1 of 1- darcyh
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1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
Thanks to Drew Techner of youtube for the timely uploading of 91 continuous minutes of the Karl Josephs overnight show from November 16, 1977. Imagine a real live person doing an overnight show on a local station playing music, with a bit of chat, community announcements, time and temperature checks. The content is audio only with a CJBK QSL card being displayed. I put it on and listened while puttering around, doing some jobs in the shop, just like I normally listen to radio. The local ads are great. One for Schneider Sound where I purchased my first stereo receiver.
It was an enjoyable listen and my goodness how far radio has fallen.
Last edited by darcyh (June 21, 2023 8:37 pm)
- turkeytop
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
That's great. Thanks for that. It would be interesting to know how far away one of those QSLs got to.
After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
- RadioActive
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
CJBK holds a special place in my heart but not for the reasons you'd think. I rarely got to hear it from Toronto but I always enjoyed it when passing through London.
But my reason for remembering the station isn't because I listened to it. It's because I almost worked there. It happened in the middle 80s when the place I was at suddenly switched formats and fired everybody. I was one of them, and yes, almost everyone in radio knows what that experience is like.
I started job hunting right away and after being out of work for a bit, phoned CJBK. I got hold of the right person, explained why I was calling and he suddenly brightened up. Turns out he was familiar with my work on a syndicated radio show, really liked it and told me he might have something open as early as next week and to call him then.
Well, you can imagine how excited I was. A fulltime gig and in a city I really liked, with a guy who seemed to want me! That doesn't happen very often.
Seven days later, I redialed the digits and asked for the guy I'd talked to. "I'm sorry," the receptionist told me. "He left the station."
"What?" I was stunned. "But he told me to call him about a job today!"
"I don't know anything about that," she replied, "but he's no longer here."
I asked to speak to the person who took his place, and he had no interest in hiring a guy who his predecessor wanted.
To this day, I have no idea if the ex-CJBK guy-in-charge knew he was leaving or simply got tossed out. But whatever happened, that is how I almost got a job - but never did - at Radio 129. In the end, it was the best thing that never happened to me. Soon after, I ended up with a job in TV news, a decades-long position, with better pay and promotions.
But despite the negative experience, I still liked 'BK. It's a shame they're no longer around.
- paterson1
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I don't know what it was about London radio. I did work there Nov 1979 to July of 1980 at CFPL. My time was brief since I didn't like working all nights. The station, actual job, pay, city, the people were all great.
Working all nights was ruining my health, and because PL was so stable, I saw no chance of getting off of the all night show. So I quit. Never really worried about work since jobs back then seemed to be fairly plentiful, even in broadcasting.
The station had a good bye party for me, and the afternoon host told me that I was nuts to leave. Nobody quit at CFPL. This was the station and the company (Blackburn) that you want to be at. He wasn't wrong. However because nobody ever left also meant that I could be doing all nights for years.
Anyway long story short. Had I stayed five more months, CFPL did make some on air changes, so there might have been a chance for me to do evenings, or swing. But I will never know.
Every station in London was good. CJBK, CFPL AM, FM 96, CKSL, CBC, CHLO, CJBX, even Fanshawe's station 6X, everyone was on their A game. London felt and sounded major market. Billboards for different stations were all over town, CFPL TV ran commercials for many stations, newspaper ads in the Free Press for radio contests. Go into any store, even department stores like Eaton's or Sears and you would probably hear local radio. Peter Garland on CKSL and later CFPL 980 was possibly the best morning man I have ever heard anywhere. His whole career was in London and area.
Because of their location, London had no competition from either Toronto or Detroit. London was it's own market with excellent on air talent, news, contests, and always local. It was a kick to regularly get calls on the all night show from our American listeners in Michigan and Pennsylvania. One time in Port Huron, I was in a busy roadhouse with a couple of friends from Sarnia, and FM 96 was blasting out on the patio.
London is still a good radio town, but nothing like it was when I was lucky to have been there back in 1980. CJBK will be missed as is CKSL. But for both the time had come, nothing lasts forever.
Last edited by paterson1 (June 21, 2023 9:20 am)
- RadioActive
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I second the emotion about London being a great radio town in its day. A lot of the people I worked with at CFTR came from the Forest City. And they were uniformly great. I remember one of them, the wonderful John Wilson, who did news and features at TR. He was - and still is - one of the most talented people I've ever worked with.
In fact, I believe after many years in T.O., he's back in London where he's been living for many years. (I think he may be teaching radio at Fanshawe, but I'm not entirely sure if he's still at it. If so, those kids couldn't have a better role model.)
Yep, London was great in its time. As noted, that time seems to be long over. And what a loss that is for all of us in broadcasting.
- MJ Vancouver
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I recall Karl Josephs was also on CKSL at one point. He was doing mornings there in 2001-03 when they had the oldies format.
- darcyh
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
RadioActive wrote:
I second the emotion about London being a great radio town in its day. A lot of the people I worked with at CFTR came from the Forest City. And they were uniformly great. I remember one of them, the wonderful John Wilson, who did news and features at TR. He was - and still is - one of the most talented people I've ever worked with.
In fact, I believe after many years in T.O., he's back in London where he's been living for many years. (I think he may be teaching radio at Fanshawe, but I'm not entirely sure if he's still at it. If so, those kids couldn't have a better role model.)
Yep, London was great in its time. As noted, that time seems to be long over. And what a loss that is for all of us in broadcasting.
John Wilson is currently the weather 'specialist' on CFPL 980. It appears he updates his reports a few time a day and sends them to the station.
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I second the emotion about London being a great radio town in its day. A lot of the people I worked with at CFTR came from the Forest City. And they were uniformly great. I remember one of them, the wonderful John Wilson, who did news and features at TR. He was - and still is - one of the most talented people I've ever worked with.
In fact, I believe after many years in T.O., he's back in London where he's been living for many years. (I think he may be teaching radio at Fanshawe, but I'm not entirely sure if he's still at it. If so, those kids couldn't have a better role model.)
Yep, London was great in its time. As noted, that time seems to be long over. And what a loss that is for all of us in broadcasting.John Wilson is currently the weather 'specialist' on CFPL 980. It appears he updates his reports a few time a day and sends them to the station.
Not only CFPL, but John has his own side hustle that he's been doing for decades. His Media Voice Services offers weather forecasts for 16 stations across Canada, including Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. I'm not sure if he's still doing forecasts for CItyNews 570 in Kitchener, but he used to. According to his Linked-In page, he's been doing those weather hits for over 38 years!
- mic'em
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I recall hearing John Wilson doing weather on the Owen Sound based stations, but can't exactly recall which ones.
- unclefester
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
Just for the sake of accuracy the name of the gentleman featured in the OP by darcyh is Karl Josephs.
I saw this last night when it was posted on YouTube & sent Mr. Drew Techner a note with the correct spelling for Karl. He fixed it right away & sent his thanks
I visted Mr. Techner's Facebook page. He has a very impressive resume!
Last edited by unclefester (June 21, 2023 8:01 pm)
- darcyh
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
Just for the sake of accuracy the name of the gentleman featured in the OP by darcyh is Karl Josephs.
I saw this last night when it was posted on YouTube & sent Mr. Drew Techner a note with the correct spelling for Karl. He fixed it right away & sent his thanks
I visted Mr. Techner's Facebook page. He has a very impressive resume!
Thanks for pointing out the error. I edited and corrected my post.
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Thread Starter- MJ Vancouver
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
I second the emotion about London being a great radio town in its day. A lot of the people I worked with at CFTR came from the Forest City. And they were uniformly great. I remember one of them, the wonderful John Wilson, who did news and features at TR. He was - and still is - one of the most talented people I've ever worked with.
In fact, I believe after many years in T.O., he's back in London where he's been living for many years. (I think he may be teaching radio at Fanshawe, but I'm not entirely sure if he's still at it. If so, those kids couldn't have a better role model.)
Yep, London was great in its time. As noted, that time seems to be long over. And what a loss that is for all of us in broadcasting.John Wilson is currently the weather 'specialist' on CFPL 980. It appears he updates his reports a few time a day and sends them to the station.
Not only CFPL, but John has his own side hustle that he's been doing for decades. His Media Voice Services offers weather forecasts for 16 stations across Canada, including Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. I'm not sure if he's still doing forecasts for CItyNews 570 in Kitchener, but he used to. According to his Linked-In page, he's been doing those weather hits for over 38 years!
He was also on CFPL-TV for a time, doing the business news. Think that was from 1999-2001.
- unclefester
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Re: 1290 CJBK London 1977 aircheck Karl Josephs overnight
The local ads are great. One for Schneider Sound where I purchased my first stereo receiver.
There's another ad on there for the Beef Baron Gentleman's club on York Street saying they'd be open 'til 3 a.m.
I never made it to Schneider Sound but I might be able to tell you a whole hell of a lot about the Beef