1 of 1- Muffaraw Joe
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Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
50 years of Rock in La Belle Province...this month marks the 50th anniversary of Chom FM...it started with host Doug Pringle on October 28th, playing Here comes the Sun by the Beatles...
Having grown up in Ottawa, we could get Chom FM on our radio's with cable...it was exciting to listen to back in the early 70's, more rock and less commercial than the AM stations we had in the Nation's Capital at the time.
It is really quite amazing that the station has survived format changes, a plethora of hosts and new artists and stays true to it's origins.
50 years is quite an accomplishment...
Here is a link with more on the anniversary and a YouTube clip of Doug Pringle on air...
Enjoy and share any memories you might have with CHOM FM!
Last edited by Muffaraw Joe (October 7, 2019 6:04 pm)
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- TomSanders
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
I used to listen somewhat regularly in the late mornings and early afternoons, to hear how commercial rock FM sounded in bi-lingual Montreal. Now they're geoblocked in the States.
- mace
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
TomSanders wrote:
I used to listen somewhat regularly in the late mornings and early afternoons, to hear how commercial rock FM sounded in bi-lingual Montreal. Now they're geoblocked in the States.
Not all of them are. The Simple Radio app allows access to KLOS-L.A, KSAN-S.F. WCSX/WRIF- Detroit, WGRF/WHTT- Buffalo. The My Tuner app works for those stations as well. There are probably others. Any stations owned by CBS and IHeart, which is many, are geo blocked here.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
Any stations owned by CBS and IHeart, which is many, are geo blocked here.
IHeart unblocked their stations when the Canadian version of the app launched.
- mace
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
Any stations owned by CBS and IHeart, which is many, are geo blocked here.
IHeart unblocked their stations when the Canadian version of the app launched.
I was unaware of this development. Good to know.
- RadioActive
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
Great article about the anniversary and the station's storied past in the Montreal Gazette.
'There were some wild times': CHOM celebrates a spirited half-century
- Muffaraw Joe
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
You know R.A. a lot of Toronto jocks got their start in Montreal, Live Earl was on CFNY, Mike Cooper did time in La Belle Province and in Ottawa, the late Gary Bell was on air in Montreal...
The rock radio scene in that city was pretty dynamic and Chom-fm, had an excitement to it...back in the early days...you'd hear a Cheech and Chong bit and then right into Elton John's Funeral for a friend...pretty good stuff, thanks for sharing this article!
The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...
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Thread Starter- kevjo
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
You know R.A. a lot of Toronto jocks got their start in Montreal, Live Earl was on CFNY, Mike Cooper did time in La Belle Province and in Ottawa, the late Gary Bell was on air in Montreal...
The rock radio scene in that city was pretty dynamic and Chom-fm, had an excitement to it...back in the early days...you'd hear a Cheech and Chong bit and then right into Elton John's Funeral for a friend...pretty good stuff, thanks for sharing this article!
Montreal and Toronto were both vibrant markets for rock radio. CHOM was and to some degree still is a uniquely local station playing a good mix and old and new. CHUM-FM carried the streetwise torch which Q107 eventually picked up. Q, in its early years kept that spirit alive with shows that featured up and comers on the T.O. scene. They would play artists that were local and not being played everywhere else. Then there was their series of Homegrown albums which served to ignite a couple of future stars such as Honeymoon Suite. At that time stations were programmed locally and offered a local flavour in their programming.
- kevjo
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
You know R.A. a lot of Toronto jocks got their start in Montreal, Live Earl was on CFNY, Mike Cooper did time in La Belle Province and in Ottawa, the late Gary Bell was on air in Montreal...
The rock radio scene in that city was pretty dynamic and Chom-fm, had an excitement to it...back in the early days...you'd hear a Cheech and Chong bit and then right into Elton John's Funeral for a friend...pretty good stuff, thanks for sharing this article!
And don't forget the legendary David Marsden also graced the CHOM airwaves prior to forming The Spirit of Radio at CFNY.
The Spirit of Rock is the moniker CHOM uses today. I was in Montreal this past summer and liked the walky they blended classic with new.
- RadioActive
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Re: Chom FM Montreal turns 50 officially on October 28th
CTV Montreal did a full story on it. The video is on their website here.