Hey Mike, you and CFTR were sounding great!  You were one of my favourite announcers all through high school.  Really enjoyed your easy, pleasant style, something I tried to emulate when I eventually became an announcer after finishing college. 

I likely listened to TR even more than CHUM during the summer of '74.  The summer job I had was outside and TR came in clearer than CHUM so we tended to listen to 680.  I always respected CFTR because they never copied CHUM but always sounded as good.  Even nice to hear the commercials/promo and some of the production.  The jingles, I noticed the zap between C and FTR, and the fact the singers held on to the R so the jingle could mix into upcoming song.

Thanks Mike for the great memories, and thanks Dale for posting the aircheck on Rock Radio Scrapbook as aircheck of the week. 

I have a memory of CFTR in its early days that's pretty unique. I remember they started adding more rock and roll in the last week or two of their old MOR "Sounds Familiar" days. And even as a young teen, I suspected something was up. Sure enough, the next week, they officially went Top 40, with all the jingles, DJs and formatics. But I'd been listening to them just a few days before the change and remember liking what I was hearing.

It was the talk of my high school - did you hear about the new station in town? Yes, I had and was already a listener. But here's my special memory. Not long after the transition, CFTR announced something called "Canada's First Tremendous Ripoff," a contest spun out of their call letters. They were going to start awarding prizes that very day. 

I was home sick from school that afternoon and for some reason was sitting beside the phone. (No cells or even cordless landlines like we have now. I was at a telephone table - remember those? ) And I happened to be there with the radio on when the afternoon announcer came on and said, "I'll take the first caller through at (was it 870-1116? I can't quite recall) and you'll rip me off for an all-expenses paid trip for two to Pompano Beach, Florida!"

I picked up the phone, got through and to my astonishment, I won! I always credited that to being right beside the phone and the fact not many people were listening to TR at the time. Yep, I won the very first prize the station ever gave out in its Top 40 days and it was a good one.

Later, I went down to the station to pick up the envelope with the tickets and they were even nice enough to give me a tour of the place. I think it was at a different address on Adelaide St. than the one they eventually ended up at.

I vividly remembering meeting Steve Young (Keith Elshaw) as he was doing his shift and they were about to play "Black and White" by Three Dog Night for the first time, with Elshaw listening to the intro on cue because he'd never heard it before. And yes, back then, they were still using 45s. 

I was only 13 at the time, so obviously a kid that young couldn't go to Florida with a friend. I wound up giving the prize to my parents, meaning they got a vacation from us and my older sister and brothers and I got one from them - a good deal when you're a teen! I remember when I told my late mom about it, she didn't believe me at first and then got so excited, she couldn't finish dinner! 

Anyway, that's my special memory of the very early CFTR. Needless to say, I became a loyal listener after that!

RadioActive wrote:

I have a memory of CFTR in its early days that's pretty unique. I remember they started adding more rock and roll in the last week or two of their old MOR "Sounds Familiar" days. And even as a young teen, I suspected something was up. Sure enough, the next week, they officially went Top 40, with all the jingles, DJs and formatics. But I'd been listening to them just a few days before the change and remember liking what I was hearing.

It was the talk of my high school - did you hear about the new station in town? Yes, I had and was already a listener. But here's my special memory. Not long after the transition, CFTR announced something called "Canada's First Tremendous Ripoff," a contest spun out of their call letters. They were going to start awarding prizes that very day. 

I was home sick from school that afternoon and for some reason was sitting beside the phone. (No cells or even cordless landlines like we have now. I was at a telephone table - remember those? ) And I happened to be there with the radio on when the afternoon announcer came on and said, "I'll take the first caller through at (was it 870-1116? I can't quite recall) and you'll rip me off for an all-expenses paid trip for two to Pompano Beach, Florida!"

I picked up the phone, got through and to my astonishment, I won! I always credited that to being right beside the phone and the fact not many people were listening to TR at the time. Yep, I won the very first prize the station ever gave out in its Top 40 days and it was a good one.

Later, I went down to the station to pick up the envelope with the tickets and they were even nice enough to give me a tour of the place. I think it was at a different address on Adelaide St. than the one they eventually ended up at.

I vividly remembering meeting Steve Young (Keith Elshaw) as he was doing his shift and they were about to play "Black and White" by Three Dog Night for the first time, with Elshaw listening to the intro on cue because he'd never heard it before. And yes, back then, they were still using 45s. 

I was only 13 at the time, so obviously a kid that young couldn't go to Florida with a friend. I wound up giving the prize to my parents, meaning they got a vacation from us and my older sister and brothers and I got one from them - a good deal when you're a teen! I remember when I told my late mom about it, she didn't believe me at first and then got so excited, she couldn't finish dinner! 

Anyway, that's my special memory of the very early CFTR. Needless to say, I became a loyal listener after that!

I won three radio contests exactly 20 years apart (not by plan), then another 10 years after that:

1967 - Won a K-TEL album from CKFH (and got to talk to Don Daynard briefly on the phone).

1987 - Won a set of albums from Andy Frost at Q-107.

2007 - Won a prize package from CHUM and Gord James.

2017 - Won a mug from Zoomer 740 (never did pick it up).

 

Tardis wrote:

Great recording Mike. Wish we had more early CFTR. Thanks Mike. Thanks Dale!

Thanks, Tardis. Glad you enjoyed this. I didn't even know we had this cassette. At this point, we've culled just
about everything from the herd. I had an excellent hour from 1973 but I think it has disappeared.
It appears the Mike Marshall Collection will be limited to one. :-(

paterson1 wrote:

Hey Mike, you and CFTR were sounding great!  You were one of my favourite announcers all through high school.  Really enjoyed your easy, pleasant style, something I tried to emulate when I eventually became an announcer after finishing college. 

I likely listened to TR even more than CHUM during the summer of '74.  The summer job I had was outside and TR came in clearer than CHUM so we tended to listen to 680.  I always respected CFTR because they never copied CHUM but always sounded as good.  Even nice to hear the commercials/promo and some of the production.  The jingles, I noticed the zap between C and FTR, and the fact the singers held on to the R so the jingle could mix into upcoming song.

Thank you for your kind comments, paterson1. They are more than flattering. When it comes to the jingles,
you are halfway there.

paterson1 wrote:

Thanks Mike for the great memories, and thanks Dale for posting the aircheck on Rock Radio Scrapbook as aircheck of the week. 

RadioActive wrote:

I have a memory of CFTR in its early days that's pretty unique. I remember they started adding more rock and roll in the last week or two of their old MOR "Sounds Familiar" days. And even as a young teen, I suspected something was up. Sure enough, the next week, they officially went Top 40, with all the jingles, DJs and formatics. But I'd been listening to them just a few days before the change and remember liking what I was hearing.

It was the talk of my high school - did you hear about the new station in town? Yes, I had and was already a listener. But here's my special memory. Not long after the transition, CFTR announced something called "Canada's First Tremendous Ripoff," a contest spun out of their call letters. They were going to start awarding prizes that very day. 

I was home sick from school that afternoon and for some reason was sitting beside the phone. (No cells or even cordless landlines like we have now. I was at a telephone table - remember those? ) And I happened to be there with the radio on when the afternoon announcer came on and said, "I'll take the first caller through at (was it 870-1116? I can't quite recall) and you'll rip me off for an all-expenses paid trip for two to Pompano Beach, Florida!"

I picked up the phone, got through and to my astonishment, I won! I always credited that to being right beside the phone and the fact not many people were listening to TR at the time. Yep, I won the very first prize the station ever gave out in its Top 40 days and it was a good one.

Later, I went down to the station to pick up the envelope with the tickets and they were even nice enough to give me a tour of the place. I think it was at a different address on Adelaide St. than the one they eventually ended up at.

I vividly remembering meeting Steve Young (Keith Elshaw) as he was doing his shift and they were about to play "Black and White" by Three Dog Night for the first time, with Elshaw listening to the intro on cue because he'd never heard it before. And yes, back then, they were still using 45s. 

I was only 13 at the time, so obviously a kid that young couldn't go to Florida with a friend. I wound up giving the prize to my parents, meaning they got a vacation from us and my older sister and brothers and I got one from them - a good deal when you're a teen! I remember when I told my late mom about it, she didn't believe me at first and then got so excited, she couldn't finish dinner! 

Anyway, that's my special memory of the very early CFTR. Needless to say, I became a loyal listener after that!

You're a great storyteller, RA. Funny, the detail we remember all these years later.
It was 13 Adelaide, all stairs and multi-levels. Moving next door to 25 was like settling in at the Taj Mahal.
Happy to hear you were one of the first adopters.

mike marshall wrote:

You're a great storyteller, RA. Funny, the detail we remember all these years later.
It was 13 Adelaide, all stairs and multi-levels. Moving next door to 25 was like settling in at the Taj Mahal.
Happy to hear you were one of the first adopters.

Thanks, Mike. The story was getting pretty long, so I left out one part - when I won, I somehow had the presence of mind to tape the on-air announcement made by the jock congratulating the winner. I wasn't sure how to tell my parents and I wasn't even sure they'd believe me. A few minutes later, my aunt phoned and I told her what happened and asked what she thought. 

She told me to just play the tape and watch the reaction, knowing hearing it on tape would prove it was true. And that's just what I did, telling them at the dinner table I had something they had to hear now and that it couldn't wait. That's how my mother found out about it and she insisted I play the tape back about ten times, because she couldn't believe it. 

I still have that cassette somewhere but it was a cheapie and it won't really play anymore. Too bad. I'd love to hear it again!

Dale Patterson wrote:

Thanks to Mike - one of the true nice guys in the business - for sending this to me. And a special shout-out to my good friend and voice actor extraordinaire John McGrath who took time to digitize both hours of this (Pt. 2 is coming later).

http://www.johnsvoice.com
 

 
Thanks for posting that link Dale. I know we both worked with John at BN back in the day. John and I had a lot of laughs over the years. I was very impressed that he had the courage to leave a safe, solid job to take a chance in the world of freelance voice work. I'm really glad he has done well.

Interesting, I never would have guessed that one!  Yes the Elvis mix from the jingle was pretty good.  You don't remember who did those jingles for CFTR?  Anyway thanks Mike. 

RadioActive wrote:

I believe this may have been the package TR was using at the time. It was called "Interkey" and the demo at the link below was being sold by TM Productions around the time of this aircheck. It explains how the idea works and it appears 680 may have opted for it. 

Interkey Jingle Package 
 

That's got to be it. Chuck Camroux would have made the buy. I may have told him that the reason CKLW had
the hottest set of Johnny Mann Singers' acapellas at the RKO stations was because Paul Drew was on hand for
the logo session and didn't leave until he got what he wanted.
Chuck decided he would fly south. (Nice try, Mike.)
 

Looking forward to hearing all of those great (and some not so great) blasts from the past!