In the autumn of 1966, C-FUN — long the A.M. rock’n roll radio giant of Vancouver — put out a call to listeners requesting applications to take on the task of organizing fan clubs for rock groups getting airplay on the radio. All you had to do was turn up one Saturday morning at 10am, meet with C-FUN’s Program Director Red Robinson — who would assign you a group to organize a fan club for, and once the fan club had been established, you’d turn up on subsequent Saturdays for an hour to secure memberships.
With Douglas Miller, recently arrived from Kelowna, working the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift, I arrived each Saturday morning just before 11 a.m. to take phone calls in the studio next to the main control room. Doug Miller would give out the phone number, Doug Pearson — a friend of mine — and I would take calls for an hour, and after each call-in session, we’d take a break for an hour, before heading out to a local venue — more often than not a local department store — to listen to the group play a few songs, and sign up new fan club members. The group I was assigned to: The Chessmen, consisting of Terry Jacks, Susan Pesklevits, and Craig McCaw.
I know, and am friends with, Craig McCaw, to this very day.
A couple of weeks into this volunteer gig, after the call-in session, Red Robinson called me into his office and said, “You’re a good lookin’ kid. I bet you’d do well in radio.” I remember thinking to myself, “But this is radio — listeners can’t see you.” Nonetheless, each Saturday from noon til 12:30pm, Red Robinson proceeded to teach me everything he knew about radio, most particularly how to read copy for a commercial.
In addition, he signed me up for voice lessons with a woman voice coach who lived in the West End, who had trained every voice on radio in Vancouver. Within a year, I sounded like a radio announcer. I had also, much to my surprise, developed a deep bass, mellifluous voice. I’d play back tapes of me on the radio, and say to myself, “Who is that guy?”
Weekend, midday, radio aircheck of Daryl B. (Burlingham) on 14 C-FUN
During that period I became friends with John Tanner, Fred Latremouille, Al Jordan, Tom Peacock, Neil Soper, Daryl B., and Roff Johannsen, among other radio luminaries. Although I worked the occasional relief overnight weekend shift, my main job was to produce the six hours of foreground programming each Sunday evening, that was required by the CRTC. All of this work was done for free — but I was given ready access to the radio station, could “practice” being a radio announcer in the production studio, attend concerts at no charge, meet all of the traveling rock ‘n roll groups that stopped off in Vancouver as part of a North American tour of gigs to support the group’s latest hit release. All and all, I had a blast.
The Boss Radio, ‘Drake format’, upbeat radio package exported out of Los Angeles
But radio was changing in 1966, particularly when classical music Lion’s Gate radio, CKLG Vancouver, adopted the hit Drake format that had catapulted KHJ Los Angeles from a last place radio station in the market to #1 in a matter of months: CKLG adopted the Drake format, the jingles, the 17-song-an-hour ‘hot clock’, talking over the intro, upbeat radio format, by early 1967 stealing away C-FUN’s listenership, and catapulting CKLG to #2 in the Vancouver radio market, just behind powerhouse Top Dog radio, CKNW 98. One announcer after another left C-FUN for CKLG.
In early 1967, in a last ditch effort to save C-FUN (which to that point had refused to play The Rolling Stones, and any Motown music — which CKLG just thrived on) — Red Robinson hired a deejay out of Regina by the name of Terry David Mulligan, giving him the 7pm to midnight show. I sat with Terry, and his wife, CarolAnn (who everyone called Angel, and with whom I fell head over heels in love) in the studio on his first night on 1410 C-FUN. But it was too late. Within three months, Terry moved over to do noon to three on CKLG, CFUN folding to become CKVN, The Voice of News.
Soon enough, I was over at CKLG, as well — working on the FM side (CKLG-FM), six to noon Sundays on both CKLG-FM & A.M., as well as operating throughout the week in the evenings, for Bill Reiter and his Groovin’ Blue program 6pm to 8pm, as well as operating for Tim Burge. Occasionally — because absolutely no one listened to FM in those days, CKLG-FM Program Director John Runge would give me a midday shift, requiring me to skip school — my voice all hushed baritone, playing whole album sides during any given shift. I was in radio heaven — working daily with radio legends Roy Hennessey, Daryl B., J.B. Shayne, Stevie Wonder, Michael Morgan, Don Richards, John Tanner, Bob Ness, Rick Honey, Stirling Faux, Terry David Mulligan, and a raft of others. I had found my family.
Aircheck, J.B. Shayne, overnight, 1am til 2am on 73 CKLG Vancouver, April 11, 1968
Working in radio, going to concerts, being on air, hosting various public events for CKLG, hanging out with J.B., Fred, John, Terry, Rick, Stirling, Jim Hault, Daryl B., John Runge, Bill Reiter and more was the gift of a lifetime, a gift I will cherish forever, a gift which keeps me young to this day.
There are a great many stories to tell, all of which I’ll leave for another day.
