The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » How Did Toronto Radio Cover This Event?

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 8:52 am

This is before my time, but I can only wonder how this was covered on the radio. It was exactly two months before CHUM made the leap to Top 40. (The ad was published on March 27, 1957.) Too bad they missed it. Imagine the promotions they could have held.

Was this a big deal on the radio of the time when rock stations more or less did not exist? Elvis was here on April 2, 1957. Was that the last time he was in T.O.? I know he rarely left the States because of issues with his manager, Col. Tom Parker. So this was a real rarity back when he was just getting started.

Shorty Wave · March 11, 2026 9:12 am

I notice in this ad that they mention “45 EP ALBUMS”, which made me wonder if they were 7” or 12” records. I have 7” 33 1/3 RPM records and 12”s that play at 45RPM, so this ad got me thinking!

Dicky Doo · March 11, 2026 9:14 am

This topic is ideal for Mr. Doug Thompson to respond

D.D.

Fitz · March 11, 2026 9:23 am

Shorty Wave wrote:
I notice in this ad that they mention “45 EP ALBUMS”, which made me wonder if they were 7” or 12” records. I have 7” 33 1/3 RPM records and 12”s that play at 45RPM, so this ad got me thinking!

You will find info about these here:

45 EP Albums

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 10:01 am

It was obviously a huge hit, radio backed or not. Seems like the girls in the audience were All Shook Up.

Toronto Star's front page, April 3, 1957:

unclefester · March 11, 2026 10:35 am

RadioActive wrote:
The ad was published on March 27, 1952.

RA

I assume you mean 1957?

And Elvis was only in Toronto one time

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 11:25 am

Yep, typo. Thanks for the eagle eye. I will fix in the original.

Lorne · March 11, 2026 2:33 pm

The De Tupelo a Memphis website has some relevant info about this which I'll excerpt below. The DJ who introduced Elvis, Josh King, was the host of a country music show on CHUM.

CHUM Radio, through the disc jockeys invited listeners to send in their reasons for wanting a date with Elvis, it was a sort of contest .Everything was party and The best entries would win the chance to meet Elvis backstage . Photographs were sold, etc.
But it was not all positive as an anti-Elvis club in Tennessee tried unsuccessfully to convince Toronto DJs to stop playing Presley records. Security was paramount and a large security force of ninety-five officers was assembled in Toronto, the largest security force ever provided to be in the arena during the show. Several special "flying squads" were organized to go around the arena and stop trouble before it could start. They were ordered to eject anyone who got out of their seat. But the tricky part was to empty the arena quickly during the first show so that at 9.00 pm the second show could take place. The funniest thing would be the mystery that Elvis' arrival in the City offered, since when April 2 dawned in Toronto, the headline of the "Toronto Daily Star" wondered. "Where is Presley! He can't be reached. The paper could not find out how Elvis would get to the city, let alone where he would be staying.
No one knew it was a secret or at least no one leaked that information so Elvis could arrive quietly without harassment. It was only known that at 06:00 p.m. Elvis would have to be at Maple Leaf Gardens for his performance, but Elvis had already arrived and was sleeping in a room on the fifth floor of the King Edward Hotel. The secrecy was short-lived, though, because the hotel secretaries gathered to head to his room, where a pair of bodyguards politely blocked their way. The show is about to start and local disc jockey Josh King takes the stage to introduce Elvis , the crowd starts screaming for thirty seconds.

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 4:08 pm

Lorne wrote:
The De Tupelo a Memphis website has some relevant info about this which I'll excerpt below. The DJ who introduced Elvis, Josh King, was the host of a country music show on CHUM.

CHUM Radio, through the disc jockeys invited listeners to send in their reasons for wanting a date with Elvis, it was a sort of contest .Everything was party and The best entries would win the chance to meet Elvis backstage . Photographs were sold, etc.
But it was not all positive as an anti-Elvis club in Tennessee tried unsuccessfully to convince Toronto DJs to stop playing Presley records. Security was paramount and a large security force of ninety-five officers was assembled in Toronto, the largest security force ever provided to be in the arena during the show. Several special "flying squads" were organized to go around the arena and stop trouble before it could start. They were ordered to eject anyone who got out of their seat. But the tricky part was to empty the arena quickly during the first show so that at 9.00 pm the second show could take place. The funniest thing would be the mystery that Elvis' arrival in the City offered, since when April 2 dawned in Toronto, the headline of the "Toronto Daily Star" wondered. "Where is Presley! He can't be reached. The paper could not find out how Elvis would get to the city, let alone where he would be staying.
No one knew it was a secret or at least no one leaked that information so Elvis could arrive quietly without harassment. It was only known that at 06:00 p.m. Elvis would have to be at Maple Leaf Gardens for his performance, but Elvis had already arrived and was sleeping in a room on the fifth floor of the King Edward Hotel. The secrecy was short-lived, though, because the hotel secretaries gathered to head to his room, where a pair of bodyguards politely blocked their way. The show is about to start and local disc jockey Josh King takes the stage to introduce Elvis , the crowd starts screaming for thirty seconds.

Fascinating information - a CHUM country DJ intros Elvis in Toronto. I never would have guessed. I wonder if the plans were in the works at the time for the Top 40 switch.

They would probably never get away with the "secret entrance" stuff today, given the Internet and so many leaks. But 1957 was a very different time.

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 4:15 pm

Found this rarity on YouTube. It's viz of Elvis at MLG on April 2, 1957. Pretty grainy and the sound is bad, but it gives a mostly out of focus flavour of the event.

Lorne · March 11, 2026 4:35 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Fascinating information - a CHUM country DJ intros Elvis in Toronto. I never would have guessed. I wonder if the plans were in the works at the time for the Top 40 switch.

I wondered the same thing. Also, because many of Elvis' early singles had done very well on the country charts, I'm guessing that King was the best choice that CHUM had at that point to MC the shows.

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 5:51 pm

And why pick a CHUM jock to do the intro on stage? What about the other radio stations in town at the time? Some were dabbling with rock. CKFH had a rock and roll hour in those years, although it was only 60 mins. and at night.

May 24, 1957:

Doug Thompson · March 11, 2026 7:33 pm

Thanks Dickie Doo. CHUM was indeed promoting Elvis in April as they had already been pitching "The NEW CHUM" demo tape of the upcoming Top 50 format to clients and advertising agencies as early as February of '57 as well as mentioning on air that "The NEW CHUM" was coming in May..

CHUM's country DJ Josh King did introduce Elvis. Remember early on, Elvis was nicknamed "The Hillbilly Cat" before he got the nickname "The Pelvis". There is a photo of Josh and Elvis backstage at Maple Leaf Gardens on my site: chumtribute.com in the 1950's pictures section at the bottom of that section.

Elvis performed in Canada 3 times: Toronto on April 2nd, 1957, Ottawa on April 3rd and he returned to perform in Vancouver on August 31st.

In Vancouver, which DJ Red Robinson MC'd, he only did one show. In Toronto and Ottawa, he did 2. So it's possible that another station's DJ introduced Elvis at the other Toronto performance.

Shorty Wave · March 12, 2026 9:03 am

Fitz wrote:
Shorty Wave wrote:
I notice in this ad that they mention “45 EP ALBUMS”, which made me wonder if they were 7” or 12” records. I have 7” 33 1/3 RPM records and 12”s that play at 45RPM, so this ad got me thinking!
You will find info about these here:

45 EP Albums

Thanks Fitz, interesting read! I have a Stones 7” EP my cousin handed down to me, a bit worn but still plays through.

Fitz · March 12, 2026 9:42 am

Shorty Wave wrote:
Fitz wrote:
Shorty Wave wrote:
I notice in this ad that they mention “45 EP ALBUMS”, which made me wonder if they were 7” or 12” records. I have 7” 33 1/3 RPM records and 12”s that play at 45RPM, so this ad got me thinking!
You will find info about these here:

45 EP Albums

Thanks Fitz, interesting read! I have a Stones 7” EP my cousin handed down to me, a bit worn but still plays through.

That would be a real keeper. I have had two copies of the 3D Satanic Majesty both of which were really worn and I don't have either any now. Wish I had kept at least one for the cover.

What songs are on your Stones set ?