It happened in the days when CFTR was a rock station and had a large newsroom. If you listened back then, you might remember a feature segment called either “Monitor” or “Monitor 680.” It was essentially a pop culture type of 3-minute news feature dedicated to one topic, and a different one aired every weekday at 9:25 AM, 10:25 AM, 12:25 PM and 2:35 PM.
 
They were created and voiced by the TR news staff, and normally, they went by without much comment or notice on a Top 40 station. That is, until one came up in 1981 that not only got a lot of attention, but actually started getting listener requests to repeat it and repeat it – as if it were a Top 40 hit.
 
For a few days, this thing was almost added to the playlist. The furor over it died down within about 48 hours, but during that time, because it was from their own newsroom, CFTR had a Toronto exclusive.
 
So what was the big deal? It was based on one of those old Dickie Goodman singles from the 50s that came to be known as “Flying Saucer” records, where a newsman would interview someone on a ridiculous topic, but use snippets of hits from that era for the answers.
 
The voice on the segment is Ben Steinfeld (as “Scoop Newsworthy”), who came up with the idea and had to convince his reluctant producer that it would work. Well, you’ve got to give him credit – when he’s right, he’s right. The pair spent about a day and a half putting it all together and then launched it on air not knowing what to expect – or whether news director Bob Holiday would even approve of it.
 
The reaction showed they had nothing to worry about, and for a few days it was the toast of the town. I recently re-discovered it in my archives (I originally thought it was lost for good, but it turned up on an old cassette) and decided to post it here.
 
The premise involves the summer of 1981 when Canada was plagued by seemingly non-ending strikes, and includes 'interviews' with 'politicians' about the labour unrest. It’s horribly dated now (well, expect that the Prime Minister back then was also named Trudeau) and it's not really that funny IMHO. But it’s worth a listen if only because of how it electrified a city for a few days way back when.
 
It hasn’t been heard in decades but you can listen to it here. (But be aware that SoundCloud may take it down for copyright issues, so be prepared if you don't find it there.) 
 
Turns out, Ben had nothing to worry about from Bob Holiday, either, as the memo below will attest.