Toronto radio: A look back

CHUM

To Toronto, CHUM radio IS rock 'n roll. It is to Toronto what WABC is to New York, WKBW is to Buffalo and KHJ is to Los Angeles.

It wasn't always that way. During the first 12 years of its existence after signing on in 1945 as "The Friendly Station", CHUM featured a mish-mash of formats with a tiny signal and even smaller audience. The programming ranged from country, to easy listening to talk-oriented shows directed at homemakers. The station's 1,000-watt transmitter on Algonquin Island didn't exactly ensure a great audience, either. But things began to change with the advent of rock 'n roll. Under the guidance of Canadian broadcast legend Alan Waters, CHUM became the first station in Canada to broadcast the new music 24 hours a day starting May 27, 1957. That day also marked the beginning of the CHUM chart, which was the longest continously published music chart by a private radio station when it ceased publication in June, 1986.

It would be wrong to say that CHUM was a full-time rocker from the start. CHUM's daytime programming in the early years featured mostly lighter fare, like Sinatra, with rock 'n roll mostly reserved for after dark. But they were playing the charted hits of the day which made them unique in Canada.

One of the most remembered on-air talents from CHUM's early years was morning man Al Boliska. Hired in November, 1957 to replace Phil Ladd, he quickly established himself as one of the country's most popular personalities. By 1961, all of CHUM's original personalities had disappeared, the likes of Harvey Dobbs and Pete Nordheimer replaced by a new breed that included Bob MacAdorey, Mike Darow, Dave Johnson, Bob Laine and John Spragge. Brian Skinner and Jay Nelson would arrive shortly thereafter. With a mix of strong promotions, entertaining personalities, and the top hit music of the day, CHUM truly became just as it was billed - Radio One in Ontario. It was the official station of the Beatles in 1964, it was cool to be a Chumbug and everyone took CHUM to the beach.

CHUM had two major competitors in the '60s. First to take a run at CHUM's rock 'n roll supremacy in Toronto was CKEY. But despite a spirited effort and a strong cast that included former CHUM morning man Al Boliska and fast-talking Dave Mickey, the station had switched to easy listening by 1965. Next up in the fray was fiesty little CKFH, which threw everything it had at CHUM but never really made a ratings dent. It went country in 1975. Apart from CKEY and CKFH, only CKOC Hamilton offered offered any alternative to CHUM in the 1960s. Of course those of us in the know listened to the likes of WABC, WKBW and WLS at night, but that's another story.

A major change took place in 1968 when CHUM dropped its personality-oriented style for a more tightly-formatted approach, the so-called Drake format. Many familiar voices soon left with a host of new names like Tom Rivers, Scott Carpenter and Terry Steele joining the CHUM airwaves. In fact, the only pre-1968 announcer left by the end of 1971 was Jay Nelson. Jungle Jay would in fact last until 1980 - an incredible 17-year run.

CHUM ruled the roost unopposed until 1972, when the station formerly known as beautiful music CHFI-AM became rocker CFTR. The stations battled for top spot on the Toronto rock ladder for throughout the '70s and I'll never forget the shock I felt when 'TR edged ahead for the first time in the quarterly ratings. As the 1980s approached, the rock battlefield had become crowded with stations like Q-107 and CHUM-FM joining the fray. The days of CHUM's absolute dominance were over, but it remained a major player.

In 1986, CHUM surprised many by leaving top 40 for a light rock approach. The CHUM chart disappeared after 29 years and an era ended. But it didn't last, because in 1989, there was another change: CHUM switched to an all-oldies format and suddenly they were playing the same hits that made them a powerhouse in the first place. With popular personalties such as Bob Magee, Russ McCloud and Roger Ashby, the station gained new life. Even Kori Skinner, Brian's son (who sounds a lot like him), had a regular shift.

CHUM is one of the few big 50,000 rockers of the '60s still rockin' today. And while a couple of syndicated talk shows have been added to the lineup in recent years, it remains primarily a music station - the only one on AM left in Toronto.

CKEY-CKYC

CKEY was blessed with strong talent, but cursed by even stronger competition. This combination led to the station being a bridesmaid in virtually every format it attempted.

The jinx started from the station's origins in 1944 at AM 580 when CKEY went up, primarily, against ratings giant CFRB in a losing bid for top share of the Toronto audience. By the late '50s, CKEY was going head-to-head in a new ratings battleground - against CHUM in the fight for rock and roll listeners. But despite strong promotions and a stellar lineup that included Dave Mickey and Duff Roman, they couldn't knock off CHUM, the recognized rock 'n roll leader in Canada. Even when they lured CHUM morning man Al Boliska away in 1963, CHUM countered with Buffalo radio and TV star Jay Nelson. CKEY might have been number one in any other city, it's just that their competition was the legendary CHUM. It was similar to the New York battle between WABC and WMCA, a battle which the underdog WMCA eventually lost.

In 1965, CKEY - now at 590 - abandoned rock 'n roll to again take on the city's other radio giant, CFRB. But despite a strong talent lineup and music base of light favorites, they never came close to beating CFRB, probably the best-known private radio station in the country. At one time in the mid-1970s, CKEY had one of the best news staffs in Canada, and there were whispers about it going to an all-news format. There was even talk about CKEY switching places with all-news CKO-FM, but it never happened.

In 1984, CKEY dropped its adult contemporary format and its emphasis on news in favor of oldies. They were the first oldies station in Toronto since CKEY in the early 1970s. KEY-590, as the station was known, was somewhat ahead of its time. It wasn't until old rival CHUM started playing oldies itself in 1989 that interest in that format picked up. Unfortunately, listeners seemed to prefer CHUM's approach to that of CKEY and by 1991 KEY-590 was shopping for another format. The choice was country and they didn't fare too badly with that until CISS-FM signed on in 1992 as Canada's first country FM station. CISS was an immediate hit and Country 59 (its call letters were now CKYC) fell to the bottom of the ratings. You didn't have to be a genius to tell that the end was near and it came on Feb. 6, 1995 - when sportsradio CJCL moved from 1430 to 590 and CKYC to the less-desirable 1430 spot. The station at 1430 programmed satellite country and by 1997, under new ownership, is expected to assume an ethnic format. A far cry from Al Boliska.

Technically, CKEY still lives on. Its call letters have been picked up by the FM station at 101.1 in Niagara Falls, Ont., the Planet. Interestingly enough, former WKBW midday man Jon Summers - who worked at the original CKEY in 1989, also worked at the FM reincarnation in the early 1990s when they had a nostalgia format!

CHFI-CFTR

In January, 1972, media mogul Ted Rogers was quoted as saying that his station CFTR would play rock 'n roll "only over my dead body", A few months later, CFTR was playing the dreaded top 40. Rogers, incidentally, was very much alive to reap the profits.

CFTR's history goes back to Aug. 8, 1962 when the station signed on at the 1540 spot on the dial. It was known as CHFI, the call letters standing for High FIdelity (remember, they had a stereo FM station at 98.1). During the first nine years of its existence, CHFI employed a "beautiful music" format, anchored by the popular "Candlelight and Wine" program hosted by the late Don Parrish. Several "Candlelight and Wine" albums were released and the station had a niche and reasonably good ratings. It even improved its dial position to 680 in 1966 with CHIN taking over at 1540. It became CFTR in June, 1971 - the 'TR standing for Ted Rogers. But it wasn't until the switch to Top 40 in 1972 that things really took off. Parrish's show went to FM and with personalities such as Jim Brady and Doc Holliday leading the way, the station gave CHUM-AM a serious run for its money throughout the '70s. Local radio buffs still remember the shock when Brady overtook Jay Nelson in the ratings and when the station won its first book from CHUM. It was like an icon had been destroyed. When newsman Dick Smythe left CHUM for 'TR and Nelson quit in the early '80s, the way was clear for CFTR to build on its success. It did for several years with a strong music base and a better-than-average news team for a rock station.

But the party couldn't last forever. With the continuing influence of FM and its own ratings in decline, CFTR made a bold move. In 1993, it became Canada's first all-news station, 680 News (the call letters, though never heard, remain the same.) The acquisition of Smythe years earlier was in retrospect a move of genius. It became the second of CHUM's three main AM top 40 contenders to stop playing music, what with CKFH-CJCL now all sports. CKEY-CKYC would soon follow, but into oblivion.

CKFH-CJCL

For years, it was simply called Foster Hewitt's station. But CKFH, later CJCL and The Fan, has been far more than that.

When CKFH went on the air at AM 1400 in 1951, its main purpose was as a carrier for Toronto Maple Leaf hockey games (a station staple for over 40 years). But the rest of the station's programming did not exactly shake up the ratings. The mix of light favorites, talk-oriented programs and ethnic shows appealed to a select audience and ratings were low. But in January, 1967 with the station now at 1430, CKFH took a chance, programming rock 'n roll head-to-head with top-40 giant CHUM. The battle was a mismatch of course, but it did put the station on the map for something other than hockey and gave Toronto listeners some of the best radio this city has ever had. The Big 143 played the songs CHUM wouldn't play: progressive rock, album cuts, rhythm and blues and British tracks not charted here. The jocks were irreverant, always with a sense of humor and an off-beat approach. It was underground radio on AM, something CHUM-FM would perfect a couple of years later. But alas, the magic was shortlived. By 1968, CKFH had adopted a more conventional top 40 approach and things were never quite the same again, though still very good.

Several top announcers worked at CKFH during those golden years. Morning man Don Daynard went on to a successful career at CKFM and later CHFI. His successor, John Rode, later moved to CHUM and is at present Bob Magee's backup for the morning show. Big "G" Walters gained the distinction of working at all three of CHUM's major AM competitors (he was at CKEY in the early 1960s and later spun discs for CFTR in the '70s.) And all-night man Norman B. resurfaced in the late '70s as the driving force behind the oldies station FM 108.

After CFTR switched to rock in 1972, CKFH switched to an oldies format that was about 20 years ahead of its time. But the ratings went nowhere and in March, 1975 CKFH made another switch - to country. It turned out to be a moderate success, as CKFH gave CFGM competition for the country market. It was also in the '70s that Bob McCown started a talk show on CKFH. He went on to become one of the country's most successful sports announcers, with stints at Global, CKEY and the Fan. Also, it was in 1977 that CKFH gained the rights to to the Toronto Blue Jays, a move that reaped benefits right from the start.

CKFH was purchased by Telemedia and became CJCL in 1980. The format was talk and light rock and its big names included future CFRB and CBC talk show host Andy Barrie. By the mid-1980s, the costly talk format was gone, replaced by "Music of Your Life" - a blend of favorites from the 1940s to the '70s. That had evolved into more of a pure oldies format when CJCL made the move to all-sports in 1991. It was Canada's first all-sports station and the station's most successful format to date. Foster Hewitt would have been proud.

CHUM-FM

Throughout most of the '60s, the FM dial was decidedly NOT the place to be for fans of rock 'n' roll in Toronto. Then CHUM-FM came along.

It was 1968. The summer of love had come and gone and yet Toronto did not have a single FM station playing rock 'n' roll. All that was available was classical, jazz and so-called elevator music and many of the stations were not on the air 24 hours (some only in the evening). But that all changed at midnight on July 1, 1968, when the station without fanfare segued from a classical piece to a heavy progresssive rock song. Toronto radio was changed forever.

In its first months of programming, CHUM-FM was everything AM wasn't. It was non-formatted, the announcers were 'hip', informed, and they talked to you not at you. They played album cuts, long songs, unknown artists, and covered the entire spectrum of modern pop music from folk to hard rock. The d.j.'s played theme shows, dealt with controversial topics and didn't talk unless they had something to say. Best of all, it was in stereo.

Announcers in the early days included Peter Griffin and Walter Michaels, two hold-overs from the classical days. Also there was, for a short while, Murray the "K" of New York radio fame. Dave Pritchart, Tim Thomas and Larry Green were also on the roster in CHUM-FM's early days. Others, like Reiner Schwartz and Benji Karsh, came a little later. It was a golden era, but like all good things didn't last.

By the early '70s, many of the early on-air stars were gone, ably replaced by such names as Dave Marsden, John Donabie and Brian Master. The on-air talent was still first-rate, but things had changed. The ads for "head" shops had disappeared, replaced by commercials for banks, car manufacturers and other corporate entities. The music was still progressive, but a lot more "hits" seemed to be sneaking into the playlist (the 50 per cent non-hits rule didn't come in until 1975.) The d.j's were still irreverant, but less so. At at times, there seemed to be a format...

CHUM-FM got a competitor on the FM dial in 1977 in the form of Q-107. CFNY, formerly CHIC-FM, became a power around the same tower when it joined the big boys on the CN Tower. And while CHUM-FM and Q-107 drifted from the underground radio feel, CFNY stayed with it for a long time and was the CHUM-FM of the 1980s. For the most part, "underground" radio is the enclave of university stations such as CKLN and CIUT, but they lack polish.

U.S. RADIO: A TORONTO PERSPECTIVE

Toronto rock 'n' roll fans have had more than just local stations to choose from. Plenty of U.S. stations have been available over the border.

Across the lake, WKBW 1520 was for years the leading top 40 Buffalo station in Toronto, even though its daytime reach was limited greatly after CHFI took over at 1540 in 1962 (CHIN took over the frequency in 1966). Reception wasn't that clear at night in the west end of the city, better in the east. This poor reception was a shame, because 'KB was a great station. Legendary announcers like George "The Hound" Lorenz, Joey Reynolds, Tom Shannon, Jackson Armstrong, Dan Neaverth and Sandy Beach brightened its airwaves during its 21 years as a rocker (1958-1989). Several 'KB alumni, including Jay Nelson, Don Berns and George Hamberger, have worked in Toronto radio.

Also available from Buffalo for those with good receivers and a tolerance for static was WYSL 1400. Jim Bradley, Kevin O'Connell, Jim Conners and Rufus Coyote were among those at this Buffalo version of CKFH. However, the weak signal could barely be heard in Toronto in the daytime, and not at all at night. It's now WSWW, Solid Gold Soul, after too many format changes to list here.

In 1972, WGR 550 switched to a CHR-oldies format with a solid personality base and - best of all - gave Toronto radiophiles a clear shot at a good Buffalo pop station. It may have been the most listened to Buffalo AM station during the '70s and '80s. Stan Roberts, Larry Andersen, Frank Benny and Shane all appeared on 'GR 55 until it went talk in 1989. (I was something of a fan - my licence plate from 1977 to 1989 was WGR 550).

WBEN 930 mirrored 'GR's playlist, style and signal quality somewhat until it also went all talk by the late 1980s. Clint Buehlmann, Jack Mindy and the late Stan Barron were among the many popular personalities there.

Buffalo FM standouts included WPHD 103.3 (AOR-CHR), WGRQ 96.9 (CHR) and the shortlived WACJ 104.1 (oldies). WPHD is now alternative; WGRQ is classic rock and WACJ is oldies under a different banner, WHTT Oldies 104.

For fans of R&B, Toronto radio fans have had WBLK 93.7 and WUFO 1080. In the '80s, there was also ELZ-oldies WBUF, now alternative WSJZ.

Regional stations of note have included WHLD 1270 Niagara Falls, N.Y. and WJJL 1440, currently all oldies. From Rochester, Torontonians over the years have enjoyed WBBF 950, WCMF 96.7 and WMJQ 102.5.

Other U.S. AM rockers available to Torontonians at night included WABC 770 New York, WLS 890 Chicago and WOWO 1190 Fort Wayne, Ind. All have talk formats now.

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