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May 2, 2024 11:11 am  #1


The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Just when I thought I couldn't find anything else, an old drawer I apparently forgot about contained a few treasures - including this guide from the Toronto Star in 1963. It lists the T.O radio dial and highlights from Jan. 31, a Thursday as it turns out. 

Notice that CHIC was at 1090, CKEY was still competing with CHUM for a rock audience, Moose Latrek (aka Fred Snyder) was countrifying things up on 1050 and the classic CFRB line-up so many remember is solidly intact. And oh yeah, there's SOWNY member and veteran broadcaster Mike Marshall ruling the nights at 7 PM on CHML.

You'll also see that most of the offerings on FM were either classical or beautiful music. 

It's a bit squint inducing for older eyes, but this was resized as large as I could. You might be able to make it even more legible in your browser by using its magnifying feature. 

(See also: Toronto TV Listings 1963)


 

May 2, 2024 11:17 am  #2


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

More gold from the same paper - remember when they had people who did this for a living? And do any of them still exist?

     Thread Starter
 

May 2, 2024 2:53 pm  #3


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Also noted George Balcaen(Balcan) doing mornings on CKOC and JP (Jack) Finnegan doing PMD on CKEY.. Both are well known for the decades they spent in Montreal on CJAD

 

May 2, 2024 3:48 pm  #4


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

RadioActive wrote:

More gold from the same paper - remember when they had people who did this for a living? And do any of them still exist?

The most amazing thing about that ad is 'All parts and equipment made in Canada!'
Our country's biggest problem in 2024, in a nutshell.  I remember a time that we made everything.  Our TVs, our radios, our washers, driers and fridges, our stereos, our cars, our sportng goods, our phones, our clothing.  It's been downhill ever since.
 

 

May 2, 2024 4:04 pm  #5


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

My dad installed tv towers and antennas in the Alliston area during the 60's. He was full time in the Armed Forces at Base Borden, did the antenna stuff on weekends. He made enough to pay off our house by the time he was 35 years old, and bought a second to rent out. I still have a Channel Master meter that he used, and an extension ladder from that time . He used to make my climb up the towers to bring him stuff when I was a kid, I am still experiencing vertigo to this day lol. 

 

May 2, 2024 4:39 pm  #6


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Damian wrote:

Also noted George Balcaen(Balcan) doing mornings on CKOC and JP (Jack) Finnegan doing PMD on CKEY.. Both are well known for the decades they spent in Montreal on CJAD

     Thread Starter
 

May 2, 2024 5:52 pm  #7


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Norm Perry? Does anyone know if he's still with us? He was on Newsworld for a few years after he left Canada AM but I haven't heard anything about him since the 90s.

 

May 2, 2024 9:36 pm  #8


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Talk about the good old days. How long has it been since any newspaper in North America printed any listings for radio, either AM or FM? I believe it may still be a regular thing in the U.K.

     Thread Starter
 

May 2, 2024 10:07 pm  #9


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Of those CKEY Good Guys, three of them had been or would be on CHUM at some point. Al Boliska and Duff Roman are obviously two of them. Who was the third? 

 

May 2, 2024 11:09 pm  #10


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Doug Thompson wrote:

Of those CKEY Good Guys, three of them had been or would be on CHUM at some point. Al Boliska and Duff Roman are obviously two of them. Who was the third? 

Didn't Big G Walters do one shift - or part of a shift - on CHUM in the middle of the night?
 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

May 3, 2024 12:05 am  #11


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Possibly Dale, but the 3rd guy that went to CHUM from CKEY (but only for a very short while) was Norm Perry. He was hired for the CHUM newsroom and was at the CHUM Satellite Station at the CNE in 1961. He was replacing J. J. Richards, who was doing CHUM weekend on-air jock shifts as well as being Mr. 1050 handing out prizes to people wearing the CHUM product of the month badge at the CNE. I remember speaking to Norm at the time when he was doing a 'handing out goodies' shift at the Satellite Station. Norm went back to CKEY not long after.
 

Last edited by Doug Thompson (May 3, 2024 12:05 am)

 

May 3, 2024 8:08 am  #12


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

RadioActive wrote:

More gold from the same paper - remember when they had people who did this for a living? And do any of them still exist?

When I was growing up in Oakville, the majority of homes had a chimney mounted antenna. Very few towers. However, when my sister and I bought my parents a 40' tower in August 1984 including two heads and a rotor, including installation the bill was about $600. The two heads had to be replaced around 2011. Antennas were still operational when the house was sold in late 2016. Tower came down when the house was demolished in 2018.

 

May 3, 2024 4:45 pm  #13


Re: The Toronto Radio Dial 1963

Thanks RadioActive active. Later in the decade when I was out of diapers, I remember only 3 channels being played in my house. Mostly CFRB, a non-top 40 CKEY and CHUM (by my siblings). I didn't know FM existed until I was a teenager.

Last edited by Leslieville Bill (May 3, 2024 4:46 pm)


- Not an industry person.  Just a guy with a love of Toronto radio.