1 of 1- RadioActive
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One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
It was once a Top 40 powerhouse on the way out west. 1290 CFRW was a legendary music station in the 70s, bringing listeners in Winnipeg a classic format similar to its Toronto owner, CHUM. Personalities like "Racoon" Carney and Lee Marshall did the honours, and Bob Laine was brought in from Toronto to manage the place.
But like most AMs, the glory days were cut short by FM, and when Bell Media bought the CHUM assets, the station went all sports and later became "Funny 1290." But there was nothing amusing about its fate, and Bell closed the place in June 2023 with almost no notice, ending a storied run.
Now 1290 is coming back to Winnipeg - but very different from what it was, after the CRTC agreed to let a new owner take over the licence and the frequency. It will be offering a Punjabi language format, a far cry from the days when RW was a Winnipeg powerhouse. It debuts Monday.
"The 24/7 radio station's programming will include Punjabi-language news, talk shows and international music...Some programming will also be presented in English."
Another bit of Canadian radio history gone - but not forgotten. And a rare resurrection of a long departed AM signal.
Winnipeg Punjabi-language radio station will bring 'community stories told by community people'
- mace
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Any idea how it performed against CKY which I think was "The" top 40 station in Winnipeg with its 50K signal. Honestly, I know very little about the Winnipeg market as the only station I ever received was CBW at 990.
- RadioActive
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
From the Manitoba Music Museum:
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Thread Starter- Radiowiz
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
FM at first, could not kill AM radio because it had to play 49% non hits.
This is why the AM side lasted as long as it did playing music.
- PSJ
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
I was the PD at CRFW for about 5 years when Bob Laine was the GM. The 1470 and 1290 frequencies were limited and CKY's signal was a monster. We held our own with CKY with a very high energy format and simply great personalities. It was a battle every day. Those were exciting times!
- Shorty Wave
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Looking at the CFRW charts posted here by RadioActive, you realize just how mixed hit music once was, whereas you have Led Zeppelin, The Jackson Five, The Carpenters and Joe Cocker all on the same chart, I didn’t think about that as a young listener! There’s also Joanne by Michael Nesmith, which I liked but you never hear it anymore…..!
- Doug Thompson
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Although the Canadian Content regulations didn't come into effect until January of 1971, this 1970 CFRW chart had 5 &1/4 Canadian artists in their Top 30. 4 &1/4 if Buffy Ste. Marie no longer counts as Canadian, but at that time she did.
You've got R. Dean Taylor (from Toronto) at 2, Neil Young, 1/4 of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at # 8 (although Graham Nash wrote "Our House"), the Winnipeg group Mongrels at # 16 (produced by Randy Bachman), The Band at # 18, Buffy at # 19, and Guess Who (without Randy Bachman) was # 26.
By contrast, the CKY Top 50 had exactly ZERO Canadian artists on their chart. DJ Jimmy Darin, who was also the PD, was American, although most of the other CKY DJs were Canadian..
Last edited by Doug Thompson (March 31, 2026 11:57 am)
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- Lorne
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Nice to see how well Canadian artists were represented on that CFRW chart. And even now, "The Circle Game" would still count as Canadian content for a different reason, because it was written by Joni Mitchell.
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Doug Thompson wrote:
Although the Canadian Content regulations didn't come into effect until January of 1971, this 1970 CFRW chart had 5 &1/4 Canadian artists in their Top 30. 4 &1/4 if Buffy Ste. Marie no longer counts as Canadian, but at that time she did.
You've got R. Dean Taylor (from Toronto) at 2, Neil Young, 1/4 of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at # 8 (although Graham Nash wrote "Our House"), the Winnipeg group Mongrels at # 16 (produced by Randy Bachman), The Band at # 18, Buffy at # 19, and Guess Who (without Randy Bachman) was # 26.
By contrast, the CKY Top 50 had exactly ZERO Canadian artists on their chart. DJ Jimmy Darin, who was also the PD, was American, although most of the other CKY DJs were Canadian..
To be fair, the CKY chart was from 1964, while the CFRW list was early 1971. I don't know how much CanCon was being produced the year the Beatles hit North America.
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Thread Starter- Doug Thompson
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
RA, there certain,y was Canadian Content back in 1964, although not a great number. I took the CHUM chart from the same month of April '64 and compared.
On that CHUM chart that week, there were 3 Canadian acts on the chart.
Shirley Matthews was # 30
Ian & Sylvia were # 33
Bobby Curtola was # 42
And this while the British Invasion in music was in full swing.
Last edited by Doug Thompson (April 1, 2026 6:22 pm)
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- RadioActive
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
I probably didn't state it well. What I meant was there was more Canadian content available in the 70s than there was in the mid-60s. But yes, there were certainly Canuck artists around back then - and CHUM was famous for promoting this country's talent when it could.
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Thread Starter- Doug Thompson
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Re: One Time Top 40 Powerhouse Returns As A Shadow Of Its Former Self
Also, as I mentioned in my original post, CKY's Program Director and DJ Jimmy Darin (real name: Jim Hilliard), was an American, so he wouldn't have been looking to promote Canadian talent much. Later CKY DJ's include J. Robert Wood and Chuck McCoy, among others.
CHUM's Brian Skinner was on CKY before he came to CKEY in 1959. 'The Prez' moved to CHUM in early 1963.
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