There is also a typo at CHIN 110.7.

WHLD FM listed at 98.5 had changed it's call letters and format to WZIR in 1980. Known as Wizard radio and one of the best free form stations this area has known. The air checks I taped off them are fantastic. They only lasted a year until they changed format to a much more pedestrian AOR and were known as Z98. I also have a very short tape of that format.

Anyway another example of people not paying attention and I guess they included WHLD in the first place as they used to play some classical.  

paterson1 wrote:

Both the Sun and Star used to have great radio ads talking about what was in today's paper.  Paul Rimstead was particularly good in any ads he was featured in

Just got this from a friend of mine who used to produce shows at CJCL when it was a talk station at 1430. I'm guessing the year was around 1983. 

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I don't like to speak ill of the dead but I saw a post on your SOWNY site mentioning the name Paul Rimstead. I used to produce his radio show at night when it first came on CJCL and to be charitable, let's just call it quite an experience. 

To put it bluntly, the man, though beloved by many in the public, was an alcoholic. If you've ever worked with one of those in a pressure-filled environment, you'll know what a difficult experience that can be. He used to come into the announce booth carrying a full cup of coffee, while I would be in the control room, running the board, screening the calls, etc. 

As I watched him through the glass, you could see that every few minutes, he would pull out a bottle from some nook and cranny, think no one was looking and pour a shot (or two or three or more) into his coffee cup. By the time the show was well underway, coffee wasn't the only thing in his cups. 

He would audibly start to slur his words as the night went on and during commercial breaks, he became verbally abusive to the staff, including me. The smallest little error or even perceived error (and most were his fault) would send him into a rage, threatening those he thought had done him wrong. The next evening, the same thing would happen. Rinse and repeat, night after night. It was a terrible way to spend your shift and to make matters worse, his show was horrible. But no one could tell him what to do without receiving his wrath. 

It became almost impossible to work with him and eventually I went to management and begged them - and then boldly told them, something I'd never done before - that I just could not work with him any longer. He was impossible. I demanded they reassign me or that I would have to quit. It was that bad. 

To my relief, they did. They replaced me with the perfect person for the position - a complete stoner who was generally so out of it himself that the host's verbal anger went right over his head. I well remember one night when Rimstead wanted to take a call, asking "Fred" (not his real name) if we could "go to the phones." There was a long pause, when nothing happened. And the host came back on and said, "Fred is staring out into space. Fred! Fred!"

They made the perfect pair, those two, I must say! Luckily, the show - and sadly the station - wasn't around for long and it ceased being anyone's problem. But I always wondered how they let that on the air every night for months and months. Up until I read that name, I was able to keep it out of my memory, but now it's back! 

Rimstead really wasn't a bad guy, and his newspaper columns were very popular in the Toronto Sun. But that was a solitary pursuit and while I'm sure he was well lubricated writing them he could do that alone. But working on his show, well, it was enough to drive you to drink. Although hopefully, he took the subway home when it was over!

paterson1 wrote:

I guess the reason that CBC and CJRT had most of the listings would be because they actually had shows to list, and programming that would change throughout the day.  I noticed that CHUM FM and CKFM did have a couple of listings but for specific features like In Toronto or Looking Back.  The pop music stations have the same programming all day and night every day, so there isn't a lot to list other than the host.  

As we have mentioned many times, it would be nice if the Toronto papers would do the odd feature on radio stations and local TV and radio personalities.  Rarely happens, but we see many articles about art galleries or live theatre.  Guess they figure radio is too low brow, and local TV and radio no longer advertise in the paper.  Come to think of it, you don't see ads for the Star or Sun on TV anymore.  Years ago both were on TV and radio with advertising especially on radio morning shows.

Both the Sun and Star used to have great radio ads talking about what was in today's paper.  Paul Rimstead was particularly good in any ads he was featured in.  Even the Globe and Mail would sponsor the odd newscast on CFRB in the morning as I recall. 

You make a good point but I still think the listings favored the more adult orientated stations and I thought so at the time.

CHUM FM during the free form era ran the Goon Show and I don't know if it was ever listed. CFNY during the David Pritchard era has shows such as Rainbow in Curved Air, The Import Show, Listeners' Choice, Headly Jones reggae show and quite a few more and don't remember them being listed. Some of these continued into the Spirit of Radio era and more were added such as The Eclectic Spirit, Marsden High, Masters and Moderns,  Dave Booth's blues show,The Streets of Ontario, A Jazz show hosted by Larry Green and more and I don't remember seeing them in the listings. The magazine  Toronto Life also had radio listings and they too were dominated by CBC and CJRT from what I recall.

As a radio fan I used to see the listings and was always disappointed that my favorite  stations were mostly ignored.
 

Last edited by Fitz (April 19, 2022 6:51 pm)