Yes, it would have been that segment, around 1983 or so. 

But that wasn't the worst thing they ever asked me to do. They used to have a news feature series called "Monitor 680" that ran a few times a day before their half hour newscasts. The guy who voiced the word "Monitor" had left the station and for some reason, was threatening to sue to get them to stop using his voice. (He worked there - wouldn't that belong to the station?) 

In any event, they told me they wanted me to re-record what was a short but complicated intro, even though I didn't have any of the original production elements. And they said to try to make it as close to the original as possible so listeners wouldn't even notice. 

So they sent the great Don Parrish from CHFI downstairs into my production studio, had him sit down in the studio booth, where he asked me what I wanted him to do. I played him the original "Monitor" intro and then - with some trepidation - asked him to re-create that single word and make it sound like the other guy as best as he could. 

"I'm Don Parrish," he exploded at me, "I don't sound like anyone else!" Boy, was he pissed, and I can't say I blame him. He had one of the best voices in the business and I was asking him to imitate someone else! I explained to him this wasn't my choice but had been ordered by the higher-ups. 

He was insulted but great man that he was, he gave it the old college try and actually did a pretty good job. I don't think anyone noticed when I spliced his voice into the original 3 sec. intro and it went to air that way from then on, until the feature was eventually discontinued. 

CFTR was a great place to work back then and I think I did some great stuff there,  but I can honestly say that was not my proudest moment!

I laughed when Alex Pierson referred to the changes on her show Tuesday by saying, "I can't quite get used to this new music for our traffic reports!" Rare that a host even pays attention to that kind of stuff, let alone specifically mentions it on air. 

There used to be a woman who was the head of graphics at our TV newsroom. One day (although it was months in the planning because a lot needed to be done) they completely changed the graphics that appeared on screen. And she actually said this to me: "The ratings go up when you change the graphics. Really. Surveys prove it!"

But I could never exactly find which survey or which viewers tuned in to see the graphics instead of the news.

And no, our ratings did not go up after that. 

Wow. I had no idea that stinger I found in just a few hours to save me a lot of trouble was so memorable to so many!

Before this thread, I hadn't thought of it in years. 

Is this the one you remember?

Actually, here's a sample from 1983, right at the very end of this aircheck (around 1:14), although that doesn't sound like Ron Morey. Perhaps they started using a different voice around that time? Or was it the same voice all along? I can't recall now, but I do remember CKOC using this stinger for quite a number of years.





PJ
 

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (February 20, 2024 8:31 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

Yes, that's the same one CKLW used, along with CHUM and I think possibly WKBW. A lot of Top 40 stations had that dynamic news intro.

Although few had the writing like in that 'LW aircheck. Like the lead with the kids who went fishing and caught something totally unexpected.

"It turned out to be a rotting body. Eyewitness Charles Evans tells the 20/20 hotline the stiff sank to the bottom..."

They don't write 'em like that anymore. And that's probably a good thing! But man, was it entertaining.

In this clip from the documentary "Radio Revolution - The Rise and Fall of The Big 8", the late great Dick Smyth as well as other news greats from that era at CKLW explain the approach. They were essentially rock 'n' roll disc jockeys without the rock 'n' roll.





PJ


 

Paul Jeffries wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Wow. I had no idea that stinger I found in just a few hours to save me a lot of trouble was so memorable to so many!

Before this thread, I hadn't thought of it in years. 

The other news stinger that sticks out in my mind the most was the one used on CKOC during the '70s into the late '80s. I believe Ron Morey may have voiced that, as he was the voice of CKOC's station IDs during that time frame.

(Hopefully I can recreate it here in the theater of your minds without sounding too much like a fool!  )

The ID that went: "C-K-O-C...NEWS!!! (Stinger): Dah-DAH-Dah!!!...(Deedle-deedle-dee!...Deedle-deedle-dee!...Deedle-deedle-dee!...[fade])."

PJ
 

EDIT: I wrote this before seeing the other posts...lol

Wasn't that used first though on CKLW 20/20 News?  Maybe not.  The news stinger I liked for CKOC was in the late 70s and into 1980.

"C-K-O-C ... News Radio ... Hamilton" (ner ner neeeer ner neer ner).  Then either Frank Lyn Cooper or Brent Sleightholm would appear

Right afterwards, would be the top hour ID, which was my favourite.  "From Hamilton ... Ontario's Music Leader ... C-K-O-C!"  (I wish I could find where they got that music from.  What jingle package did they have?


 

Last edited by Jody Thornton (February 20, 2024 10:50 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

Maybe I'm the only one who's noticed that AM 640 has changed their intro stingers to their traffic, news and weather openings. The musical notes are new, although the features they introduce remain the same.

I wonder how many listeners will even notice? I'm probably sensitive to it, because I was once asked to do the same thing at CFTR, back when they were still rocking. I never really understood the point of it, but they came to me and said 'we need a new intro to our newscasts, and we want you to find something that won't cost us anything!' (Some things never change!)

So I remember pouring over dozens of packages they'd already purchased, until I found what I thought was the perfect musical sting. It almost sounded like the notes were saying "CFTR." Luckily, they really liked the one I found and they used it for several years, even after I left. I used to think that little stinger meant I was still part of the place, even though I was long gone to take an opportunity at another Toronto station.

It's all cosmetic, of course, but I often wonder how they come to these decisions. A refresh of these things can't hurt I suppose, but really, how many people will even notice? If you're curious, you can hear them at the next traffic break (usually on the quarter hour) or at the top of the hour before the news. 

You don’t know why stations change intros and ID’s?  Seriously?
It’s to avoid sounding stale and old. If you let things get too far out of date you begin to sound like a parody of a radio station.
Two stations from the GTA that come to mind that were horribly out of date were KX 96 in Ajax and 680 News which both had news intros that sounded like 1980’s xylophone well into the mid 2010’s. They both sounded like something you’d hear on the Simpsons or Family Guy when they made fun of radio.