***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.
The first clip features the hybrid AOR/Top 40 format of WVBF with DJ Charlie Kendall. You will hear the “Electronic Mama” jingle for the station and the clip is short but interesting. Closes with a personal favorite, Todd Rundgren’s “I Saw The Light” from his landmark Something/Anything album. The air check is stereo for about 20 seconds starting at 1:02. Most if not all of the other WVBF air checks on this site are also in mono but quite good quality wise.
The second clip features an automated version of WROR FM with a mix of oldies and some contemporary material. Shame that the closing track by the ikettes is cut short.
A nice quality clip from Q 107 in Toronto from the summer of 1982. DJ’s include Eric Westin ( I think). A bit of the All Night Andre with legendary Toronto musician Nash the Slash and the last DJ on the clip may be Keith Elshaw who along with Andre was also heard on CFNY FM. Fans of the old CFNY may enjoy some of the cuts on the clip. I regret that I do not have the full show with Andre and Nash The Slash. Audio of Andre is rare but I do have one other brief clip of him here
Corrections welcome and enjoy this clip which is a nice addition to the Q 107 content on the site. I still have more Q 107 to upload in the future.
***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.
A rare early clip of Boston’s oldies DJ Little Walter and his signature show Time Machine. Walter had paid his dues at MIT’s original WTBS FM.
Oldies were becoming hip . The Woodstock appearance of Sha Na Na may have been a touchstone. NRBQ was was a contemporary band sounding somewhat retro. Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys had their hit Good Old Rock’n Roll. A number of free form FM stations added an oldies show starting in the early 70’s. This clip provides a good example of that. Another example was John Donabie’s Sock Hop on CHUM FM and you can catch a brief segment of that here (at the end of the clip).
On This clip you will hear Little Walter spinning some oldies, a few cool ads and even an appearance by the legendary Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsburg, the pioneering Boston Top 40 jock. Ginsberg was the WBCN station manager at the time of this air check. Listen also for a live cut by Little Richard recorded at the Boston Tea Party in 1970.
***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.
I had posted this in segments in the Radio Corner of the site. Here is all the tape that I have of CFNY FM on it’s first day after their power increase, Up to that point the station was a low power outfit with a very limited range and the on air talent was mostly unknown.
You will hear former CHUM FM heavyweights David Pritchard and Reiner Schwarz on this first day and it is apparent that the idea was to bring back the old CHUM FM brand of free form radio. Pritchard was the new program director Sadly the line-up and aspirations of the station were short lived but here is a reminder of what could have been. I should point out that CFNY was a pioneering force after the David Pritchard era but it did not exactly replicate the old CHUM FM free form spirit.
This tape is not in stereo and that is inexplicable except that I may have dubbed it to reel to reel from a mono cassette recording.
***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.
The first clip is an absolute treasure . You will hear the great Charles Laquidara with a heartfelt plea for volunteers to help with the phones and some great music including the closing track by Hapshash and The Coloured Coat. The track may gave been played by others during the free form era but I don’t remember hearing it and it sounds ahead of it’s time in early 1971.
The second clip features Charles reading the news and playing the Stones. This was not a Stones special but he seemed to be playing them because he wanted to and could.
Radio when it was great and worth listening to. You can hear other clips from the great WBCN FM on this site with more to come.
Most of the WBCN air checks on this site are quite good quality-wise but there are a few hiccups on these particularity at the beginning of the second clip.
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.
ENCORE PRESENTATION OF ONE OF THE EARLY UPLOADS TO THE SITE. THIS ONE DESERVES A REPEAT !
The CBC FM Network was producing some of the most cutting edge radio during the 1980’s. There was “Brave New Waves” all night and it was the place to hear cutting edge new wave rock. There was also Nightlines on the weekend and that show was hosted all too briefly by a veteran of Winnipeg free form named Ron Robinson who you will hear on this clip. The show’s last host was the one of the preeminent musicologists on Canadian radio ever David Wisdom. His show was as eclectic as David Pritchard’s old show on CHUM FM.
Ron Robinson is the host on this clip and things begin with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Talking Heads and Bill Nelson. After that there is a fascinating interview with John Cale of the Velvet Underground and you will also hear two tracks by the Velvets.
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 to 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.
This air check is the second on the site contributed by Kal Raudoja. Please visit his web site http://radio50s60s.com/ and send him an email of appreciation mailto://50sradio@istar.ca Clip was apparently taped by a fan of the Goon show who left the tape running before and after the show ran on CHUM FM on a number of occasions. Kal has more from the same source plus a veritable treasure trove of other radio air checks and memorabilia. He has also given me a air check on the great Reiner Schwarz on CHUM FM from Feb, 1970 that I will be uploading in the future.
This clip was recorded on my JVC Stereo VCR and based on Barb Hansen’s brief news update I think it’s from 1988-89. You will also hear Scott Turner at 3:36. This was recorded during the “History of Rock Saturday.”
Judging by the tracks played and announced you would think you had tuned into Q 107 sometime in the late 70’s. I’m not sure if this was before or during Reiner Schwarz’s tenure as PD. The station’s format recovered from earlier tightening with Mr. Schwarz at the helm.
A classic rock staple by Manfred’s Mann’s Earth Band is featured in the clip above but the You Tube link below is from an earlier incarnation of the band and has them covering Randy Newman. A track which I heard regularly on CHUM FM in the early 70’s and which is now forgotten by radio.
Audio of this air check is generally better on this You Tube upload:
**Have added the entire show on the second clip, almost two hours with some noise reduction which I usually hesitate in using because of audio loss
**Third clip added of entire show that has resolved previous tracking and audio issues
Andy Frost started as the host of Psychedelic Sunday on Q107 in the mid 1980’s. He took a break from the show and was eventually replaced by Rory O’Shea before returning as host in the mid 90’s. Most people are not aware that legendary Toronto DJ and free form pioneer David Pritchard hosted Psychedelic Sunday for a very brief period and here is a clip featuring him as host. He does not say his name anywhere on the broadcast and the delivery is not as laid back as his earlier on air persona but the familiar Pritchardism’s are on display. He had a way with words and his DJ patter was literate and unique. He could be described as a musicologist and that also comes through on the clip, although not to the extent that it did on his shows at free form CHUM FM.
This might have been his first show on Q and and I think he was constrained by the format and a number of classic rock staples are featured. He plays Barroom Blitz by Sweet and I don’t think he would have played that during his time at CHUM FM or CFNY. There’s a segment devoted to the Moody Blues and the music featured by them certainly hearkens back to his free form days and in fact the brief interview segments with Justin Hayward may have been originally taped years before.
I remember hearing another episode or two of the show where David seemed to have more leeway with the playlist but then he was gone and perhaps he was asked to tighten things and felt limited by the format.
I have at least one more hour of this show to present in the future so watch this space. Check our the Radio Corner section for recordings of David Pritchard from CHUM FM and CFNY. He is the one DJ that I have on tape from all three Toronto FM rock stations.
I originally recorded this clip on a JVC stereo VCR that could record two separate audio sources simultaneously one to go with video and a separate external source. There’s some tracking issues on the tape. Most of the clips featured on the site were recorded on reel to reel tape. This broadcast may be from January 1992.
