Famous Canadian DJs you remember (to buy, college, moving)

[Suesbal]

Who were some famous disk jockeys you remember? Either English or French speakers?

[ChevySpoons]

I'm going to assume that you mean commercial radio DJs from back in the day; not modern-day rap and hip-hop DJs who scratch vinyl records back and forth for modern-day crowds in dance halls. There's a distinction nowadays: the former were "hosts"; the latter are "DJs."

I was a host at a small Toronto station in the 1980s (to paraphrase Dr. Johnny Fever, "we had dozens of listeners"). But as a part of the Toronto radio community, I met a number of hosts at bigger stations. I certainly met, and had a beer with, Roger Ashby and Ingrid Schumacher (CHUM 104.5 FM). I met Terry Steele and Scott Carpenter (CHUM 1050 AM). Andy Barrie (CKFH 1430 AM) kept turning up at events, and he was a bit of a ... well, let's just say that he was a little bit weird.

Never met Wally Crouter (CFRB 1010 AM) or Don Daynard or Erin Davis (CHFI 98.1 FM), but they remain pretty well-known.

Wolfman Jack hosted one night, out of the CHUM 1050 studios on Yonge Street. It was 1975, as I recall. I listened that night. I think his airchecks from that night are still available somewhere.

Oh, I should add: one of the guys I was on the air with is still broadcasting. It's only once a week, on Tuesday afternoons/evenings (depending on your time zone). You can DM me for details. It's fun; he takes requests, and reminiscences about the old days in radio.

[BruSan]

How about this guy?

Roberts first started working in radio at the local college station, CFRE-FM in Mississauga.[7] His first professional job was as reporter and news anchor with CFOS in Owen Sound, Ontario in 1975.[8]

From there, he went to CHYM in Kitchener, where he worked as a newsman and DJ, then worked on-air for radio station CJBK in London, Ontario in 1977, before moving back to Toronto to join top-40 powerhouse CHUM later that year as a weekday evening disc jockey. 1050 CHUM and CITY-TV gave him the on-air name:
J.D. Roberts.

Now a Fox news anchor.

[BruSan]

Another one I listened to when he was at CKEY AM before CHUM FM steamrolled right over top of them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Marsden

Boy, when I think back to those teeny little transistor radios with their single 'tinny' sounding speaker we listened to for hours. The car radios that in some cases still had tubes, only one speaker and juxtapose that to today's obligatory 5.1 digital surround sound, whereupon we're not satisfied unless there's a kajillion speakers placed in every nook and cranny of our rec' rooms - how did we ever survive? LOL

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by ChevySpoons

I'm going to assume that you mean commercial radio DJs from back in the day; not modern-day rap and hip-hop DJs who scratch vinyl records back and forth for modern-day crowds in dance halls. There's a distinction nowadays: the former were "hosts"; the latter are "DJs."

I was a host at a small Toronto station in the 1980s (to paraphrase Dr. Johnny Fever, "we had dozens of listeners"). But as a part of the Toronto radio community, I met a number of hosts at bigger stations. I certainly met, and had a beer with, Roger Ashby and Ingrid Schumacher (CHUM 104.5 FM). I met Terry Steele and Scott Carpenter (CHUM 1050 AM). Andy Barrie (CKFH 1430 AM) kept turning up at events, and he was a bit of a ... well, let's just say that he was a little bit weird.

Never met Wally Crouter (CFRB 1010 AM) or Don Daynard or Erin Davis (CHFI 98.1 FM), but they remain pretty well-known.

Wolfman Jack hosted one night, out of the CHUM 1050 studios on Yonge Street. It was 1975, as I recall. I listened that night. I think his airchecks from that night are still available somewhere.

Oh, I should add: one of the guys I was on the air with is still broadcasting. It's only once a week, on Tuesday afternoons/evenings (depending on your time zone). You can DM me for details. It's fun; he takes requests, and reminiscences about the old days in radio.

“ChevySpoons” sounds like a good name for a host.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BruSan

How about this guy?

Roberts first started working in radio at the local college station, CFRE-FM in Mississauga.[7] His first professional job was as reporter and news anchor with CFOS in Owen Sound, Ontario in 1975.[8]

From there, he went to CHYM in Kitchener, where he worked as a newsman and DJ, then worked on-air for radio station CJBK in London, Ontario in 1977, before moving back to Toronto to join top-40 powerhouse CHUM later that year as a weekday evening disc jockey. 1050 CHUM and CITY-TV gave him the on-air name:
J.D. Roberts.

Now a Fox news anchor.

I got to know him as a host on MuchMusic, the Canadian music video channel.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Suesbal

Who were some famous disk jockeys you remember? Either English or French speakers?

Canadian radio disc jockeys almost never had cross-Canada renown, not even within "Anglo-Canada". As an example, people in Ottawa don't generally know Toronto disc jockeys.

Pretty much every metro area had its locally famous ones, but they almost never became known across the country.

Unless of course they graduated to MuchMusic, where yes a whole number of VJs became well-known celebrities to young people across Canada.

But in terms of radio? Nah.

I think for most Canadians the big name radio disc jockeys that would come to mind would be Americans like Wolfman Jack or Casey Kasem.

[Zoisite]

Vancouver had, and still has, Red Robinson. He's in his 80's now and retired from radio in 2017 but still active in promoting radio and other entertainment programs. In the early 1950's Red was the first DJ in Canada to promote and play rock'n'roll music regularly on his radio programs.

Honours he has received include:

Vancouver Music Industry Bruce Allen/Sam Feldman Legend Award 2008

Royal British Columbia Museum Honours

Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame 1994

Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame 1997

Rockabilly Hall of Fame 2000

BC Entertainment Hall of Fame Star


Here is Red's history: https://bcentertainmenthalloffame.com/robinson-red/

.

[ChevySpoons]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Canadian radio disc jockeys almost never had cross-Canada renown, not even within "Anglo-Canada". As an example, people in Ottawa don't generally know Toronto disc jockeys.

Pretty much every metro area had its locally famous ones, but they almost never became known across the country.

Unless of course they graduated to MuchMusic, where yes a whole number of VJs became well-known celebrities to young people across Canada.

But in terms of radio? Nah.

I think for most Canadians the big name radio disc jockeys that would come to mind would be Americans like Wolfman Jack or Casey Kasem.

Totally agree, and I would suggest the same for American ones too: few were known outside their markets. Oh, there were undoubtedly a very few that were known outside their markets--"Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Murray the K, and Alan Freed come to mind--but I'd guess they were known more for their production of rock-n-roll tours in the early days. Think "Boss" Vic Koss in the film That Thing You Do, and you've got the idea.

Wolfman Jack and Casey Kasem were known across North America, but for entirely different reasons.

Kasem hosted a syndicated show, "American Top 40," which aired once a week. It was pre-recorded and sold to stations that wanted to buy it. I used to listen to it on CKOC 1150 AM Hamilton--it came on Sunday evenings, as I recall. But I knew that Kasem wasn't broadcasting from Hamilton, even though some inserted liners tried to make you feel that way ("I'm Casey Kasem, and you're listening to CKOC, 1150 on your AM dial, from Hamilton, Ontario."). Not too different from John Tesh and Delilah, both of whom host syndicated shows today, that are sold to stations across the US and Canada, complete with local liners ("This is John Tesh, and I'm glad to be with you on CJOC, 94.1 FM in Lethbridge, Alberta").

Wolfman Jack didn't bother with syndication at first. He went for power, and by that, I mean the output wattage of his transmitter. Wolfman set up a transmitter in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico (XERF 1570 AM) that blasted out 250,000 to 500,000 watts of power (accounts of the actual wattage differ). Note that at the time, and to this day, the FCC only allowed 50,000 watts of power to be broadcast from American-based stations. Later, he would move his station to Tijuana, Mexico, (XERB 1090 AM) but he kept with the "border blasting" output wattage. With the power behind his signal, Wolfman could be heard across most of the US, and in parts of Canada and Latin America.

Wolfman eventually did try syndication. He hosted "Wolfman Jack's Graffiti Night," which aired in the wake of the film American Graffiti, putting it in the mid-1970s, and playing hits from the 50s and 60s. It broadcast in Toronto on 1050 CHUM AM on Sunday nights. But while Wolfman actually did host one night from CHUM's studios in Toronto, his show was syndicated, and often pre-recorded, like Kasem's.

Canadian radio hosts didn't do syndication, though they could have, which would have given them national exposure. Nor could they broadcast at anything above 50,000 watts, according to the CRTC. Still, the best-known ended up at MuchMusic, where they became known on a national basis. A little late for Dave Marsden, Jungle Jay Nelson, and Scott Carpenter, but there you go.

[BruSan]

Chevy; there's a name I'd completely forgotten about; Jay Nelson. Used to listen to him a lot back then.

https://buffalonews.com/news/jungle-...29136b443.html