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September 18, 2022 9:48 am  #1


The Day CKEY’s Brad Diamond Got Revenge On An Idiot Listener

Warning: The following contains some questionable language, so you may not want to leave this thread open on your phone or computer where young kids might see it.
 
A previous thread made mention of the great and soon-to-retire Brad Diamond, who has run his own production company for many years. But he used to be a sportscaster at CKEY in the 70s and 80s, and he was responsible for one of the greatest come-uppances for a jackass idiot I’ve ever seen.
 
Here’s how it happened:
 
It was around 1978, the days before cell phones and call display, and when Bell Canada was the only phone company in Canada. Like most stations, CKEY had a news tip line, in case something happened we needed to know about. That meant it always had to be answered, just in case.
 
One day, the phone rang and someone in the newsroom picked it up. An anonymous voice immediately launched into a senseless and crazy rant and because I would hear it so often, I still remember it all these years later:
 
“Fuck off with your Joe Clark cocksucker wipeout. Fuck it! Fuck out!”
 
And then he’d hang up.
 
This idiot called back 10-15 times a day constantly repeating the same thing, and he wouldn’t stop. The harassment went on for weeks. Finally, the station called Ma Bell and asked them to do something about it. I’m still not sure what that was, but the next time this jerk called, he discovered to his stunned surprise that he was unable to hang up or disconnect from our newsline.
 
We listened through a speaker and a phone patch as this idiot picked up his phone, tried obsessively to dial out (rotary style in those days) and couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t get a dial tone or connect to anyone. We could hear him talking to himself saying, “what the fuck?” as he relentlessly tried to get his phone to work.
 
Eventually, Bell traced the call to the perpetrator and cops showed up at his home, charged him with something – I can’t recall what – and Bell reps told him that if he made another harassing obscene call, they would take away his phone service for good. Remember in those days there was nowhere else to go.
 
The calls to the newsroom stopped right away and a few months passed, after which the guy appeared in court, was fined and told not to do it again. But no one in the radio station ever really knew who he was or why he did it.
 
But Brad Diamond wasn’t satisfied that justice had been fully served for all the trouble this guy had caused us. So he made it his mission to find out who he was and get his phone number. Using his news contacts, he managed to discover both and then one day, with a tape rolling, he called the guy.
 
“Is this Joe Smith?” Brad asked politely.
 
“Yes,” came the reply.
 
And then Brad said, “I just wanted to tell you, “Fuck off with your Joe Clark cocksucker wipeout, Fuck it. Fuck out!”
 
There was a long silence on the end of the phone, while this jerk contemplated what he was hearing. And then Diamond hung up.  
 
After all that time, we’d finally gotten our revenge and for a while, Brad became something of a legend in the newsroom, by figuring out a way to get some justice for a tired staff. I’m not sure if that recording still exists today, but if it does, I’d love to hear it again.

 

September 18, 2022 10:10 am  #2


Re: The Day CKEY’s Brad Diamond Got Revenge On An Idiot Listener

Payphones were only a dime back then. The prankster should have gotten a roll of dimes from the bank and called from various payphones so he could never be traced. 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

September 18, 2022 10:17 am  #3


Re: The Day CKEY’s Brad Diamond Got Revenge On An Idiot Listener

I think you're crediting this jerk with way too much intelligence to have thought about that. Plus, there's no reason to believe he wasn't doing it to other stations at the same time. In our case, he called so often for so long it would have wound up costing him a fortune! (Although hopefully the fine he eventually received did.)

     Thread Starter
 

September 18, 2022 12:29 pm  #4


Re: The Day CKEY’s Brad Diamond Got Revenge On An Idiot Listener

I noticed Motoring TV on TSN finally was airing a new episode last week. I was surprised too see it was a best of and good bye . Enjoy retirement to the cast and crew who do actually hang it up. I am hoping the younger members , like Zack Spencer will pick up the torch and carry on with a new show. 

 

September 18, 2022 6:50 pm  #5


Re: The Day CKEY’s Brad Diamond Got Revenge On An Idiot Listener

We had a similar (if not the same) character terrorizing the CFTR newsroom around the same time.  His rant began with "Stop the silent conspiracy against the accountant..."  We all blasted him as he continued his tirade and then promptly hung up on him.  Ma Bell was notified and we were asked to call a Bell number immediately after the call came from Mr. Unhinged.  As I recall, we were told he was arrested and the calls stopped.  But we too wanted revenge.  I'm glad Brad was able to return the favour on our behalf at least to that individual.