This section of the site is reserved for contributions from radio super fan Kal Raudoja
Check out Kal’s You Tube page here and you can hear a 1968 free form air check from WKNR FM in Detroit.
David Pritchard CHUM FM March 1970 –The Beatles Progression
Program Promo aired Just before the start of the Show
David Pritchard on his all night show playing the Beatles in order of their Parlophone UK releases and not the North American Capitol issues. The show begins though with a set of Tony Sheridan era songs. Also features short interview segments from the Beatles and enjoy the 1970 vintage CHUM FM commercials.
Audio Note: There were major speed fluctuation issues on the original reel to reel tape tape and I tried to fix them to the best of my ability ( listening back to the transfer it seems I completely missed a few of the Speed anomalies that occur when the music is playing).
Steve Harris, David Pritchard and Reiner Schwarz CHUM FM 1970
The two clips above are from CHUM FM during their early 70’s free form peak. The first clip features Steve Harris who went on to CJOM FM in Windsor and eventually into radio management. The clip finds him ensconced in the CHUM FM free form vibe and quite obviously influenced by the likes of David Pritchard and Reiner Schwarz who are both featured in the second clip.
A big thanks to Kal for preserving these so we can enjoy the ride back to a magical time in radio when you could hear Van Morrison and The Third Ear Band in the same set.
Reiner Schwarz CHUM FM – Another Gem from Kal’s Korner
This clip from CHUM FM from early 1970 offers a fantastic window into the world of free form radio from the early 70’s. The opening foreshadows some of the new music that CFNY would play later in the decade. A off kilter hybrid jazz-rock track.
Reiner debuts the new Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album Deja Vu and you will also hear a bit of the great David Pritchard taking about his Beatles special which was just debuting on the station.
This is the third contribution on the site from Kal Raudoja and please write to him at mailto://50sradio@istar.ca and let him know you want more as I know he has more CHUM FM from the early 1970’s. I also encourage you to visit his web site at http://radio50s60s.com/
You can use the search function on the site to listen to more Reiner and David Pritchard most of which I recorded myself but there’s more from Kal as well.
Peter Griffin CHUM FM June 1973
A fantastic clip featuring Peter Griffin on CHUM FM from the summer of 1973. The clip helps me accomplish something that I have aimed for since I saw the picture linked below ( from The Rock Radio Scrapbook site) and that is have audio on the site of all of the DJ’s shown. This clip has Tim Thomas on an ad at 13:38 and he was one DJ who was missing on the site. Audio of all of the others is available via previous air checks from CHUM FM and/or other stations.
The DJ’s pictured on the link are Brian Master, Pete Griffin, John Donabie, Benji Karsh, Tim Thomas, David Marsden, Jim Bauer. David Pritchard and Geets Romo ( David Haydu).
The clip is from CHUM FM’s free summer of 1973 as referenced by Pete Griffin at 2:11 . My fandom for the station was at a peak. They played fantastic music and I loved their diverse and multi genre play list. This clip is just a small peek into that musical wonderland.
The free summer featured trivia contests all summer long with great concert tickets and albums as the prize. The second picture below is of the sheet I kept to record the contests that I had entered and won during that summer. Wins included Jethro Tull tickets and albums by identifying Stephen Stills and Manassas , Santana and John McLaughlin tickets and LP’s by answering the question who designed the album cover of Revolver by the Beatles and more music trivia. I spoke to almost of all of the DJ’s pictured plus Larry Green during these summer trivia contests.
David Pritchard CHUM FM Jan 1971
Below is what Kal wrote when the clip above was posted to the site last year:
What we have here is an example of progressive rock/ free form radio at it’s weirdest, wackiest and best. This was before the “suits” and the still-wet-behind-the-ears MBA’s got their hands on rock radio formats and removed any innovation, spontaneity and personality dj’s. This was when radio dj’s were able to play whatever they pleased, and say whatever they wanted, especially late at night. Frank Zappa made a point of listening to CHUM FM whenever he was in Toronto and even HE was freaked out by the zanyness!
I’ve been lucky to find three large collections of CHUM FM airchecks on reel-to-reel audio tapes, all dating from the early 1970’s. The largest collection came from Dave Pritchard himself. I met him about 20 years ago and, to make a long story short, he lent me his collection of his own air checks for me to log and catalog. Needless to say I did not hesitate to help him out and with his blessing made cassette copies for myself to expedite the logging process using my trusty Sony Walkman.
Another collection was from someone who made a point of recording the British “Goon” shows on CHUM FM. He used extra thin, long 7″ tapes and may have used timers, since he caught regular CHUM FM broadcasts at the end of some shows and even much longer shows when the Goon show was cancelled here and there. Fortunately he didn’t erase anything.
The other collection was from a guy called Steve Buck who was into the late 1960’s and early 1970’s music and radio scene and recorded all kinds of great stuff like Dave Pritchard’s Beatles documentaries, The Ugly Ducklings “live” on CHUM AM , interviews with the Paupers and the Quiet Jungle and many CHUM FM air checks.
Fortunately I’m of the generation that was on board when CHUM AM became Canada’s first 24 hour rock and roll radio station in May 1957 AND was on board when progressive CHUM FM went on air in 1968. I was also lucky to get familiar with reel to reel tape recorders at an early age since my father had bought one in 1955 and I was required to learn how to operate it for various reasons. As well as buying records back then I also started to record songs, and then realized that recording not only songs but also the dj’s, newscasts, jingles etc. (ie air checks) would be neat and nice to keep. I was recording air checks 20 years before I even knew there was such a word as “air check”.
My claim to fame was recording what now appears to be the first known CHUM AM air check from July 1957 and catching the CHUM and CKEY newscasts of the Buddy Holly plane crash from February 1959. The latter has been used in many documentaries.
I distinctly remember in the summer of 1968 word around town of a new radio station playing interesting songs not being played on AM stations. A friend was enthralled about hearing the long version of You Keep Me Hanging On by Vanilla Fudge and I with the long version of Light My Fire by the Doors. I didn’t even know there were long versions of these and many other songs. The only long rock and roll song that I had known until then was Going Home by the Rolling Stones which I still love. Other long songs that I’ve loved since, were things like In A Gadda Da Vida, Time Has Come Today,Black Magic Woman, Magic Carpet Ride, Jump in the Fire, Baby Please Don’t Go ( Beacon Street Union), and my all-time favorite, I Heard it Through the Grapevine by CCR. Anyway, in the summer of 1968 I remember talking to someone on the phone and telling them about all the great music on the new CHUM FM. Hearing the long version of Light My Fire made me an instant fan of CHUM FM!
Since our family didn’t have an FM radio at the time I went out and bought a cheap table model radio with FM on it and had it playing in my room in the background most times. My main interest was to hear songs you wouldn’t hear on AM radio and of course songs with long instrumental breaks.
Anyway, our plan is to post some more CHUM FM air checks here and for me to post some on YouTube and on my own website which is at : http://radio50s60s.com/ . My first YouTube posting may be a great aircheck of WKNR FM (Detroit/Dearborn) from the summer of 1968 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival, with dj Jerry Taylor. Great songs and a great ad for the THE Pink Floyd concert July 12 and with the WHO on July 13! Tickets were $2.00 and $4.50 respectively! My main goal is to find any CHUM FM airchecks from 1968 and 1969 and will pay or trade from my vast collection of air checks from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.
Kal(Kalev) Raudoja