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CHUM'S unique radio contest
In the summer of 68 CHUM ran a contest that was a dream come true for any person that had ambitions to become a disc jockey. Called the “Sock it to me Summer Jock” contest, the winner won the opportunity to have their own half hour show on what was at the time Canada’s largest market.
In 1957 my family moved to a neighbourhood in North York a few months after CHUM started playing rock and roll music. I was eight at the time and completely addicted to radio and television. Not long after I met Peter, a neighbour that lived one street over and whose backyard more or less backed on to ours. Peter was also a radiohead and together we both had dreams of one day working in radio.
One Christmas in the early sixties, we both received small battery powered reel to reel tape decks. One of the features of these decks was the ability to monitor the recording through a tiny ear piece which came with it. At some point I got the idea to cut the earpiece off and hook the wires up to a speaker. To our surprise it worked like a PA and with that we would host parties for the neighbourhood kids, where we would play music and used our mock PA to be disc jockeys. Occasionally, we would go downtown and hang around outside stations like CKFH and CHUM to hopefully get a glimpse of our radio idols and the hope of being invited in for a tour.
As we entered our teen years I had pretty much given up hope of ever working in radio but Peter never did and in 1968 entered and won the contest. He got to have his own half hour radio show with Brian (the prez) Skinner as his board op. He told me afterwards that he was incredibly nervous and that the half hour became a complete blur. I recorded the show at home and offer this telescoped version.
Both of our dreams came true in our twenties when through a mutual friend we were given the opportunity to intern at CHFI-FM. We both went on to have successful careers in radio and television.
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Re: CHUM'S unique radio contest
Wow, CPN15, that is some story - and some aircheck. I imagine he was petrified, but he did OK considering. At least he didn't step on any vocals! Where did Peter Murray wind up working later in his career?
1968 you say? Hmm. It looks like arch rival CKFH was doing the exact same thing down (up?) the dial. Here's an ad from the After Four section of the long defunct Toronto Telegram from August 1968. See if this contest looks familiar.
Meanwhile, here's one of the guys who won that particular contest. His name was Bill Marshall and he was that week's "Boss Jock." This article was in the same old Telegram I found in a long unopened drawer. Bill went on to quite a long career, primarily on the overnight shift at what was then called "Broadcast News" (now The Canadian Press) where he was heard on stations coast-to-coast at the top of each hour. He's now retired, but he worked there for decades.
But here's the really bizarre coincidence, a million to one shot. Long before I discovered the article, I worked for a summer at BN with Bill, and didn't find the story until decades later. Neither one of us ever discussed our pasts with each other, so this was a huge surprise that I'd actually worked with him all those years ago.
- Dale Patterson
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Re: CHUM'S unique radio contest
Peter Murray sent that aircheck to me several years ago and did a Q@A with me (scroll down to July 9, 1968). Another "Sock It Me Jock" - Tom Tass - also passed along his recollections.
Last edited by Dale Patterson (June 7, 2022 7:48 pm)
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- Citypulse News 15
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Re: CHUM'S unique radio contest
Peter started his on-air career in Smithers BC. We were both ops at CHFI. He worked the day shift and I worked the graveyard shift. He spent many hours making, dubbing and mailing out demo tapes. The station in Smithers who's call letters escape me, decided to give him a chance. Turned out to be a bonus for me as I ended up taking over his shift. He was there for a few years and then moved back east to join CHSC in St Catharines. He was there for several years and left to start his own television production company.
I had completely forgotten about the CKFH version until seeing your newspaper clippings! Where the heck do you find that stuff? I do remember listening to a few of their winners.
Last edited by Citypulse News 15 (June 7, 2022 9:42 pm)
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: CHUM'S unique radio contest
It was mentioned that the Mandela tune Loveitis was #17 on that week's CHUM Chart. That would have been the week of July 1st.