFTR (SCOPED) here.
 

(The Bob Seed Collection/Submitted by Don Shuttleworth)


More 1973 airchecks here!