Magic 102 and WKSE (Kiss 92) were great competitors in the late 80's 
CFTR and CKOC were also great stations. 

Okay, I guess I'll casually mention AM 640, but I liked it better as the Hog rather than the beat of Toronto. 
It was nice hearing a mix of brand new rock songs and hit music as an alternative to CFTR...but as the Beat of Toronto, it ended up sounding too much like CFTR.

1480 CKAN was a lost and confused station near the end of it's life, but it had a great top 40 feeling Mon-Fri in the evening shift with Chris Andrews...before he was even known as "Punch". 

Sorry, that's all I can think of right now.  Too many other radio listening choices are either before my time or take me back to when I was just too young to remember them as top 40 listening choices.
 

Last edited by Radiowiz (August 18, 2020 4:37 pm)

1. CKEY - always had great on air people and often charted great hits that CHUM did not. CHUM was the first time hit music station, but CKEY was the first real TOP 40 station.

2. CKOC - one of the most under rated of the great Top 40 stations. A lot of their charted hits were not played elsewhere in this listening area. At one point they had over 700,000 listeners - not bad                                for a station in a city of about 300,000 (back then).

3. CKFH - also had great on air personalities and a super slogan "the second greatest radio station in the world". The highest ranking song on their Pop 35 chart was #2. That did change later when they revamped to a standard Top 30. Again  CKFH had a broader playlist. It was on CKFH that I first heard Chuck McCoy.

4. CFTR - another station with great on air people which overtook CHUM in the early 1980's.

5 CHUM - Canada's first full time hit music radio station which I discovered by accident one Saturday afternoon in mid June 1957 when I waa going up and down the radio dial looking for my type of music. Despite all the competition CHUM was always there, at least until 1986, and for a time between 1965 and 1967 was Toronto's only Top 40 station and during that time they were at their best. And they had Jay Nelson and Bob MacAdorey (one of my all time favourites - it was a big disappointment when he went on vacation and never returned) and  many other terrific on air people, many of who stayed a long time.

6. WKBW - could never get it in Guelph where I lived, but listened to it at my Grandmother's, who lived  east of Oshawa and when I worked in Port Colborne for awhile and the years I worked east of Toronto. I first heard Dick Biondi and Tom Shannon and Jay Nelson on WKBW.

7. WCFL - a Chicago Top 40 which ran competition to WLS. They had good on air people and were a bit looser than WLS.

8. WGR - Top 40 for a while and then more Hot A/C which played most of the Top 40 hits. Tom Shannon was there for a time too, along with Frank Benny and Shane who did a great job inthe evenings for years, much toned down from his high energy Top 40 persona.

9.WLS - Dick Biondi and Art Roberts along with Larry Lujack and John Landecker

10. WABC - powerhous signal reliable every night. Too tight playlst and too much between music. In 55 minutes (they had a five minute newscast every hour) they could barely manage 10 records which, back then, were mostly 2 1/2 minutes long.


   

Last edited by Storm (August 18, 2020 7:25 pm)

Here's my top 10, in no particular order:

- WKBW during the Jeff Kaye era (1966-73)
- WGR during the Larry Anderson era (1971-1981)
- CHUM-AM mid-'60s-'mid-'70s
- CKFH during the rock era (1967-75)
- WLS mid-70s
- CKOC late '60s-'70s
- WABC anytime
- WMCA (which I've only heard through airchecks) early-mid-60s
- KFWB (which I've only heard through airchecks) late '50s-'60s
- CKLW (which I've mostly only heard through airchecks) late '60s-mid-70s

Honorable mentions to some great non-Top 40 stations: CHUM-FM (progressive rock era), FM 108 (not Top 40 but a great oldies outlet in the '70s and '80s). CFRB (great for news and sports), WPHD '70s, WQEW (1992-98), WGAR ('70s), WEBR (early '70s), WHLD (ear;ly '70s), WHTT-FM (late-'80s, before they went oldies), WBEN ('70s & '80s), WYSL (late '60s-early '70s), CFGM (a country station that sounded like a Top 40 station except for the music), CHWO/AM 740 (Caine family era). CFTR ('70s-'80s), CJCL ('80s'-early '90s), CHIC (for no other reason but to see what format they had that day; ditto for the format-a-day-Buffalo station at 107.7). Too many others to name.


 

Last edited by Dale Patterson (August 19, 2020 3:54 pm)

Regarding WGR 55. Were they ever a top 40 station as such with charts etc. I first  remember listening to them in the car in the late 1970's I think. In the early and mid 70's I rarely made it to that part of the AM dial and I think they would have been too MOR for my taste at the time.

In the late 70's and 80's I recall them as AC with a heavy dose of the oldies and that's what I listened for when there was no FM in the car, I remember listening one day and Time Won't Let Me came on with no vocals. The vocals were panned to one channel and I guess that channel was not working for them. The DJ may have been Shane. I also remember hearing Eddie Rabbit and that might have been a current song at the time. Also remember hearing The Stone Ponies and Different Drum on the station in the car.

In the 80's and perhaps earlier they used to do a countdown perhaps a top 10 from the oldies era and I have a garbled air check of that on my site. The DJ's name I believe was Joe Galewski.

Last edited by Fitz (August 18, 2020 9:55 pm)

Fitz wrote:

Regarding WGR 55. Were they ever a top 40 station as such with charts etc. I first  remember listening to them in the car in the late 1970's I think. In the early and mid 70's I rarely made it to that part of the AM dial and I think they would have been too MOR for my taste at the time.

In the late 70's and 80's I recall them as AC with a heavy dose of the oldies and that's what I listened for when there was no FM in the car, I remember listening one day and Time Won't Let Me came on with no vocals. The vocals were panned to one channel and I guess that channel was not working for them. The DJ may have been Shane. I also remember hearing Eddie Rabbit and that might have been a current song at the time. Also remember hearing The Stone Ponies and Different Drum on the station in the car.

In the 80's and perhaps earlier they used to do a countdown perhaps a top 10 from the oldies era and I have a garbled air check of that on my site. The DJ's name I believe was Joe Galewski.

The Golden Graffiti countdown was started by Larry Anderson in the '70s sometime. Jim Scott took it over briefly when Anderson left in 1981, then Golden Joe Galuski became the host. Great show; I listened as much as possible. After leaving Buffalo, Galuski went to WSYR Syracuse in 1988 where he spend more than 25 years as a talk show host. He died in 2015.

Here's Joe Galuski from December 29, 1985:
http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/wgr-galuski-dec29-85.mp3

 

At the cottage on the lake, just outside of Huntsville Ontario....WCFL Chicago and WOWO  Fort Wayne Indiana were our " go to" stations at night. 

Last edited by fyshtalk (August 28, 2020 10:14 am)

fyshtalk wrote:

At the cottage on the lake, just outside of Huntsville Ontario....WCFL Chicago and WOWO  Fort Wayne Indiana were are " go to" stations at night. 

I agree great stations to listen to at night. I was going to add them but you beat me to it
 

I was not a big Rock 102 fan as I preferred the more progressive FM rock stations but I do have a few tapes of them. I posted one to the site maybe last year and here is another short one that is mostly just music but interesting for three reasons.

First great to hear  Paul Weller's Style Council on a top 40 station at 00:33, secondly interesting to hear an actual rock group on the station ( ZZ Top) and finally a short but interesting announcement about station compression at 6:47.

Rock 102 1984

Last edited by Fitz (August 19, 2020 2:52 pm)

paterson1 wrote:

Had my list all made up last night and I went to wiki to check something, when I clicked out of wiki I accidentally hit the wrong tab and boom all erased.  So here we go again...

CHUM- The best all around top 40 station in my opinion.  CHUM was good at everything, great music, personalities, promotions/contests, production, news, good community citizen with the CHUM Christmas Wish...everything that a great station should be.  Live announcers 24/7 with operators when many major market stations didn't use ops other than in the morning.   CHUM was unique in that they produced award winning radio documentaries on The Evolution of Rock, The Beatles, Elvis.  I had the opportunity of running both Drake Chenault's History of Rock and Roll and CHUM's Evolution of Rock.  Let's just say that one was a Pontiac and the other was a Porsche, there was no comparison and CHUM's product was heard all over North America and parts of Europe.  For music CHUM was the leader, they made hits and played the hits.  In late 1979/80 CHUM did what no other AM top 40 station in North America did.  They embraced New Wave, new music.  All the other major top 40 stations were mellowing out, getting more adult, playing safe familiar artists and songs.  Not CHUM they rediscovered their rock and roll roots and played new artists, new songs and nobody sounded like them and CHUM took a big gamble that paid off.

CFTR- Never sounded anything like CHUM, they didn't try and copy 1331 Yonge and even though it took them 12 years they did what CKFH and CKEY couldn't do.  They beat CHUM and did it their way.  Like CHUM I always thought that CFTR did everything well and was a super station to listen to growing up.  TR was a little racier than CHUM, the jocks a little more daring, the music wasn't as good but they made up for it with great personalities, humour and a slickness on air that CHUM was starting to lack.  CFTR in the mid 80's and early 90's had evolved top 40 into a different sound with outstanding talent like Tarzan Dan, The Callahan Man and Mike Cooper among many others.  CFTR had even beat CFRB in a few ratings books, something CHUM had never done, although it had been reported that CHUM actually did beat RB once in 1961 and once in 1972 in the ratings but this has never been verified.  CFTR was one of the last real major market successful AM stations and they had seen FM take over music on radio.  They bowed out on top and from 1972-1992 were one of the best.

CKSL- A station that doesn't even exist anymore was out of London.  But CKSL late 1979 into 1980 when I lived in London was an amazing station.  Great compressed sound, jingles, one of the best morning men I had ever heard with Peter Garland, dynamite production and contests.  CKSL had an outstanding news department with Larry Silver, Jeff O'Neill and J. Michael Phillips. SL was not owned by Rogers but their news sounded like CFTR and their music was all CHUM.  This station could be put in any major market and would not sound out of place.  Working at CFPL at the time, everyone there would acknowledge that SL was the best sounding station in town, and after years of trying CFPL eventually was able to convince Peter Garland to move and become radio 98's new morning host.  London was a competitive radio town with CJBK the other very credible top 40 outlet in town and CHLO doing the same thing in St. Thomas down the road.  Even though they were never number one, CKSL in this era was the best of the bunch.

CKLW- How could LW not be in the top 10?  Voted by the readers of US radio website Radio Ink as the best top 40 radio station of all time.  CKLW and Motown, you can't talk about one without the other. CKLW was called the blackest white station in America, even though it was Canadian out of Windsor. This station influenced every top 40 broadcaster in North America musically, and was number one in Detroit from July 1967 to about the same time in 1977. And the Big 8's news?  A perfect fit for the format and Detroit, and nobody had newscasts like CKLW.   When the station had to play 30% cancon starting in January 1971 many thought, including competitors across the river, that  this would be the beginning of the end for the Big 8.   Nope, by the spring of 1972 CKLW's already huge ratings had increased 20% and their main competitor WKNR threw in the towel and moved to a beautiful music format.  CKLW remained in the top 10 in Detroit into the 1980's but like everywhere in the US, FM had replaced AM radio as the source for music. CKLW certainly was deserving of the title of The Best Top 40 Station of All Time from Radio Ink.

CKY (KY58)- When working in Thunder Bay as a young man, everyone at CKPR had one goal and that was to work in Winnipeg.  Toronto?? Who cares!  Winnipeg was where it was at baby!!  And the top 40 station with the ratings was CKY.  Slick, compressed sound, lots of echo, CKY knew their town.  When it came time to do a contest with a fast food restaurant was it McDonald's?  No way, in Winnipeg A&W ruled the fast food market and that's who CKY would team up with.  Don Percy in the mornings a funny man who the audience loved. Don was amazing with callers, and was so entertaining, he also had a great rapport with the morning news team and was at his best reading live commercials which he would often ad lib.  Percy set KY58 up for the day and the station was a powerhouse that had a signal that was everywhere.

CKGM- Even though GM and CHUM were not owned by the same company back in the 70's there was a lot of back and forth between the two stations with announcers and some news people.  Ralph Lockwood, Montreal's mayor of the morning ruled for years.  CKGM was always a huge hit with the francophone audience in the city and a few of their announcers like Marc "mais oui" Denis and Scott Carptenier would break out occasionally in a bit of franglais. The station would even slip in the odd hit french song on air as well.  I only heard CKGM twice in the summer, but what a station in a beautiful city and it seemed like they were on everywhere.

WLS- Only could listen to them in the evening, so I don't know what they were like the rest of the day.  Really I was listening for John Landecker who i thought was the best of the best as far as announcers.  WLS had a great sound, and to me they sounded Chicago!  I was so impressed when CFTR lured Landecker to Toronto and then I knew that TR had thrown down the gauntlet.  Contrary to what some think, I thought that John sounded great at CFTR.  Was it the same show as WLS, of course not, he was doing mornings!  Anyway beyond evenings at WLS, I don't have much of an opinion since that's all I ever heard, but evenings they were fantastic.

CFGO- Ottawa's other top 40 station for many years was somewhat underrated in my opinion.  They were tight, great jingles, contests and jocks but I don't believe they ever bested CFRA.  When in Ottawa I enjoyed them since they played more music and better music than CFRA and I liked they way they promoted the city.

WOWO- Fort Wayne Indiana did everything well. Listened to them all the time in Thunder Bay and I tried to copy them on air. WOWO wasn't major market but like CKSL in London sounded like it. 

WAPE- Only heard them on vacation in Florida.  This station out of Jacksonville was crazy but a blast to listen to.  The Greaseman in the morning was politically incorrect, crude, rude but still a great jock.  The APE ruled the ratings in central Florida for years and everything about this station as I recall was fun.  Even their promos were hilarious. 

Good analysis Mr. Paterson! Here's a daytime aircheck of WLS in 1975 with J.J. Jeffrey. Sounding great as they always did (UNSCOPED & SCOPED):

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/wls-jeffrey-may3-75.mp3

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/wls-jeffrey-may3-75-s.mp3​






 

paterson1 wrote:

Thanks Dale, great aircheck of J.J. Jeffrey.  He was good and my kind of jock.. funny. light and kept things moving.  Nice to hear another daypart from WLS.  At first I wondered if I even had ten favourite top 40 stations but now I realize there were others that I liked like CFUN from Vancouver, CJAY in Calgary, KFRC in San Francisco, and Radio 1 (BBC) in the UK. 

Thanks for reading through my long winded and meandering post!   

You're welcome! WLS was great in all dayparts. Want to hear Yvonne Daniels again?



http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/wls-daniels-sirrott-dec12-76.mp3


 

I remember flipping between WLS and WCFL in the 70's at night.  WLS was Chicago's only top 40 station and had the market all to itself for two years from 1963 to 65.  That's when WCFL moved to top 40, but only for eleven years.   I remember when "Super CFL" dropped top 40 in 1976 and went beautiful music.  Couldn't believe it, why would anyone want to hear James Last and Ferrante and Teicher on AM?  They also dropped all of their news as well. Even back then programmers made bonehead moves!!  

mace wrote:

Loved his Klunk Letter of the Day.

The Internet Archive has one. 

So does YouTube.