I was at CFRB twice in my life.  The first time was in the mid 80s; when we hadn't quite gone talk yet.  Ed Needham would be the first.  We were still playing music.  Bill McVean was a very gentle person.  A wonderful man to work with.  If I remember correctly,  Bill had relationship with Wardair.  R.I.P. Bill.  One of the greats of that fabulous on air staff.  Thank you RadioActive for bringing this to our attention. 

Last edited by John D (March 23, 2021 9:10 am)

I had the pleasure of meeting once when he and I were scheduled to do a read together at VoicePrint.  This would have been around 2012, I think.  I felt starstruck and watching him work, even in his 80s, was a masterclass.  It made my part of the read that much better because I had to rise to his level.

But most of all, as JD mentioned above, he was a very gentle soul and so pleasant to work with.

Rest in peace and may your memory be a blessing.
 

Listening to that clip brought back horrible memories, from a teen's viewpoint, of how boring CFRB was. You couldn't escape it at home or in the car. My parents and all my friends parents listened to 1010 all day long. Wally, Earl, Betty and the the two Bills [McVean and Deegan] Thank God we had transistor radios.

mace wrote:

Listening to that clip brought back horrible memories, from a teen's viewpoint, of how boring CFRB was. You couldn't escape it at home or in the car. My parents and all my friends parents listened to 1010 all day long. Wally, Earl, Betty and the the two Bills [McVean and Deegan] Thank God we had transistor radios.

It may be a generational thing but when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s it was unfathomable to me why CFRB and CFTO World Beat/Night Beat News were always #1 in the ratings. I thought they were unbelievably tedious, even compared to Global and CBC TV News (and CBC Radio) which were never particularly youth oriented.
 

Last edited by Hansa (March 24, 2021 1:11 pm)

Before his work at CHCH, Mr. McVean worked in Hamilton radio, too, CKOC, then CHML.

FYIMusicNews.ca drew my attention to this article in the Globe & Mail. It was published a few days ago, for some reason, a month after McVean passed away.

But it adds details about the plane crash that almost killed the veteran CFRB personality, relates the bizarre tale of how they almost lost the legendary place they called home in Oakville, contains quotes from John Donabie and Andy Barrie, publishes long unseen radio-related photos and even has a link to Dale Patterson's rockradioscrapbook.ca. 

That alone makes it worth the read and it does not appear to be behind a paywall. 

CFRB broadcaster Bill McVean was a gentleman of the airwaves