Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

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Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby The Unknown Copywriter » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:15 am

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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby tuned » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:31 am

This one really hurts. First time I met Neil he was pulling a weekend all night shift at CJOR. He offered me some peanuts from a huge bag he was carrying. I worked with him at CKWX and he showed me that you could watch porn on the sports dept TV by tuning to channel one. The cable company was making a few extra bucks feeding it into downtown hotels. He hadn't really developed his schtick at that point. I remember him being quiet and thoughtful, not the bombastic character he played on radio. Later at NW I never forgave him for playing along with the despicable charade management used to get rid of Al Davidson but it doesn't matter now. RIP Neil. Hope you didn't suffer too much on the way out.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby kal » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:55 am

Thinking back to when he first made it on 'NW, on the overnight show with Rafe Mair. This may be the point where he was developing his on-air persona.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby cart_machine » Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:00 am

kal wrote:Thinking back to when he first made it on 'NW, on the overnight show with Rafe Mair. This may be the point where he was developing his on-air persona.


Actually, Kal, no, he wasn't. He was developing it way back when he was at CFVR in Abbotsford.

cArtie.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby kal » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:37 pm

Thanks. I'd like to know some more of Macrae's timeline and the various stations where he worked. Is it safe to say that it was with Mair that he first developed the two-person adversarial sportscast? He needed a foil, and Mair was that foil. And certainly both Mair and Macrae moved on from that overnight midnight-to-five slot as more developed on-air personas.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby jon » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:47 pm

kal wrote:I'd like to know some more of Macrae's timeline and the various stations where he worked.

From VancouverBroadcasters.com:
Neil Macrae - All nights CJVI Victoria 1969-70; CHWK Chilliwack circa 1970; late night sports/host The Blazer Report CJOR Vancouver 1972; CKWX Vancouver 1973-78; sports/talk host CJOR Vancouver 1978; sports/talk host then Whitecaps colour commentator CKWX 1980-83; sports CKNW New Westminster 1983-2012 and sports comment mornings CFMI-FM Vancouver to 2013; Vancouver Province sports columnist
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby Tom Jeffries » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:49 pm

This is just shocking. We are losing so many people.

RIP, my friend. Thanks for the memories.

Neil was always very nice to me, and I think he was a really talented fellow.

This is a huge loss.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby radiofan » Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:44 pm

It's been a tough couple of weeks for anyone who worked at CKNW in the past 30 years.

First Bob Robertson, then last week Dave McCormick and now Neil Macrae.

All great people who were great to work with.

Here's Neil from June of 2011 on Shaw's Urban Rush with Fiona Forbes and Michael Eckford. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EJEupilOmI
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 6

Postby radiofan » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:59 pm

From the CKNW website, here's the audio of Neil's farewell broadcast in 2012.

Macrae's CKNW Sign Off
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby WayneCox » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:01 pm

Another sad day, as we get news of losing another member of the broadcast community. Neil and I shared a Dunbar connection, early days of Little League, and as I remember a CHNL connection, he coming in while I was going out....then the Vancouver radio connection, and golf tournaments together. I remember listening to him burn up the airwaves with his bombastic sportscasts, and shake my head...if you knew him, you knew it was just an act...off the air, he had a heart of gold. He did what he did on air, to sell tickets, (ratings) and I'll be damned if he didn't get them! We enjoyed many a crazy night....we've lost another great one!
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby Recordman » Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:41 am

Sad news indeed,I used to listen to Neil on Rock 101,I`m not into sports but did enjoy listening to Neil.RIP.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby radiofan » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:37 am

Bill Good remembers Neil on today's "A Minute With Bill Good" on News 1130 ...

http://www.news1130.com/audio/minute-with-bill-good/
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby radio knob » Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:19 pm

I would go to my car at lunch just to listen to his afternoon sports broadcast. He knew the formula for ratings. So good in fact I just assumed was same on and off the air.
Turns out he was a real performer.
I didn't know he was married, and he married up it seems. Must have been later in life, I thought he was always getting ribs for his lack of appeal to women.
Got the impression he would always be a Vancity boy, wonder what observations he would have made about life in Palm Springs ...
Maybe someone in the know can shed light on the Big Al feud and did he ever get in trouble with CRTC?
RIP.
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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby Glen Livingstone » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:34 pm

Neil Macrae:

"Frosty likes my style ... abrasive, witty, fast. I'm willing to set myself up for his stuff; I don't care if people poke fun of me. Frosty needs someone who can fire back. It's not rehearsed; I have no idea what he's going to say. His mike's open when I'm talking, and he'll say things. He's the only deejay I know who's right on top of current events, including sports.
I've always been abrasive. There's not a whole lot of difference between me and the average sports fan talking. I have a microphone. When you get people going to the office and saying 'I missed Macrae, what'd he say?' you know you're doing it. You gotta do a show."
- From 'Top Dog: A History of CKNW, B.C.'s Most Listened to Radio Station' by Chuck Davis © 1993.
**********************************************
Four things about Neil:
1.
One day in early 1999 Neil came trudging into my studio at the Black Tower lugging a box that must have weighed about fifty pounds.
"Here" he said, "This is for you."
Me: "What is it Neil?"
"My record collection. I know you collect this crap, thought you might want 'em."
Me: "Not listening to music anymore?"
"Yeah I am, but I tossed my turntable and bought a new eight track player. You should check it out, I know a guy at A&B Sound, I can get you one, the sound quality is incredible."
************************************************
2.
Neil had a lot of side deals set up with clients that may or may have not gone through the regular channels at the radio station, I learned that it was better not to ask.
I turned out to be the go-to guy for Neil and his "clients," which consisted of a motley collection of pre-pop-up era sports bars and spotty restaurants that were only around for about five minutes and a few other questionable enterprises.
One of them was a guy Neil had hooked up with who was marketing something called the Towel Buddy, a nondescript towel that hooked up to the handle of a golf cart that you were supposed to use to dry your hands on between hitting balls. It retailed for $19.95.
"What d'ya think man?" Neil said to me while I was adjusting the mic. "Well, if I had to guess Neil" I replied, "it looks like something I could pick up for a buck at a Dollar store."
After the session, Neil wadded up the Towel Buddy and tossed it to me. "Here" he said, "you can use this to cry into when you get blown out of this joint in a couple of months."
**************************************************
3.
As far as I could determine, Neil's entire wardrobe consisted of three pairs of colourful Bermuda shorts and a pair of sandals.
**************************************************
4.
Neil would rarely read commercial copy supplied by the radio station's Traffic Department.
His usual method was to briefly glance at it, snort derisively, crumple it into a ball, and toss it into a corner of the recording booth.
He would then ad-lib the spot off the top of his head, nail it in one take, open the studio door and amble off down the hall.
***************************************************
***************************************************
That's all I've got for the stories about Neil that I can actually post. Goodbye pal. GL

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Re: Former CKNW sportscaster Neil Macrae dies at 65

Postby kal » Sat Apr 08, 2017 11:13 am

Wonderful obituary to Neil Macrae in today's Vancouver Sun.
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