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Doug alters Ringo's script (1983) |
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For years, Rock Radio Scrapbook visitors have been blessed with the contributions of Doug Thompson, the long-time radio producer, writer and historian extraordinaire. Most of his work has appeared in the CHUM Archives. But now Doug has his own section on Canada's Aircheck Archive. Read his story and hear and read the stories behind the wonderful audio he has produced - much of it exclusively for Rock Radio Scrapbook. It's all here ... in Doug Thompson's Production Corner.
Doug at PAMS Productions in Dallas (1972) Over his 40-year career in broadcasting, Doug Thompson has won 151 awards for creative excellence, including a Billboard Magazine International Syndicated Special of the Year award, CLIO Awards, Hollywood IBA's, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Blue Ribbon Award plus Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and Grand Awards from the New York Radio Festivals. Doug started his full-time broadcasting career at CHUM Toronto where, in nine years, he worked his way up from board operator to Production Manager. He was Executive Director for Telemedia Network Radio for 13 years and Creative Director for "The Team Sports Radio Network". He has created programming for ABC Radio, NBC Radio, United Stations, Westwood One and Rolling Stone Magazine Productions in the U.S. as well as CBC Television in Canada. Advertising clients include Pepsi, Sears, KFC, Paramount Pictures, Global Television Network, McCain Foods and Volkswagen, among others. For two years in Los Angeles, Doug was Creative Director and head writer for John Candy's audio projects in both Canada and the United States, including Candy's weekly series, "Radio Kandy", which aired on 350 radio stations in the United States. For the past eight years, Doug has written a monthly column on creativity and creative broadcasters in Canada for Broadcast Dialogue magazine.
Doug receives his first Clio (1972) Producing
session at Eastern Sound (1988) (All descriptions written by Doug Thompson) Subject:
DJ INTROS MONTAGE
(Photo courtesy Charlie Ritenburg) Legendary CHUM Program Director (and later General Manager) J. Robert Wood had the above words placed over the door to the 1050 CHUM jock booth at 1331 Yonge Street. When board operators were eliminated in the 1980’s, the sign was moved to above the AM control room door.
This montage is a testament to the talented 1050 CHUM DJ’s of the 1960’s and ‘70’s - those inspired, passionate, creative guys who always knew exactly how to intro a song.
They truly were ‘the finest air staff in the world’.
In order, the montage is:
1. Bob Laine (0:23) 2. Johnny Mitchell (0:50) 3. John Majhor (1:08) 4. Mike Cooper (1:26) 5. Mike Holland (1:49) 6. Tom Rivers (2:13) 7. Dave Johnson (2:27) 8. Jack Armstrong (2:57) 9. Scott Carpenter (3:26) 10. Pat Riley (3:41) 11. John Rode (4:09) 12. Wolfman Jack (4:28) 13. Daryl B. (4:57) 14. Chuck McCoy (5:27) 15. Brian Skinner (5:51) 16. Bob Magee (6:30) 17. Jay Nelson (6:52) 18. J. Michael Wilson (7:22) 19. Jim Van Horne (7:52) 20. Terry Steele (8:31) 21. Duke Roberts (8:57) 22. Hal Weaver (9:24) 23. Dick Hayes (9:34) 24. Duff Roman (10:11) 25. Roger Ashby (10:29)
Enjoy the CHUM DJ Intros Montage here.
Produced by
Doug Thompson (The Doug Thompson Collection)
Subject:
TOM RIVERS MONTAGE
(Photos courtesy Doug Thompson)
There’s a very good reason Tom Rivers
is a member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame – and it
isn’t because he died way too young either. Enjoy the Tom Rivers montage here. (The Doug Thompson Collection) Produced by Doug Thompson Subject:
PAMS WESTERN CANADA JINGLE
MONTAGE
Throughout most of the 1960’s and into the mid ‘70’s, well over a hundred radio stations across Canada aired jingles created by PAMS of Dallas. PAMS was hot all over the Great White North, but especially in the Western provinces. This montage contains various PAMS jingles from stations starting in Winnipeg (CKY, CKRC, CFRW), moving through Regina (CKCK), then a quick trip over to Moose Jaw (CHAB), up to Saskatoon (CKOM), back down to Lethbridge (CJOC), stopping briefly in Calgary (CFCN, CKXL), north to Edmonton (CJCA, CHED), then out to Vancouver (CFUN/CKVN/CKLG/CJOR) and winding up in the beautiful city of Victoria (CKDA). This audio trip back to yesterday features the distinctive voices of Trella Hart and the late Peyton Park (who sounded black, but was actually a white insurance salesman in the Dallas area). Another ‘neat treat’ is the CHED 2½ minute jingle/song “I Had A Ball in Big E”. NOTE: CFUN and CKVN were actually the same station. In 1968, the station changed owners, who switched to an all news format and changed the call letters to CKVN (Voice of News). They later dropped news for a Top 40 format. CHUM Ltd. bought CKVN in 1972, and a year later, on September 30th, 1973 brought the CFUN call letters back. Hear the PAMS Western Canada Jingle Montage here. Produced by Doug Thompson (The Doug Thompson Collection)
Subject:
THE
BEST OF THE DECADE
(Graphic courtesy Charlie Ritenburg) (Description by Doug Thompson) In the late 1970’s, after having been at CHUM Toronto for 9 years, then forming my own creative company That Commercial Place, and running that for 5 years, I was hired by CFTR and Rogers Broadcast Productions to create a multitude of radio programs – among them, the 1977 and ’78 year end countdowns. For 1979, instead of the usual countdown, we decided to go with a 10-hour overview of the entire ‘70’s – hence the title “The Best Of The Decade”.
Each year had its own hour. Dan Williamson was the host (he was at CFTR at the time). The news segments were written and voiced by CFTR News Director Robert Holiday.
A few weeks before production started, I flew to Dallas and working with my usual music arranger, the late Wayne Harrison, we wrote and recorded the musical theme. (This shows the kind of budgets we had back then).
It took several weeks to pull the interview clips together, and in some cases, actually do the interviews and then write the script. After that, it was off to the CFTR production studio, working after hours so as not to disrupt the daily work schedule. It took 10 nights until the program was completed. You can certainly tell that this was pre-CD production as there are audible clicks and ticks in some of the 45’s we used from the CFTR music library. The Best of the Decade, 1979, can be heard here.
Produced by
Doug Thompson (The Doug Thompson Collection) Subject:
CJCA JINGLE MONTAGE
This montage was created from some CJCA jingles from the 1960s - CRC Series 11 and 30 + PAMS Series 18, 26, 31 and 32. Naturally, it's nine minutes and 30 seconds long in tribute to Channel 93. Hear the CJCA Jingle Montage here. Produced by Doug Thompson
(The Doug Thompson Collection) Subject:
DOUG THOMPSON'S COCA-COLA JINGLE MONTAGE
Once upon a time, Coca-Cola was known as ‘The Pause That Refreshes’. Later it became ‘The Real Thing’. Other famous ad slogans include - ‘Things Go Better With Coke’, ‘Be Really Refreshed’, ‘Coke Is It’, ‘Coke Adds Life’, “Have A Coke And A Smile’ and the current one - ‘On the Coke Side Of Life’. In the late 1950’s and early '60’s, Coke sponsored the Hi-Fi Club on dozens of stations in the U.S. and Canada. CHED Edmonton and CHUM Toronto were only two stations that spring immediately to mind. Teen listeners could join for free and would receive a membership card in the mail, which entitled them to attend special Hi-Fi Club dances or win prizes like 45’s, albums, Hi-Fi Club binders and naturally, cases of Coke. At one time, membership in the The Hi-Fi Clubs across North America topped 2,000,000 teens. During most of the 1960’s, Coca-Cola was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, advertisers on radio, spending millions of dollars, especially in summer. Coke no longer advertises on radio, concentrating mainly on TV. Throughout the '60’s, Coke’s ad agency McCann-Erickson hired the hit artists of the day to record Coke jingles or adapt their current hit into a Coke jingle. The Bee Gees, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Petula Clark, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Vanilla Fudge, Tom Jones and Joe Tex were some of the best known hitmakers to record Coke jingles. In this 17:43 montage, you’ll hear some lesser-heard jingles sung by quite a few major stars of the day, including The Everly Brothers, Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison and Mary Hopkin. Introducing/back selling several of these commercials are then-top DJ’s Cousin Brucie and Dan Ingram from WABC New York. In order the artists are: Freddy Cannon Mary Hopkin (notice how Mary never sings the word ‘Coke’ or ‘Coca-Cola’ unlike everyone else in this montage. She only hums the Coke melody line, “Things Go Better With Coke”, at the end.) Enjoy Doug Thompson's Coca-Coca Jingle Montage here. Produced by Doug Thompson (The Doug Thompson Collection) Talent: DAVE JOHNSON
Johnson's final appearance on the CHUM Chart (Sept. 27, 1965) Dave Johnson was ‘King of the Night’ on CHUM from 1958 until October of 1965. He was President of Coca Cola’s Hi-Fi Club and was the ‘teens’ DJ. He always wore a suit and tie to work and never took off his tie during his shift (he did however, loosen it). Around the station and on-the-air, Dave was the brunt of a lot of jokes and puns about his weight. During the early Beatles craze, CHUM ran a nightly
feature with Trudy Medcalfe, the President of the official Ontario
Beatles fan club. Trudy and Dave Johnson discussed what The Beatles
were up to and Trudy reported on the latest news from England. CHUM
execs called the show, “Paunch and Trudy”. Dave took all the ribbing
with his usual good nature. We had a great team of operators then and the
1970’s CHUM group of ops continued that tradition. I had in my
collection (and still have), a series of albums from Hanna Barbera,
the animation company. The albums were on the Colpix label and were
soundtracks from TV episodes of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Pixie &
Dixie, The Flintstones, etc. I used Fred Flintstone’s famous yell
‘Yaba Daba Doo’ a lot. Dave liked that one the most (as you’ll hear
during one of the CHUM jingles and a live-read commercial). Hear Dave Johnson here. (From the personal archives of Doug Thompson) Subject: CHUM PAMS
JINGLE MEDLEY
“P.A.M.S. PAMS of Dallas.” Any jingle fan worth his
salt can sing the melody to those words. Hear the CHUM PAMS Montage here. Produced by Doug Thompson (The CHUM Archives/Doug Thompson and Bob Laine) Subject: CHUM 1970s PROMO MONTAGE
Ahhhh, the 1970’s – the last great decade for music on AM radio. And 1050 CHUM was in its second glory days. The first CHUM era had been from the station's launch on May 27, 1957 through the early- to mid-1960’s when CHUM, under the ownership of Allan Waters and Program Director Allan Slaight, became a ‘must listen’ habit for teenagers in Southern Ontario with on-air personalities like Al Boliska, Jay Nelson, John Spragge, Mike Darow, Pete Nordheimer, Bob McAdorey, Dave Johnson, Bob Laine, Dick Hayes, Jack Armstrong, Duff Roman and Brian Skinner. Over the years and especially as the ‘60’s drew to a close, all of those jocks moved on and were replaced by a new group of legends – Hal Weaver, Roger Ashby, Scott Carpenter, Tom Rivers, Johnny Mitchell, Duke Roberts, J. Michael Wilson, Chuck McCoy, John Rode, Mike Cooper, Jim Van Horne, Terry Steele and John Majhor, among others. The CHUM creative department was equally as up to the task of creating amazing radio as were the on-air jocks. Our team of CHUM writers and producers spent untold hours honing their words and production skills on countless promos, programs, commercials and ID’s. This montage, running 10:50 naturally, is a tribute to the ’70’s CHUM sound, then under the leadership of Program Director J. Robert Wood, who inspired all of us at CHUM to be the very best that we could be. Even though $5,000 was the maximum amount any Canadian radio station could give away in a month, in this montage, you’ll hear million dollar sounding productions featuring world caliber announcers Ron Morey, Gary Gears, Charlie Van Dyke, Chuck Riley, Terry Steele, Jay Nelson, and David Marsden. Listen closely and you’ll probably recognize the voice of Tom Rivers, who was rarely called upon to do station promos. Most of these '70s CHUM promos were produced by the late Zeke Zdebiak, Bob McMillan and Warren Cosford, who got my position as CHUM AM/FM Production Manager when I left to work in Los Angeles in 1970. Interspersed amongst these promos are a few of the jingles 1050 CHUM aired during the '70’s. There’s the signpost up ahead. Next stop – the 1970’s. Enjoy the CHUM 1970s Promo Montage here. (The Doug Thompson Collection) Produced by Doug Thompson Subject: CHUCK BLORE
COMMERCIALS/JINGLE MONTAGE
"Chuck Blore has made the radio talk to our hearts." - Sonny Melendrez There is only one Chuck Blore. Blore, who turned 80 this year (2009), is a broadcasting legend several times over. From January 2, 1958 until the mid-'60s, Blore was the creative force and Program Director behind Top 40 powerhouse KFWB in Los Angeles, launching it into the stratosphere by taking it from zero ratings to number-one in three months with a 30-share of the market. Imagine - 30 per cent of all radio listeners in Los Angeles were listening to KFWB. A phenomenal success. For years, stations across North America copied the sound of "Color Radio" - as Blore called it. Chuck told me he became more than a little angry when stations copied his style. "It used to piss me off because I'd sit there for hours and hours trying to think up contests, station promos and liners, and a few weeks later they'd be everywhere," Blore says. "It was damn frustrating. Why couldn't these program directors think for themselves." In 1964, he turned his magic to the world of advertising with Chuck Blore Creative Services, and struck gold, silver and platinum with several thousand awards to the company's credit. Chuck's advertising, like his radio station programming, was totally unique and highly innovative. His styles included quick cut editing techniques, highly memorable jingle lyrics ("a cow is a cat's best friends" for a Milk Marketing Board campaign) and "tug-at-your-heart-strings" emotional spots. Blore quickly gained a reputation for his innovative commercials with children, which included campaigns for Laura Scudder's Potato Chips, Taystee Bread and Sears ("Jeffrey, are you the opposite sex or am I?" featuring a very young actress by the name of Christina Applegate). This 17-minute montage contains some of Chuck's early revolutionary spots from the 1960's, including a Hoffman Candy Cup O'Gold spot voiced by then-unknown singer Roger Miller, a legendary Bell long-distance ad featuring an unnaturally long rotary dial SFX as well as the hit song parody jingles for Cleveland Trust. Interspersed amongst the commercials are a few jingles Chuck created for KRLA, WCFL, KMAK and the Radio Advertising Bureau. Listen to the words - the sounds - the innovation of Chuck Blore. And enjoy ... here. Produced by Doug Thompson (The Doug Thompson Collection) |
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