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CHUM Jocks, May 1968: "The Pied Pipers Of Fun Radio"
I'm not entirely sure where this came from (it appears to be RPM Weekly) but it's the kind of feature you will rarely see again. It came from a time when the jocks or personalities on a radio station were almost as famous locally as the musicians they played.
This week marks the famous moment in 1957 that CHUM went Top 40 for the first time and turned the radio industry in Toronto on its ear. (And attracted a lot more of them.) By May 1968, when this was first published, the station had a very different vibe than those early days. But if you were a fan back then, you'll definitely recognize most or all of these names. (But what's with that very, very weird pic of Hal Weaver?)
And then there's this, from the same month and year.
- mace
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Re: CHUM Jocks, May 1968: "The Pied Pipers Of Fun Radio"
So 80,000 CHUM Charts were published every week. Not many of them made it to the record store in the plaza close to where I grew up in Oakville. There were so few, they were kept behind the counter and only given out if you requested one. I actually phoned CHUM in 1970 to complain about the lack of availability of their charts, pretending to be a store employee. Problem solved.
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Re: CHUM Jocks, May 1968: "The Pied Pipers Of Fun Radio"
I used to go to the old Music World in Yorkdale, which was close to my house at the time and within walking distance. I'm sorry to say I used to take handfuls of them and CKFH charts when they came out. Sorry if I took more than my fair share, but it's one of the reasons I still have so many of them to this day!
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: CHUM Jocks, May 1968: "The Pied Pipers Of Fun Radio"
The town of Oakville [yes it is still officially a town] has a population of 192,000. When I was growing up there population was maybe 30,000. Only two QEW exits then which were Trafalgar and Kerr. Typical of small towns at the time, all the stores downtown were closed on Wednesday afternoons. Bell made lots of money off Oakville residents back then. The local calling area was confined to Oakville, Milton, Clarkson and Streetsville. Even Burlington was long distance. Phoning Toronto radio station contest lines? Not happening.