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May 12, 2022 1:38 pm  #1


Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Not all listeners will know the name, but if you worked in radio, you've probably heard it. Chuck Camroux was a Canadian radio legend, having a hand in some of the biggest stations in the country, including CFTR in its rock days and later, CKLW in Windsor.

He was also the president of JazzFM 91.1 for many years and helped convert the station from a forgettable Ryerson student outlet to the format it bears to this day. The station has a tribute to him on its webpage.

In memory of Chuck Camroux, former president and CEO of JAZZ.FM91

Camroux passed away on Tuesday. He retired in 2004 after 50 years in the business 

More at Broadcast Dialogue

 

May 12, 2022 7:16 pm  #2


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Re Chuck, RA, you said:

>> He was also the president of JazzFM 91.1 for many years and helped convert the station from a
forgettable Ryerson student outlet to the format it bears to this day. <<

Your use of "a forgettable Ryerson student outlet" bothers me. As a long-time CJRT listener, it seems
to me that Camroux inherited from Cam Finley a 'mature' radio station and took it from there.
Two items from the History of Canadian Broadcasting:

>> In 1965, Ted O'Reilly began hosting The Jazz Scene. Over the years he became known as one of Canada's leading authorities on classical jazz and earned the respect of listeners, musicians and broadcasters alike for his passion for and dedication to the promotion of jazz. He was to stay with the station for 37 years. <<

>> In 1996, with Wally Crouter retired from CFRB, Peter Keigh now had the honor of hosting a Toronto radio morning show continuously for the longest time. He had been host of "Morningmusik" since 1970. Ted O'Reilly and Joe Lewis had also been with the station for a long time - 31 years each. Tom Fulton had been at CJRT-FM for 22 years, and Glen Woodcock for 20 years. <<

Credit where credit is due, please.

 

May 12, 2022 7:23 pm  #3


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Fair criticism and it's noted. I would say, however, that until Camroux and Jazz came around, 91.1 wasn't really a presence in the city the way it is now. I did not mean to denigrate its past but as a one-time Ryerson student (can I still use the name?) it was not really a factor in the listening habits of anyone I knew when I was there. And I was in RTA!

So forgive me if I used a figurative set of words to try to indicate the difference between one era of the station versus another. I wonder if Camroux had stayed whether the ugliness of the boardroom divisions would have cropped up the way they did a few years ago. 

Honestly, no offence intended. (Which, given the last few low scoring games, is something the Blue Jays can say, as well. What happened to the offence? A topic for another thread on another board, I guess.)

     Thread Starter
 

May 13, 2022 3:52 pm  #4


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Here's a shot of Chuck working at his desk while at CFTR.  A dedicated and decent man we affectionately referred to as "The Man From Glad".  Here's a link to a $30,000 button promo he voiced.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qmgL7pS0782am1D5lD5CdtrPcNB53SHU/view?usp=sharing


 

Last edited by Citypulse News 15 (May 13, 2022 3:55 pm)

 

May 13, 2022 4:23 pm  #5


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Was he also the voice for The Last Contest? They sound the same.

     Thread Starter
 

May 13, 2022 5:01 pm  #6


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Roger Klein (aka Don Valli) did most of them.

Last edited by Citypulse News 15 (May 13, 2022 11:11 pm)

 

May 13, 2022 5:05 pm  #7


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

RadioActive wrote:

Was he also the voice for The Last Contest? They sound the same.

The Last Contest was developed at KCBQ San Diego. The voice might have been one of their jocks. It is possible when TM Productions syndicated the contest across North America, local personalities were permitted to do the promotions.

 

May 13, 2022 5:11 pm  #8


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Chuck had not arrived at 'TR when The Last Contest aired. George Johns was running things at the time.
Roger was the promo voice.  Damn good one, too.

Last edited by mike marshall (May 13, 2022 5:18 pm)

 

May 13, 2022 5:16 pm  #9


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Citypulse News 15 wrote:

Roger Klein (aka Don Valli) did most of them.  I'll send them to you.

Love to hear them again. That Camroux voicer sounds very familiar. Maybe it was the Ripoff contest I'm thinking of. Or the "Impossible Contest" where you had to predict all the players on the field at the 1972 Grey Cup, just as the CFL season was starting. 

The prize: $10,000. A good chunk of change now, but a real fortune back then. As I recall, no one won it, but it sure was promotable while that season lasted!


     Thread Starter
 

May 13, 2022 8:02 pm  #10


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

mace wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Was he also the voice for The Last Contest? They sound the same.

The Last Contest was developed at KCBQ San Diego. The voice might have been one of their jocks. It is possible when TM Productions syndicated the contest across North America, local personalities were permitted to do the promotions.

I think I knew this once but had long forgotten it. The voice on those infamous "Last Contest" promos was Jack McCoy, who conceived of the idea while at the legendary KCBQ San Diego. 

"Jack was not only innovative, insightful, creative, etc., Jack, was one of the best production guys ever. He voiced and produced all promos. ALL were improvised. No script. He made up the copy as he went along. He’d bang out 75 promos of which 70 were award winners every day."

To this day, to me, still the greatest radio promotion in modern history. You could promise everything from yachts, airplanes, Porsches, and trips around the world, and never give away almost anything. It was brilliant. 

By the way, Sam Waterston plays Jack McCoy on Law & Order, but one has nothing to do with the other!

Jack McCoy and The Last Contest


     Thread Starter
 

May 13, 2022 11:14 pm  #11


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Citypulse News 15 wrote:

Roger Klein (aka Don Valli) did most of them.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZENpVBrdJXvo2P9g1blUeukk4LIAbV8N/view?usp=sharing

 

May 13, 2022 11:28 pm  #12


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

The great Don Parrish did many of the "Rip off" promo's.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E7sA66HfYU60TqeUq1vbzKY-QGa-BKe9/view?usp=sharing

 

May 13, 2022 11:34 pm  #13


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

 

May 15, 2022 5:11 pm  #14


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Earlier in this thread, I quoted a couple of CJRT-FM highlights from History of Canadian Broadcasting:

>> In 1965, Ted O'Reilly began hosting The Jazz Scene. Over the years he became known as one of Canada's leading authorities on classical jazz and earned the respect of listeners, musicians and broadcasters alike for his passion for and dedication to the promotion of jazz. He was to stay with the station for 37 years. <<

>> In 1996, with Wally Crouter retired from CFRB, Peter Keigh now had the honor of hosting a Toronto radio morning show continuously for the longest time. He had been host of "Morningmusik" since 1970. Ted O'Reilly and Joe Lewis had also been with the station for a long time - 31 years each. Tom Fulton had been at CJRT-FM for 22 years, and Glen Woodcock for 20 years. <<

Got this note from Terry McElligott this afternoon and post it with his permission:

>> I was alerted to the link about Chuck Camroux. I just have to comment. 

You are completely right about CJRT-FM's heritage. What's not to be proud of? It's the orange among apples. 

THANK YOU for well and truly set CJRT's history and context straight. In 1998, Chuck Camroux was hired by the board of directors to turn the station around. He was precisely the experienced visionary they needed. He did a marvellous job. He had an uncanny, seemingly intuitive sense of knowing when the right people for the job appeared. Chuck was never about top-down, keep 'em guessing management. He always asked "Is X working? What do you think?" And, he had everyone's back. 

That's ... rare. Don't you think? 

The station is about the listener's love of discovering music, and it sounds that way. Chuck knew that. 

Its board of directors and its entire staff from administration to production to on-air to education love the music and understand how different JAZZ.FM91 is. I had never, ever worked with a staff like that before. Simply put, they up each other's game. Nobody mails it in. 

I am very saddened to hear that he's gone. I was out of radio - happily - for far more than a decade when he interviewed me for a job helping to rebuild. A quirk of fate had me in his office. It only took me a few minutes to think "DANG! Why didn't the fates have me meet this man years ago? He's amazing. I gotta do this."

 I think his contribution is best summed up this way: Bryan Snelson has been a financial commentator on JAZZ.FM91 since the 1990s. Bryan is currently a member of the station's Board of Directors. He said: 

"No Chuck Camroux? No JAZZ.FM91." 

RegardsTerry McElligott <<

Last edited by mike marshall (May 16, 2022 12:12 am)

 

May 17, 2022 7:10 pm  #15


Re: Canadian Radio Legend Chuck Camroux Is Gone

Camroux's daughter has penned his official and touching obituary. It was published on the Puget Sound Radio site. You can read her words here.  

     Thread Starter