YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time.
As a kid, I loved WKRP. I think that's how I first fell in love with radio. One of the many great characters on WKRP was Herb Tarlek, the plaid suit wearing advertising account executive who couldn't score a big account or with Jennifer Marlowe.
Back in 1997, the character Herb Tarlek was resurrected for a television ad campaign promoting the CHFI morning show with Don Daynard and Erin Davis.
You've got to love Andy Barrie. He's been hosting Toronto's CBC Radio One program Metro Morning since 1995 and is one of the finest broadcasters working in this city. His Metro Morning has always been a favourite of mine.
This morning, on his 65th birthday, he announced that he's retiring and that his last show will take place the morning of March 1. After 15 years he deserves a chance to sleep in past 4am.
I remember listening to Punkorama on Edge 102.1 back in the day when it was hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. The hard aggressive sounds of Punkorama will no longer be heard each Tuesday night on CFNY as the last episode of Punkorama aired two nights ago.
Here's the playlist from the last show.
FACE TO FACE – It’s Not Over
NOFX – Don’t Call Me White
CARPENTER – You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down
TITUS ANDRONICUS – Titus Andronicus
HUSKER DU – New Day Rising
FLATLINERS – Filthy Habits
…TRAIL OF DEAD – Days Of Being Wild
IGGY POP & THE STOOGES – I Wanna Be Your Dog
EVERY TIME I DIE – Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery
RANCID – The Wars End
DILLINGER FOUR – A Floater Left With Pleasure In The Executive Washroom
SNUFF – All Over Now
SOCIAL DISTORTION – I Was Wrong
THE RIOT BEFORE – We Are Wild Stallions
GASLIGHT ANTHEM – Angry Johnny And The Radio
THE REPLACEMENTS - Unsatisfied
When the Leafs play on CBC, Joe Bowen calls the game for radio. When Joe Bowen is calling the game for television, Dennis Beyak fills in. Both call fine games. That's how we roll in Leafsville.
Florida Panthers games are called by a cat named Randy Moller. After each goal, he drops a pop culture nugget that has to be heard to be appreciated. Randy Moller, I love you.
As promised, EZ Rock is now Boom 97.3, playing "Toronto's Greatest Hits". Humble and Colleen are still doing mornings, Maie Pauts takes it from there and KJ still takes you home. But it's now songs like this:
Yes, that ad does start with the song that's absolutely everywhere, the same song they played right after flipping formats. Here are the first twenty songs played on the new boom 97.3.
Play Time
Artist Name
Track Name
Sat 10:24AM
THE B-52S
LOVE SHACK
Sat 10:20AM
BRYAN ADAMS
LONELY NIGHTS
Sat 10:15AM
THE BEE GEES
STAYIN' ALIVE
Sat 10:12AM
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL
Sat 10:08AM
SPIRIT OF THE WEST
HOME FOR A REST
Sat 10:04AM
MAX WEBSTER
LET GO THE LINE
Sat 10:01AM
FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
RELAX
Sat 09:56AM
THE POLICE
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Sat 09:50AM
THE NEVILLE BROTHERS
BIRD ON A WIRE
Sat 09:46AM
BOSTON
MORE THAN A FEELING
Sat 09:42AM
MEN AT WORK
DOWN UNDER
Sat 09:38AM
BARENAKED LADIES
LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS TIME
Sat 09:35AM
MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS
ECHO BEACH
Sat 09:31AM
BLONDIE
HEART OF GLASS
Sat 09:27AM
MICHAEL JACKSON
THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL
Sat 09:24AM
THE CLASH
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD
Sat 09:19AM
QUEEN
SOMEBODY TO LOVE
Sat 09:15AM
THE PARACHUTE CLUB
RISE UP
Sat 09:11AM
THE STRAY CATS
ROCK THIS TOWN
Sat 09:07AM
CHIC
LE FREAK
Sat 09:03AM
JOURNEY
DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'
It's really a great improvement over the playlist for the old EZ Rock. Sure, I could do without that Neville Brothers tune but we got Martha and the Muffins, the Clash, Max Webster, Spirit of the West and they just played the B-52s. It's definitely classic hits with a strong focus on the 80s and a little 70s and 90s on the side.
Sample boom 97.3 for yourself at http://cjez.player.myastralmediaradio.com/ and let me know what you think of the new format in the comments. It might not be exactly what we're looking for, but it's a great improvement.
As a fan of the old Humble and Fred show that aired on CFNY throughout the 90s, Humble's role on the 97.3 EZ Rock morning show has been bittersweet. On the one hand, he's back doing mornings on Toronto radio. On the other hand, it's EZ Rock, home of Celine Dion, John Tesh and a soccer mom music paradise.
Thankfully for us old Humble and Fred fans, and fans of the old CFNY, EZ Rock is changing formats on Boxing Day and will become BOOM FM playing classic hits. No more "light favourites of yesterday and today" or whatever that music was supposed to be. It will become sort of an adult alternative station with a focus on classic hits. At least that's the buzz on the street.
It makes sense. Humble and Colleen in the mornings and then Maie Pauts. Goodbye Celine, hello Thompson Twins. Goodbye John Tesh, hello Tears For Fears. Goodbye EZ Rock, hello BOOM FM.
Shortly after 8:30 this morning, Humble and Fred were on the radio, together for the first time since 2005. It was an EZ Rock promo for their 5th podcast.
Their Fifth Podcast is ready, but it's so racy and raw, it needs to be cleared by an army of lawyers and Humble's wife. We'll have it online soon and you'll be able to read all about it here.
PPM Top-line Radio Data for Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal has been released by bbm.
Below are the ratings for Toronto, covering August 31, 2009 through November 29, 2009. This is our first full ratings period since they switched to Portable People Meter (PPM) technology.
Call Letters
Also Known As
Share %
Cume (000)
Daily Cume (000)
CBLFM
CBC Radio 2
1.7
1,935.50
148.4
CBLAFM
CBC Radio One
9.3
2,163.40
484.3
CFMJ
AM640
3
1,986.10
238.3
CFMZF+
Classical 96.3FM
4.2
2,742.30
287
CFNYFM
102.1 The Edge
5.4
3,771.40
521.7
CFRB
Newstalk 1010
4.5
1,596.40
239.4
CFTR
680 News
8.4
3,601.60
864.1
CFXJFM
FLOW 93.5
1.8
2,555.60
254.2
CFZM
Zoomer Radio AM740
2.5
1,523.70
143.5
CHFIFM
98.1 CHFI
12.9
5,163.70
956.9
CHUM
CP24
0.1
907.2
25.1
CHUMFM
104.5 - CHUM FM
12.1
5,038.40
1,046.30
CIDCFM
Z103.5
2.7
3,511.00
492.4
CILQFM
Q107
8.3
4,155.90
708.3
CINGFM
Vinyl 95.3
0.9
2,259.00
144.5
CJBC
La Première Chaîne
0.1
745.4
20.4
CJBCFM
Radio-Canada
0.3
867.2
33.4
CJCL
The Fan 590
2.9
1,911.10
289.1
CJEZFM
97.3 EZ Rock
6.5
5,139.80
702
CJRTFM
JAZZ.FM91
1.5
1,857.90
142.7
CKDXFM
88.5 The Jewel
1.4
1,457.10
105.7
CKFMFM
Virgin Radio 999
6.5
5,100.20
825.6
CKISFM
Kiss 92.5
2
3,582.10
418.4
CHFI and CHUM-FM are hammering it out for top spot and there's still nobody listening to the old 1050 CHUM spot, now simulcasting CP24. All in all, very few surprises...
It snowed last night. Not a lot, but enough to get the local media excited. 680 News, for example, opened their Storm Centre for the first time.
It was about six years ago that I first wondered aloud as to what opening their Storm Centre would entail.
I wonder what setting up the Storm Centre entails exactly. As far as I can tell, it's business as usual with more time devoted to the top story of the morning, our little snow storm. Media outlets like 680News thrive when their listeners in are in a state of fear. Listening to them you'd have thought we were all buried and trapped in our homes living off the food and drink we have stored away. In reality, it's not that bad. Really.
The Storm Centre guy back then was Scott Simpson. I had a chat with Scott Simpson and got an exclusive inside look at the 680 News Storm Centre. We'll call this "680 News Storm Centre Exposed", because that sounds a lot more exciting. The words below belong to Scott.
Setting up the storm centre basically entails somebody telling me, "Simpson, you're on standby for Storm Centre tomorrow." That means I try to get to bed early, but end up tossing and turning until 4:15am when I call the newsroom ... I say, "It's not even snowing. The Weather Network says we're only getting 5cm." They say "Well, it's hit Chicago and they've cancelled a ton of flights. Come on in, you're our man."
That's about it. I get in, I see if any schools are closed, I find out what's up at the airport, maybe call Gary Welsh from Toronto Transportation to see what gear they're sending out, load up the admin side of the web site, and climb on the news wheel ... There's no time to run back and forth into and out of the control room, so I sit at a desk (the proverbial "Storm Centre" which, internally, is dialed up as CHFINEWS, even though they haven't done CHFI news from the newsroom in ... erm ... well, I don't think they ever did. Legacy tech, natch.) and broadcast from there, getting up now and then for fluid management.
So I sit there at the desk, and every half hour they throw to me, I read a sponsor or two, and try to tell it like it is .... sometimes it's a brain-bending five-hour whirlwind of bus cancellations and school closures (how many Montessori schools *are* there in the GTA, and why can't they get their kids to class when it snows?!) though, thankfully, most days I end up saying "Well, there's no big storm here ... but if you're travelling by air, you're screwed." I would rather be the voice of "everything's fine, get out and live your lives!" than the voice of doom and gloom when there's nothing to freak out about. I don't want to get a reputation as Chicken Little. If anything, I downplay the severity of what's going on out of the fact that I don't drive.
I saw Bowling For Columbine and some other stuff that has convinced me that keeping listeners "in a state of fear" is a terrible thing to do. I also don't like "neighbourhoods in a state of shock" or "outraged residents" or such things. I have two rules: tell the truth, and never be boring. They rarely clash, because the truth well told is usually a really interesting story.
There you have it, a Toronto Mike exclusive. Since Scott's left, I think they've gone all "state of fear" on us. Now be afraid... very afraid. White substance has fallen from the heavens!
I recently wrote about the Humble and Fred network cable special that aired on Rogers 10 back in 1993. Thanks to Ryan at Rogers 10, I now have in my possession the opening for "Humble and Fred's First Ever Network Cable Special".
It's got some great footage of the old CFNY studio and a very young Humble Howard, Fred Patterson and Dan Duran. Fans of the old Humble and Fred morning show and CFNY alike will want to check this out.
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time.
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You've got to love Andy Barrie. He's been hosting Toronto's CBC Radio One program Metro Morning since 1995 and is one of the finest broadcasters working in this city. His Metro Morning has always been 
It snowed last night. Not a lot, but enough to get the local media excited. 680 News, for example, opened their Storm Centre for the first time.
I recently