Red Retires - March 1998

Stories and info about those no longer involved in the industry

Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Aug 13, 2006 6:48 pm

When he retired from radio in December of 1984 he said 30 years was long enough and he never wanted to face a live microphone again. But he had worked for every major station in the market except CKNW and when they came around with an offer he was back in front of a live mike with three hours of Saturday night rock 'n' roll nostalgia, rekindling the cold old bones of poor Buddy Holly.

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Now Robinson says he's done with the agency business, that after 21 years in advertising he never wants to face another live camera in another client's car lot. "Some days I feel like a white sidewall," he says.

The agency business has been Robinson's flip side, providing a cash flow that permitted him to never have to grow up, to be the kid disc jockey forever, working only for radio stations that let him ignore the captive program directors, to play Chubby Checker when the smart playlists clearly demanded Def Leppard, or whatever.

Robinson has tendered his resignation to Vrlak Robinson Hayhurst and says he has no plans, except to see if he can handle doing nothing.

We'll put just a grain or two of salt on that idea because the last time Robinson did nothing was in 1953, when he was in Grade 10. By Grade 11, he was earning $30 a week as an afternoon disc jockey on CJOR with a request program that locked up half the radios in Vancouver.

Twenty-one years ago, when he was program director at CFUN, he started a one-man ad agency called Trend. He got his first major account when a man came to discuss ad spots for a hamburger business he was starting. The man was George Tidball and the hamburger place was Canada's first McDonald's outlet.

When Robinson needed help to service his accounts, a CFUN secretary suggested her boyfriend, a marketing student at SFU. Robinson hired him, a young guy named Rich Simons. Robinson was at his printer, soliciting advice in photographing hamburgers, when the shop's artist came out of the back in an ink-spattered printer's apron and made some shrewd suggestions. That's how Robinson hired Frank Palmer.

In 1968, Jimmy Pattison bought CJOR and asked Robinson to program it. Robinson sold Trend to Palmer and Simons who renamed it Simons Palmer. Simons left to form Simons Advertising and the old firm became Palmer Jarvis. When Robinson left CJOR, he and Mike Dixon and Steve Vrlak formed an agency that, when Dixon left, operated as Vrlak Robinson for 13 years until merging with Hayhurst this year. And when Simons merged with Palmer Jarvis, the notion was irresistible that the agency business is a revolving wheel with very few spokes.

But the item isn't what Robinson has done, it's what he hasn't done. For all the radio stations he has worked for, he has never owned one. But four years ago he and two buddies nearly created the broadcast story of this second half-century. That was when Robinson, CFUN's Fred Latremouille and Tony Parsons of BCTV, with the financial support of Vancouver millionaire Joe Segal, put in a $5-million bid to buy CJOR from Pattison.

Parsons was ready to give up television to read radio news. Latremouille would have been the morning man, Robinson the program director. They would have scrapped the 'OR talk format for music and news and planned to hire Rick Honey from CKNW and Wayne Cox from CKVU and they hoped to lure Paul Ski away from CFUN as general manager.

They never negotiated directly with Pattison, but dealt through intermediaries, "bean-counters," Robinson calls them in retrospect.

Denny Boyd - Vancouver Sun March 29/88 - edited
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Postby jon » Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:59 pm

Note that, despite the subtitle, this article is from 1988, not 1998. Which explains why it doesn't tell the story of when, in the early '90s, Red almost co-owned all the time on a U.S. radio station. Robin Mitchell was one of the other partners who was planning to do Border Radio all over again. This time, running CanCon-free Oldies on FM into Vancouver from "just across the line".

Unfortunately, the station got bought just before the deal was finalized with the previous owners.

Remember, this was a time when the CRTC did not permit Oldies on FM.
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Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:06 pm

your right on the date Jon - maybe radiofan can correct - I can't

its an interesting feature you can change the entire story but not the headlines

unless there is a way??
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Postby BossRadio » Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:57 pm

:ph43r: I for one would love to hear more of that aborted "Border Radio" plan and tale...anyone have more details? God, what a brilliant idea...gotta check the U.S. trades to see if anything cheap is on the market.(Hey Neumann...work on this one !)

BR
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Postby jon » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:30 pm

If you'll pardon the fact that what follows is taken from three separate e-mails from Robin Mitchell, here is what I know (in Robin's own words):

I tried to put together a deal to lease one of the Bellingham FM?s, and had Lan tapped for airwork via internet voice-tracking.

Was going to bring back a lot of the KOL-KJR guys for the venture. Red Robinson had lined up a team to sell time in Vancouver, BC?but just couldn?t get Saga to come to the table. Too many chiefs. Local GM deferred to corporate?.located in Michigan. Corporate deferred to VP Programming in Connecticut?and so on. Could never get all the players to the table to seriously consider the model?.then the moment passed.

I was targeting KAFE 104.3?.a simple twist to make it CAF? image wise for Canada. The plan was to lease the facility?spend a substantial sum in on-air promotion with toll-free lines for all listeners including Canada?.subscribe to BBM?.sell it in Vancouver. Maintain ?tax deductible? status for advertisers, because what they would be buying ads on an internet stream featuring the commercials?.the programming would be simulcast on the US signal at no charge. In addition to the lease revenue?Saga would have retained one avail an hour?and had the right to sell any of our unsold avails at pre-emptible rate with a revenue split with us.

Had a very interesting package put together including a spec website. One of Red?s partners in Vancouver would have converted one of his restaurant venues to OLDIES CAF? with Red Vancouver memorabilia?.telephone link to the station for a nightly Platter Party show, etc.

I think I could have debuted the station at #1 A25-54. CanCon would have kept anybody from competing with us potency wise, plus CRTC at the time would not allow the Oldies Format on FM in Canada?so we would have had smooth sailing.

Oh?the other element of the format was?YOU PICK THE MUSIC WE PLAY?via an interactive website, so the music focus evolves day-after-day based on active listenership. You?re right. I prepared this in late 92. The original concept was The OLDIES CAF?. However, the format was not bound to 50?s-60?s only. There was a TIME WARP feature that allowed us to FLASHFORWARD to a song compatible in sensibilities with the Core 62-72 sound?.like Police EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE, etc.
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Postby jon » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:56 am

I am a little confused about the date. I haven't found a definitive reference but I do remember doing an in-depth product description Web page for a local computer hardware company in 1994, and having to be very careful not to break the Internet's "no advertising" policy. Since 1994 was also the year that Pizza Hut introduced Internet ordering, and the first banner ads appeared, I would have to conclude that the "no advertising" policy was eliminated in the latter part of 1994.

So, I would have to suggest that this plan evolved no earlier than late 1994.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:25 am

Jon (I got your name right this time...sorry about that!)

What a fascinating story about KAFE 104.3!!!! I've previously heard the stories about the CJOR purchase attempt by Red, Tony Parsons & Fred Latrimouille but have NEVER heard anyything about the KAFE tie-in with Robin Mitchell & some of the Seattle Top 40 alumni. 104.3 would have been the hottest spot on the FM dial from Tacoma to Campbell River! 104.3 did a few stints as an automated oldies station (as KNWR???) but had about as much life as a mouldy sandwich. Saga is once agin trying satelite oldies as they recently switched AM 930 KBAI from adult standards to "Good Times Oldies" from the 50's 60's & 70's
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Postby BossRadio » Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:08 pm

:ph43r: Thanks Jon> GRRRREAT tale! It underscores a long held belief I have that someday, somehow someone with vision and enough green in the bank will aim a flamethrower at the lower mainland and set loose a lineup of classic personalities. Just going ahead and DOING IT, saying "blow me" to the mandarins in Ottawa,"damn the torpedos ,we'll deal with it after our audience tells us how much they love oldies on FM."
That is of course if there are any of those jocks left above ground when it all goes down. I for one hope I live long enough to see it happen.

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Postby jon » Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:55 pm

Obviously those DJs with current Canadian radio employers would have to make a difficult choice: quit their current job or take a pass on Border Radio. But there is a large enough pool of Seattle and Vancouver DJs from the '60s still around that I am sure you could find enough in good health to staff several such stations.

I'm not sure management would want to risk the necessary salary figure on Day One to attract Larry Lujack (remember him on KJR? before he went to WLS Chicago), but perhaps after the first year's profits? Larry was just quoted in the last week as wanting to do more on-air work.

Why don't we start talking about Dream Teams among the healthy? Robert O. Smith and J.B. Shayne could share all-nights, perhaps based on personal schedules. Robin Mitchell on early evenings. Red Robinson on late evenings.

Terry McManus on mid-days would be fun. I admit that no one in Vancouver outside the Radio biz. will remember him from KOL, but they remember his great imaging voice, as it was on enough (Concerts West?) commercials aired on Vancouver radio in the early '70s.

I doubt Fred Latrimouille could be coaxed out of retirement, but he'd sound great on either AM or PM Drive. Likewise, I doubt Dave McCormick would sever his relationship with Pattison, but he'd be ideal on his last CFUN shift (1962), PM Drive.

Bill Reiter would probably prefer just a weekend shift, maybe Saturday evenings, doing six hours with a heavy emphasis on '60s and '50s R&B, including Motown.

I'm sure I'll kick myself later for the obvious names that I've failed to assign to a shift here. Now it's your turn to come up with a Dream Team. But, please, choose from the living.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:19 pm

jonedmonton wrote: I'm sure I'll kick myself later for the obvious names that I've failed to assign to a shift here. Now it's your turn to come up with a Dream Team. But, please, choose from the living.

here's my shot at the 'dream team' a.k.a. "The Cafe Border Blasters". I am making the assumption that these guys could be dragged out of retirement, away from their current employers, or would be willing to stream from a home studio, or at least talked into a weekly show.

Weekdays-

6-9am: Pat O'Day
9-noon: "Big Daddy" McCormick
12-3pm: "Real Roy" Hennessy
3-6pm: Red Robinson's "Teen Canteen"
6-9pm: Robin Mitchell
9-midnight: Robert O Smith
12-6am: J B "Captain Midnight" Shane

Saturdays-

6-9am "Frosty" Forst
9-noon: Larry Lujack
12-3pm: Fred Latrimouille
3-6pm: Tom Murphy
6-9pm: Bill Reiter "The Mole Of Soul" - vintage R&B...all those great Motown, Atlantic, Stax-Volt, Chess-Checker label classics!!
9-12am: Peter Starr "Radio Free Cafe" - British invasion hits, rarities, historical sound clips & album cuts
12-6am: Doc Harris

Sundays-

6-9am: Frank Callaghan
9-noon: Norm Gregory
noon-3pm: Dick Curtis
3-6pm: Burl Barer
6-9pm: "Jolly John" Tanner - rarities, B-sides & album cuts
9-12am: Pam Burge - rarities & album cuts by 50's 60's & 70's artists
12-6am: Terry David Mulligan - album tracks plus "long" versions of hit singles that were actually album cuts

Like Jon, there are probably many names I forgot, but if the shifts were kept to 3 hours there'd be a large variety of killer jocks from this region! BTW - I remember listening to Terry McManus mid-days during summer school break on KOL & he did have a nice set of pipes!
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