I remember Gary Bell's days @ CFTR, pre spaceman. 
I think his early taste of talk radio may have been when he filled in evenings, hosting Love em or leave em.
(just a small taste, since it was a music format, not a talk format)
 

Hansa wrote:

He was an antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Sorry, but I can't give him a pass.

Conspiracy theorist, yes. Antisemetic. Nope. Far from it.

We had many, many conversations about my Judaism and my ambivalence about it. Space would always say to me, “Andy, you’re one of the chosen people. You’re blessed.”

Last edited by Andy Burns (June 4, 2025 7:10 pm)

I have no idea how he felt about other religions, but I talked with him briefly when he was doing the all night show on CFTR in its Top 40 days. He was certainly an unusual guy even then. I recall him saying a number of times that it was all he could do to keep from opening the mic and preaching about Jesus on air, because that's what he thought listeners needed to know. 

He knew he would be fired if he ever went that far, and he controlled himself enough that he never did it. But I well remember him saying it was a temptation every single night he was on the air.

I guess the conspiracy stuff came later when he got into talk. 

But that's my memory of him. 

Gary was on 680 when I was an overnight op at 'FI.  I would head downstairs to stand in the control room and watch him at work.  Space was so appropriate for him, he reminded me of Bob Mackowycz sr. His head just didn't live on our planet. 

He would point out nuances and bits in songs, highlight drum sequences and vocal tricks, and one of my favourites was telling his op to ignore the Lamp and letting emotional rescue fade just enough to get 'make a dead man cum' on the air.  He was amazing to watch. 

When I went to play PD at 640 Gary was an op there, and most didn't know about this 680 past, or his successes at CKGM-AM in Montreal before that.  I remained a fanboy .  As I've said before, the best thing I had going for me at 640 was I wasn't being paid enough to worry about losing the gig, and that let me try all kinds of stuff I wouldn't have been able to if I'd been more worried about my Lexus and the kids in private school.  One of those was asking Gary if he wanted to host a show on Saturday nights, I told him to do whatever he wanted, don't wander into CBSC territory and tie up my time, and don't get us sued,  I pulled the string and watched the whirling dervish head into the booth.   
We had Chretien or Mike Harris visiting Marsha on the afternoon show.  Security was everywhere, downstairs, upstairs, all over the place.  Gary was her op.  And somehow, bypassing it all,  like something out of a movie, the elevator doors opened and Gary walked out on the 12th floor in full black leather, his motor bike helmet still on his head, and scared the living shit out of all the security people.  He's lucky he wasn't shot .

He survived on-air till 2017, he survived on earth for a year after that and died from Cancer..  An incredibly kind and gentle guy.  He could never be forgotten.

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I had the good fortune to work with Space 3 different times and without doubt I can tell you he was the most unique individual I have ever met. He wouldn't borrow any money, no matter how little. He would ride his bike non-stop to Winnipeg on his way to visit relatives in Saskatchewan. At CKGM he went by William Beigh (B) Bell. I opped for him from time to time and the conversations were well, unique. And I never saw him be anything less than positive in his attitude. A real beauty and I have to say Mace, I never heard him say a bad word about anybody. Quite the contrary, he was always positive. 
I can't personally vouch for this but I believe it was true. When he was at CFTR doing all nights, he was asked to take a pay cut and his response was apparently  " what am I making now?". I have no difficulty believing that.