Anniversary of sorts

A look back at various radio stations

Postby jon » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:01 pm

Yes, CKVN with Terry David Mulligan as Program Director definitely did steal some listeners from CKLG-FM. Especially All Nights with J.B. Shane and Iron Buffalo (Don Francks), depending on which day of the week you tuned in.

What I don't remember is exactly when LG-FM went automated, blowing all the air staff out the door except John Runge, who had started out as Music Director, but may have been Program Director by that time. I suspect it was after TDM left CKVN.

There may even have been two periods of automation at CKLG-FM before April 1974 when I left Vancouver for Yellowknife. During the first "Runge period", they played 15 minute tapes of music, each back-announced by John. I'm not even sure they had any real automation, as they always had live operators, just as they had during the non-live-announce periods of CKLG-FM in their "Foreground Sound" days of elevator music.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:12 pm

If memory serves me, LG-FM went automated in 1972 during the strike at the station. During the airstaff strike, they actually signed off for awhile at 9am in the morning returning to the air about 4 or 5 pm and running all night. I don't think John Runge was the PD or MD at the time - it was Cam Scott. I do remember John's automated voiceovers however. LG-FM never sounded the same after that and the personality driven rock format on CKVN 1410 was more appealing. LG-FM got rid of all the eclectic elements that John had brought to their sound - jazz, folk, country-rock and other fringe appeal genres. 99.3 was strictly rock after 1972 - a direction that would ultimately lead to their next persona: CFOX "The Fox" 99.3
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Captain Midnight

Postby johnsykes » Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:04 pm

Jon...you have brought up my favourite subject.....J.B. Shayne. The guy drove me nuts....I don't know if I have mentioned this here before...it may have been on another site. As I took over as PD when TDM left, we had to return to having certain newscasts during the day and evening. Daytime was an automatic from the newsroom to get back to music......"just ahead of The Beatles and Bren Traff" Vancouver weather........
Then there was a different format overnight.....as designed by Captain Midnight......J.B. would intro the news with "Now CKVN Story time". The guy was a master...I couldn't give him shi*....I really admired his talent.

There was Jolly John Tanner........he was ahead of his time.....at last word, John is brilliant working for the Observatory.......

My worst fear with others was walking into the control room....and being overcome by a "different kind of smoke". I'd never run into it before. Nor did I ever want to again. That's for a different subject to talk about.

J.B. Shayne, whatever you are doing....where ever you are....you are remembered fondly by this old guy.

John S.
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Postby jon » Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:10 pm

Everybody I knew who was up late enough to listen to J.B. Shayne (he had changed the spelling from "Shane" by then) on CKVN talked about Story Time.

And even present day interviews with JB talk about the fact that all nights on CKVN were the favourite period of his career.

CKLG-FM may have seemed to fit him best, but there was just no shift like overnights for JB to really shine. Didn't he even doing Morning Drive on LG-FM?
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Postby Jack Bennest » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:44 pm

Friday March 6, 1970 - the so called Black Friday


13 employees at CKVN were let go. The station had lost a half million dollars in about a year of the experiment.

The all news or at least 12 hours a day news aborted about three weeks into the newspaper strike.

Who was let go is speculation and left for those who were chopped and yes Jon McComb was working for VN and union activity was taking place which may have had a bearing on the station's decisions.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:19 am

I don't remember Shane ever doing mornings on LG-FM. I DO remember him overnights on both 73CKLG and CKVN and yes, "Story Time" and all of his other antics on 1410.

Although employed by the Planetarium, John Tanner is still ahead of his time: he has been hosting a 2 hour cutting-edge rock show on CITR for at least 10 years now - probably longer and occasionally Shane or one of John's other one-time radio cohorts sit in with him

When the big blow-out happened with CKVN's all-news, my first hint that changes were coming was one weekday evening: I was doing my homework after supper and as sunset was approaching, I was doing the odd scan of the AM band. 1410 had rock on it! i couldn't believe it! I discovered that Peter Starr was spinning rock in the evenings on CKVN! It was pretty loosely formatted and sounded more like LG-FM than top 40. I suspect it was Peter who was picking the tracks to he played. Short after, CKVN had "chicken rock" on weekends but don't remember who the jocks were...Cam Scott comes to mind, also Tim (Pam) Burge
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Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:40 am

February 1970

A lockout began at the two major Vancouver dailies, The Vancouver Sun and The Province. A daily newspaper called The Vancouver Express appeared, and would be published from February 21 to May 12. It ceased publication when the strike ended.

Three weeks into the newspaper dispute CKVN pulled the plug on its 12 hour rotating news blocks and went back to music.

20 employees were to be retained and reassigned to other duties according to Ron Carabine. Carabine says - " We did our damndest to maintain a good news service but it didn't take hold. Vancouver isn't big enough."

The station introduced a 12 hours-in-24 hours solid news programming 12 months ago.

The newspaper lockout began on February 15 according to best records
which are not very good. Black Friday occurred about three weeks later on March 6.
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Postby radiofan » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:56 am

skyvalleyradio wrote:When the big blow-out happened with CKVN's all-news, my first hint that changes were coming was one weekday evening: I was doing my homework after supper and as sunset was approaching, I was doing the odd scan of the AM band. 1410 had rock on it! i couldn't believe it! I discovered that Peter Starr was spinning rock in the evenings on CKVN! It was pretty loosely formatted and sounded more like LG-FM than top 40. I suspect it was Peter who was picking the tracks to he played. Short after, CKVN had "chicken rock" on weekends but don't remember who the jocks were...Cam Scott comes to mind, also Tim (Pam) Burge


Sky ... this period was actually prior to the All News format .. late 1968 - early 1969 .. I remember listening one night when Peter had his close peronal friend Lee Baby Simms on .. Simms was working at KCBQ San Diego then. Peter and Lee talked about stations they had worked at together around Texas etc. After the short lived CFUN gig, Peter then managed an all girl group called "The Cake" ..

When CKVN returned to Top 40 in March of 1970 it was Hal Weaver, Jim McDonald [talk show], Tim Burge, Latremouille, Mulligan and Shayne playin' the hits.

Image
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Postby segueking2 » Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:54 pm

I started at CKVN, in February, 1972. Don Ramsden and I had a place out on North Road, and we both had to hitch to the studio. Don got me an audition and I scored an all night weekend gig.

I was taught the board by the estimable, J. Lee Smith.

Jocks included Major Tom Lewis, Johnny Mack (incredible) and Peter Benson. Jon McComb did news. Bob Magee did mornings.

CKVN had the improbable "CKVN news at 14 - at :46 we would have the package, which would consist of rip and read news wire, sports, weather, hog reports, fishing reports - anything....to fill it up.

The station got off on the wrong foot, and we had Richard "Hub" Hughes, doing his best to get a union in.
Program Director was Simon Ginsberg. He also had a Tee Shirt business in Gastown. He had a DYNAMITE girlfriend.

Latremouille lived across the alley. Soon, we had Daryl B. and Chuck McCoy, Russ Tyson, and the rest is history.

It seems like a million years ago.

When I didn't know what tinnitus was. I do now.

The PNE in the summer of '72 - everyday. Sitting in a CARDBOARD representationn of a radio - painted in CKVN orange and Blue.
It was in the same building as the giant Map of BC, that used to draw, oh, six or 7 people in the entire fair.

Bill Konyk's White shoes and perogie stand at the Fair.

Ron Carabine, and his Sabot pipe tobacco.

The Riot at the Coliseum, with the Stones and Stevie Wonder.

Walked to work the night that Team Canada and Russia played for all the marbles. It was a sunny evening, and as I walked along Broadway, I saw few cars, but out of windows and along the way I could hear the game and the call by Foster Hewitt.

Playing "Back off Boogaloo" and having Allen Jasper (*later to become Robert D. Vine) painting the lunchroom at 1900 West Fourth.....

Crowbar at "The Cave" and Kelly Jay rolling joints the size of Mulligan's arm, on a tour bus careening through Stanley Park.

CKVN. It was quite the place.

Memories still fresh.
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Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:22 pm

Great stories SKdoux
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:26 pm

radiofan - hmmm...I must be muddled about the dates but I DO vaguely remember Peter Starr managing The Cake. BTW - I have a copy of that poster too. It's among my most treasured items of memorabilia
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