Also interesting to note that CHUM only had one program in the listings on May 24, 1957.  At 7pm the Rosary Hour is listed and that was the only program for the station.  Maybe for a week or a few days prior to the  big change CHUM didn't list much programming, since all the shows were about to be dropped?

Do you remember if the CHML shows played rock or something more middle of the road?

I think my point in all this is that CHUM is always considered the first GTHA station to go rock. But it seems there were others playing the music long before 1050 went to it. Just not full time. They are pioneers of a sort, too, but have been all but forgotten. 

I wonder what people turning on their radios that May 27th thought of the new CHUM - if they were even listening. It wasn't a very highly rated station at the time and it wasn't until after the format switch that it soared into the top of the ratings chart. 

I wonder if CHUM also dipped their toe into rock and roll prior to going full time May 27, 1957.  There is a chance that they also had a rock and roll hour of music or youth oriented program somewhere in their schedule prior to May 27th.  We would need to see their full schedule and sort of guess by the program name.
 
Program variety was normal for radio in this era and likely more stations than we think, even some smaller markets very well could have had a program that played this new fangled music that the kids seem to like. 
Red Robinson on CJOR in Vancouver was playing rock and roll on a regular basis in November 1954. He is the earliest that we know of in Canada, there could have been others but not verified. 

I agree, nothing on that schedule really indicates rock and roll, unless some of the announcers like Phil Stone or Harvey Dobbs mixed in some with the other music in their programs.  Sort of what Ray Sonin did with on CFRB's Calling All Britons when he would slip in some rock and roll on the show with groups like The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers or Herman's Hermits etc. 

Always wondered about Wally Crouter when he was the host of Canadian Bandstand on CKCO TV in 1958.  Odd that Wally would be hosting this dance show that played the top 50 hits.  Did CFRB play some of this music in the late 50's?  You would think that CKCO would want a host that the high school kids would know or listened to.  Wally doesn't exactly come to mind, but maybe RB did play Elvis or a lot of the other hit parade music in this era, mixed in with their traditional MOR music.

Even though the top 50 included rock and roll, it also had it's share of MOR and country music, especially in the late 50's and early 60's. 
 

I remember reading that too.  Doug might know if CHUM ever did play any rock and roll prior to May 27th. 

Still wonder about Wally Crouter hosting Canadian Bandstand.  He was well established as CFRB's morning man in 1958, but not so established playing the hit sounds that high school kids would dance to.  Maybe RB played more of the top 50 in 1958 than we thought?

Although CHUM wouldn't play the top 50 tunes (more or less) full time until May 27, 1957, CHUM country DJ Josh King did introduce Elvis at Maple Leaf Gardens on April 2nd of that year.

Daytime DJs such as Harvey Dobbs played lighter pop music and still some big band songs as well, but they had to be on Billboard's Hot 100. Harvey did not like rock music at all and desperately tried to talk owner Allan Waters out of it. Thankfully, Allan didn't listen.

Last edited by Doug Thompson (July 29, 2024 4:50 pm)

That was a very well put together chart for May 1957.  I have seen many from that era into the 60's that looked cheap with a type written chart and poorly layed out.   At least the CHUM chart went to a real printer and not printed in house on a Gestetner like some others.  

Many of the songs weren't rock and roll.  But that is what made the top 50 songs interesting in the 50's and early 60's.  MOR and country artists were also popular and they were always included in the hit parade music.  But Elvis at #1 with All Shook Up was not country or MOR.  Back in 1957 people like Pat Boone, Sal Mineo and Andy Williams were teen idols. Even in the spring of 1957 rock and roll was still a fairly new thing but really starting to impact mainstream music. 

Doug Thompson wrote:

Although CHUM wouldn't play the top 50 tunes (more or less) full time until May 27, 1957, CHUM country DJ Josh King did introduce Elvis at Maple Leaf Gardens on April 2nd of that year.

Daytime DJs such as Harvey Dobbs played lighter pop music and still some big band songs as well, but they had to be on Billboard's Hot 100. Harvey did not like rock music at all and desperately tried to talk owner Allan Waters out of it. Thankfully, Allan didn't listen.

I'm glad to see what you said about what the daytime DJs would play, because I've long wondered about a conversation I had with my late mother when I was young (this would have been in the 1970s) about what CHUM was like before they started playing rock and roll. As I've mentioned before, she was unusual in that she very freely switched back and forth between CHUM and CFRB. This was a combination of them being so close together, and more importantly because she enjoyed a wide variety of music (although a major reason for her switching would be when either one of them played a song that she didn't like). 

Now, as to the matter at hand: with my interest in radio, I was very curious about what CHUM had played before the format change. And my recollection is that she said something to the effect that they had already been playing what was popular, and I think she also indicated that there was a fair amount of upbeat music or something to that effect. But that would go with a lot of big band music (which she tended to like a lot) and also some light pop music, without them having played any rock and roll -- and she didn't indicate that they were playing any of that. I think that because she enjoyed such a wide range of music and overall tended to like upbeat music, that she probably looked at CHUM's transition as a good and natural move for them, and of course their charts show that they did continue to play a lot of MOR music anyway. I have found it confusing to see how much CHUM used to have other types of programming that I don't think she mentioned, but my guess is that this was because she generally switched to CFRB when it was on and so she just focused on the music they played in answering my question. 

mojo55 wrote: Some famous people that got their start at CHUM during the early 50s included newsman Harvey Kirck, actor comedian Larry Mann , a DJ, and quizmaster Monty Hall's brother Bob Hall.

Harvey Kirk was a CHUM newsman until 1960 when Bill Drylie (from the Toronto Star) was hired as News Director. Harvey then moved to CHCH TV in Hamilton. As well as his brother Bob, Monty Hall, Mr. 'Let's Make A Deal' himself was CHUM's morningman for 2 years in the mid to late 1940's. Even Barry Nesbitt, CKFH's longtime Program DIrector was at CHUM in its pre Top 50 days.

Last edited by Doug Thompson (July 30, 2024 2:54 pm)