The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Roger Ashby's oldies show returning

Dale Patterson · February 13, 2020 11:57 pm

From "The Grand's" Facebook page...

"Ted Yates here (On Air 9am - 2pm)...I'm happy to announce that my friend and radio mentor Roger Ashby and I will finally be on the same radio station!

The Roger Ashby Oldies Show debuts on 92-9 The Grand Sunday morning 9am - 12 noon! Spread the word! Listen on the radio or online at929thegrand.fm."

RadioActive · February 14, 2020 12:11 am

So does this mean his deal with Bell for an online music channel he programmed is never going to happen? Sounds like that's the case.

https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=4100

Kilgore · February 14, 2020 7:05 am

best of the 70s, 80s + 90s? Shure hope not

Fitz · February 14, 2020 8:49 am

Kilgore wrote:
best of the 70s, 80s + 90s? Shure hope not

I somehow doubt that but I do remember around 2002 on CHUM FM's morning Mystery "Hit" ( no longer ":Oldie") they played Soul Asylum's Runaway Train. I know they played other tracks on that of more recent vintage but I remember that one because I liked the song and called in.

Last edited by Fitz (February 14, 2020 8:55 am)

paterson1 · February 14, 2020 9:33 am

This is super news! It will be great to have Roger Ashby back on the radio again. Sunday morning 9am to 12noon just like his oldies show on CHUM. Ashby co hosted with Angie Hill on KFUN about a year ago for three days and they sounded great together. Nice that Roger will have this fun little gig during his retirement!
Wonder at some point if the show will be syndicated like Daryl Maclean's Beach Party?

Glen Warren · February 14, 2020 9:40 am

paterson1 wrote:
...
Wonder at some point if the show will be syndicated ...

It would seem so. Promos already announcing its debut on Jewel 92.1 for Saturday with a Sunday repeat airing.

paterson1 · February 14, 2020 9:52 am

Excellent! Jewel 92.1 with it's huge coverage area gives the show a big footprint in Southern Ontario. This could do really well. I bet CKDO will pick it up as well. Thanks Glen..

RadioAaron · February 14, 2020 10:24 am

It's not listed on their website, but I'd bet the show is syndicated by Orbyt, which is Bell. It's also running on Bell's 91.9 BOB-FM Kawartha and AM580 Windsor.

Description is 50s, 60s, and 70s.

https://www.iheartradio.ca/am-580/shows/the-roger-ashby-oldies-show-1.10556492

paterson1 · February 14, 2020 10:53 am

So Bell is involved after all. Love the logo for Rogers show, same font as the old 1050 chum logo. Thanks for the information Aaron..

RadioActive · February 14, 2020 11:03 am

Interesting that CKWW plays the show on Saturday and not Sunday.

paterson1 · February 14, 2020 11:12 am

This is exactly what I was hoping for, a syndicated oldies show with Roger Ashby. Since it is syndicated stations likely have some flexibility when they are running it. Jewel 92.1 is apparently running the show Saturday and repeating Sunday. Maybe I jumped the gun a little, should have said, it looks like Bell is involved. No real confirmation on this, but some Bell stations have picked up the show.

Last edited by paterson1 (February 14, 2020 11:16 am)

RadioActive · February 14, 2020 11:53 am

Well, hopefully if Bell is involved they'll find room for it on one of their Toronto stations - although admittedly, I can't think of a format they run where it might fit. So far, it's all around the GTA, but not on any station you can really get over the air here. Maybe The Jewel 88.5 or AM 740 would have room for it. It would certainly fit on the latter - and the fact that Ashby is a well known name in the city would only make it more attractive.

Paul Jeffries · February 14, 2020 1:16 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Well, hopefully if Bell is involved they'll find room for it on one of their Toronto stations - although admittedly, I can't think of a format they run where it might fit. So far, it's all around the GTA, but not on any station you can really get over the air here. Maybe The Jewel 88.5 or AM 740 would have room for it. It would certainly fit on the latter - and the fact that Ashby is a well known name in the city would only make it more attractive.

AM 740 was bragging that they were "The future home of Roger Ashby! (We hope!)" around the time of his retirement. So maybe now's the time to make good on that promise!

PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (February 14, 2020 1:18 pm)

RadioActive · February 14, 2020 1:26 pm

It would also be good for the show. The 740 signal is one of the strongest in North America and can be heard all the way to Pennsylvania and beyond - and at night, all the way down to Florida. With so many of their paid time weekend slots already taken up, airing it at night might well be great for exposure.

Paul Jeffries · February 15, 2020 12:23 am

Actually, it looks like Jewel is the winner:

https://885thejewel.com/roger-ashby-oldies-show

According to their Facebook page, it's supposed to be on the other stations on the Jewel network as well.

I hope Roger gets back to doing his "A Classic Christmas" program. The music spanned quite a broad array of genres and Roger always had some very interest tidbits and trivia about the music and various Christmas customs.

PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (February 15, 2020 1:12 am)

paterson1 · February 15, 2020 11:39 am

Looks like CKDO has picked up Ashby's show too. The Roger Ashby Oldies Show is on about 12 stations so far that we know of, most in Ontario and one or two in Quebec. And of course all over the net.

Listening this morning so far, Ashby hasn't missed a beat. He sounds fantastic and his music/trivia knowledge is second to none. Love the jingles, station breaks and the fact that he is on almost every break. No four song music sweeps or twelve minute breaks with no announcer input on Ashby's show!

So glad that the show has been syndicated and off to a great start. Guess people remembered Roger after all, contrary to what some thought on here last year.

Fitz · February 15, 2020 12:53 pm

Have also been listening to the debut edition for the last hr or so on the Windsor AM radio station online. Great song selection with lots of Roger's special trivia. Nice to hear Larry Williams original of Slow Down. Also nice to hear Where Were You When I Needed You by the Grassroots.

I'm going to get more granular here but the history of that song and the group that recorded it is convoluted but the version Roger played was not the original Grassroots hit but rather a version which was recorded for a greatest hits album with vocals over-dubbed by Rob Grill. The original is hard to track down but I have a version on an album released by Rhino Records. Would be nice to hear the original hit version and not the re-release which has been floating around for years and Roger if you are reading this, one place to find the original is the Folk Rock volume of the Rhino Records Nuggets comp. ( actually it’s on the pop vol 3).

There were essentially three versions of the song and in a way the group, The Grassroots.
The demo with PF Sloan on lead vocals
The original hit single version with Bill Fulton on lead
The Rob Grill vocal overdub
One of the more perplexing singles from the 1960's and the versions sound quite similar. Creed Bratton from the Rob Grill version of the group starred in the Office as Creed Bratton.

Here's most of the story of the song from wiki

Last edited by Fitz (February 15, 2020 8:41 pm)

Fitz · February 15, 2020 1:49 pm

Agree w paterson1 that Roger’s knowledge of trivia is unsurpassed. I did not know that Pagliaro was the first artist to have a top 40 hit in English and French. Lots of nuggets like that to pick up on the show.

Last edited by Fitz (February 15, 2020 7:07 pm)

Dale Patterson · February 15, 2020 1:50 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Looks like CKDO has picked up Ashby's show too. The Roger Ashby Oldies Show is on about 12 stations so far that we know of, most in Ontario and one or two in Quebec. And of course all over the net.

Listening this morning so far, Ashby hasn't missed a beat. He sounds fantastic and his music/trivia knowledge is second to none. Love the jingles, station breaks and the fact that he is on almost every break. No four song music sweeps or twelve minute breaks with no announcer input on Ashby's show!

So glad that the show has been syndicated and off to a great start. Guess people remembered Roger after all, contrary to what some thought on here last year.

Great to hear that. Roger Ashby is an old-school broadcaster who brings great knowledge and enthusiasm to the game.

Media Observer · February 15, 2020 4:57 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Looks like CKDO has picked up Ashby's show too. The Roger Ashby Oldies Show is on about 12 stations so far that we know of, most in Ontario and one or two in Quebec. And of course all over the net.

Listening this morning so far, Ashby hasn't missed a beat. He sounds fantastic and his music/trivia knowledge is second to none. Love the jingles, station breaks and the fact that he is on almost every break. No four song music sweeps or twelve minute breaks with no announcer input on Ashby's show!

So glad that the show has been syndicated and off to a great start. Guess people remembered Roger after all, contrary to what some thought on here last year.

Thanks for the news about CKDO. The station has added the announcement to its web page. (Sundays: 9:00 am - noon)

Last edited by Media Observer (February 15, 2020 10:22 pm)

radiokid · February 15, 2020 11:28 pm

As Bell Media owns Orbyt Media (The Radio Syndication arm) I think it's very easy to assume there is a syndication deal going on. It also make 0 sense running the show on CHUM, or Virgin, nor the 2 AM's they own in Toronto, because the show is Classic Hits/Oldies based.

As for OLDIES making a comeback, I'm not sure it's really the case... The 1220 got backed into a corner taking so long to get on air, where FM options came around doing Classic Hits, so I think they had to move more Oldies. Again, may change after launch. AM playing music is not going to be a huge ratings winner under any owner/operator. Most listeners don't even know AM still exists. 1220 being stand alone and having to spend a huge repair cost at their transmitter site, if anyone was going to test HD in Canada on AM, they should.

If I was stuck on a AM, playing music, and no way to move to FM, I would hope HD radio takes off quick.. Moving full time Digital may save the station. Sadly in Canada, there doesn't seem to be much interest to do HD on AM, nor really do anything with HD but rebroadcast for the most part.. (outside a few trying unique offers like Smooth Jazz, etc)

Last edited by radiokid (February 15, 2020 11:31 pm)

Dale Patterson · February 16, 2020 1:33 am

Roger Ashby is back and better than ever. His ability to uncover obscure trivia about music is legendary, and that was on display several times when I listened today. Like a fine wine of the best vintage, Ashby gets better with age. I'm hoping he does his annual tributes to Mother's Day and Father's Day as before, plus the annual Halloween and Christmas shows. This will be appointment listening for me, and I bet lots of others.

paterson1 · February 16, 2020 8:42 am

Paul Jeffries wrote:
Actually, it looks like Jewel is the winner:

https://885thejewel.com/roger-ashby-oldies-show

According to their Facebook page, it's supposed to be on the other stations on the Jewel network as well.

I hope Roger gets back to doing his "A Classic Christmas" program. The music spanned quite a broad array of genres and Roger always had some very interest tidbits and trivia about the music and various Christmas customs.

PJ

Hey Paul- Listening to your station Classic Hits Online, good job. Nice variety of music!

Fitz · February 16, 2020 9:15 am

Dale Patterson wrote:
Roger Ashby is back and better than ever. His ability to uncover obscure trivia about music is legendary, and that was on display several times when I listened today. Like a fine wine of the best vintage, Ashby gets better with age. I'm hoping he does his annual tributes to Mother's Day and Father's Day as before, plus the annual Halloween and Christmas shows. This will be appointment listening for me, and I bet lots of others.

I love the background he brings to each song he plays and many are not the usual suspects. He's also got an incredible archive of interviews that he is using. One example is a clip he played with the Righteous Bros where one of them described how they got their name. They were playing in a pre-righteous duo covering Don and Dewey and one audience member said after the song "that's righteous brother."

Last edited by Fitz (February 16, 2020 9:17 am)

Paul Jeffries · February 16, 2020 10:22 am

paterson1 wrote:
Hey Paul- Listening to your station Classic Hits Online, good job. Nice variety of music!

Thanks! I've been running the station for about 12 years now, and it still puts a smile on my face when people tell me they enjoy it!

PJ

RadioActive · February 16, 2020 12:12 pm

I've been listening on 88.5 and I've been surprised and impressed by the varied playlist. Maybe if some of the new defunct oldies stations had this kind of variety, they'd still be around! We'll see what 1220 delivers when they officially begin regular programming at some yet-to-be-announced date, but this show was long missed and is very much welcomed back.

Does this means he won't be programming his own online station, as had originally been indicated on the day his retirement was announced? Being on regular radio may a better option in the end and I wonder if the show will be heard outside of Ontario, although Ashby wouldn't be as well known anywhere else.

It certainly deserves an national audience.

paterson1 · February 16, 2020 1:14 pm

The thing about Roger Ashby, in addition to all of his music knowledge, is the fact that he was also a program director, understands pacing, and he knows how to program a show. He has been playing some B hits which is absolutely the right thing to do. Notice how well he is handling cancon? Even a few lesser known Toronto cancon songs, that his listeners from CHUM will remember, and they all fit in perfectly.

Sounds like he will be taking requests and putting listeners on air. Loved that the first song was what many consider to be the first real rock and roll song from 1951 and Rocket 88. I have been listening on CKDO and they are timing out perfectly. Also like they have a short newscast and weather at the top of the hour. CKWW also did a great job yesterday morning even mixing in some of the classic CKLW sounding jingles out of commercial breaks. Didn't realize they actually broadcast from the famous CKLW studios on Ouellette Ave in Windsor. .

I agree that the syndicated format is likely better than an exclusive internet show. Since iHeart already has a lot of oldies stations on their app, syndication gives Ashby's show better exposure.

This was a great first show, and it's only going to get even better!

Last edited by paterson1 (February 16, 2020 1:20 pm)

RadioActive · February 16, 2020 1:44 pm

Nice to see they're also taking requests, with listener input - although solely by phone for now. I'm assuming they want the audio so they have something to play back on future episodes, something texts and emails can't provide.

I just phoned the number (1-844-450-6070) which features Ashby's voice asking for the usual (your name, where you're from, song title and artist) and a nice touch - they're looking for a "brief memory of the song and what it means to you." That should generate some feedback for upcoming shows.

The only thing I find odd about this is how it was launched. Many here are grizzled veterans of the broadcast industry and have their ears firmly to the radio ground on this kind of stuff. Yet this show seems to have taken everyone by surprise. There was no real advance publicity, beyond a day or so notice on affiliate websites, and as noted above, it's not even listed on the Orbytmedia website, which syndicates it. (As confirmed at the end of the first show.)

A soft launch perhaps? I wonder why they didn't try to make a bigger splash with such a well known name and promote the hell out of this thing a lot earlier. Perhaps that's still to come as they gain more stations.

Fitz · February 16, 2020 4:05 pm

Wonder if there is a plan for US syndication. One of the promos I heard on the CKDO broadcast mentioned Roger Ashby and North America. I know he does not have a name in most of the US but it's a good production that some oldies outlets would be wise to take, Satellite perhaps ?

A latter day Dick Bartley.

RadioActive · February 16, 2020 4:14 pm

Unless things change, they would either have to record a special edition for American consumption or seriously rework the CanCon. I'm not sure how "Mr. Monday" by the Original Caste, "Take Me Back" by David Clayton-Thomas and The Shays or "Mr. Heartache" by Pat Hervey - all of which were featured on the first show - would play in U.S. markets.

Also, Ashby has no real identity in the States, as he does here.

Still, the show is good enough that it could win fans there, so who knows?