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I don't know the name Hugh Curry, but he was apparently something of a big deal on the then-still new CHUM-FM back in 1968. This article, from RPM Magazine, outlines his downfall, why he was fired and what it had to do with getting an exclusive on a new Fab Four LP he refused to share with the AM side.
I've never heard this story before, but it's certainly an interesting one. I wonder whatever happened to the guy. I can't say I recall his name ever being a factor anywhere after this.
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Well, I've learned quite a bit about Hugh Curry since I first posted this story.
Bud Riley's excellent radio site has a letter from Curry in his own words about what happened to him and why he eventually got out of the radio and music business. You can read his first-hand account here.
According to his Linked-In page, he's been the president of a film distribution group called OMNI International for the past 38 years.
He wasn't with CHUM for long - just about 2 years. But they certainly seemed to have been memorable ones!
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So the RPM article earlier in this thread says Curry was dismissed while his letter to Riley and a Billboard article that page links to at the top says he quit or "knew it was time to move on." Can both be true? Actually, yes. Nice to know the "You can't quit, you're fired/you can't fire me, I quit" duality has always been a thing in radio.
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I was Production Manager of 1050 CHUM and CHUM-FM in 1968 and Hugh Curry's note to Bud Riley is accurate as I recall those events except for the fact that it was Bob Laine who came in to replace Garry Ferrier in 1970 as Program Director, not Duff Roman. Duff came in a few years later when Bob Laine moved to become General Manager of the CHUM stations in Winnipeg.
Last edited by Doug Thompson (June 14, 2021 5:17 pm)
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Doug Thompson wrote:
I was Production Manager of 1050 CHUM and CHUM-FM in 1968 and Hugh Curry's note to Bud Riley is accurate as I recall those events except for the fact that it was Bob Laine who came in to replace Garry Ferrier in 1970 as Program Director, not Duff Roman. Duff came in a few years later when Bob Laine moved to become General Manager of the CHUM stations in Winnipeg.
Speaking of your efforts, they were remembered by your former colleague Warren Cosford in a piece published in Dec. 1986. Hope your leg is better by now!
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It was actually my right foot. I scraped my ankle on something and because I didn't sleep for that whole week, my right foot swelled up to twice the size. But I finished my 8 hours of the Beatles documentary.
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The recording I have on the site of Brian Master on CHSC from 1972 comes from a gent who told me that Warren Cosford gave it to him at a park or campground way back in the 70's.