***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

Two Blasts From The Free Form Past !

The first clip is of CHIC FM 102.1 from Brampton Ontario. This was the predecessor to CFNY FM, operating at low power and for time a free form album rock station. This clip is from  the early or mid  70`s  during the  time they played entire albums only interrupted by the occasional ad and station ID’s as they flipped album sides. You can hear a very brief segment of an ad as well as the station ID as they changed sides on LP’s by the Moody Blues and Grateful Dead. I used to listen to the station on cable FM and by 1976 they had announcers and a full blown free form format. I think All Night Andre and Bruce Heyding were the only ones that made it to the launch of CFNY after the power increase in 1977.

Addendum: The CHIC FM  clip above is part of my tape collection but I could not have recorded it as it seems to be from a time prior to my cable FM hook-up and that’s the only way I could receive CHIC/CFNY before the power increase in 1977. I went over the full tape again and all the tracks are from albums released in the early 70’s or late 60’s.

The second clip is an exceptional example of free form radio with David Marsden and his renowned Christmas show. This is the 1985 edition. I have about 90 minutes of this broadcast and will be posting a part two in the future.

The broadcast finds David Marsden at his holiday best with wide  ranging music from Jona Lewie, Mike Oldfield, Bing Crosby, top 40 oldies, National Lampoon and more. You will also hear Don Berns on a station ID and an Xmas greeting by Jim Reid. Plus a character named Willie Crinkle.

This is one of the longest vintage clips of David Marsden available on the net and a reminder about why the free form format on commercial radio is sorely missed today. Stay tuned for part two which also includes a great eclectic assortment of free form music.