1050 CHUM Celebrates 50 Years!

[Glen Livingstone]

1050 CHUM Celebrates 50 Years!

Countdown to May 2007 Anniversary Begins

Monday, January 1, 2007

Celebration Features an Ongoing Look at 50 Years of
News and Musical Milestones

(TORONTO, ON) - 1050 CHUM is thrilled to announce the launch of its 50th anniversary celebrations. Beginning January 1, listeners can travel back in time and re-live the past five decades as 1050 CHUM broadcasts archival audio of news and musical milestones.

On May 27, 1957, Allan Waters, backed by a bunch of ?crazy deejays? and the CHUM Radio family, launched 1050 CHUM, Canada?s first 24-hour Top 40 radio station. Through the formative ?50s, the unforgettable ?60s and the fascinating ?70s, 1050 CHUM played a major part in shaping the Canadian radio landscape. Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Guess Who, Elton John, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers and Bob Seger are among the great musicians who not only graced the airwaves but walked the halls of 1050 CHUM. The station was also home to many beloved personalities, including Jay Nelson, Al Boliska, Wolfman Jack, Roger Ashby, Tom Rivers, Dick Clark, Dave Johnson and Bob McAdorey.

1050 CHUM was the first radio station in Canada to play Elvis and The Beatles, and has since been honoured at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The station?s reputation is built on creative programming concepts, including such ground-breaking documentaries as ?The History of Rock and Roll?, ?The Story of the Beatles? and ?The Elvis Presley Story?. 1050 CHUM also had a profound effect on many well-known listeners: Eugene Levy was a regular fan of Al Boliska?s ?World?s Worst Jokes? and both Mike Myers and Dave Thomas collected CHUM Charts. Neil Young once told Rolling Stone that going to bed with his radio tuned to 1050 CHUM was ?when he really became aware of what was going on in music?.

The celebration kicks off with CHUM?s 28-hour documentary, ?The History of Rock and Roll.? For the first time since its original broadcast 36 years ago, listeners can tune in to one-hour segments of the series every weekday at 11:00 am, beginning January 1, 2007.

More celebrations and special events will be announced in the months leading up to the 50th anniversary. Stay tuned to 1050 CHUM or www.1050chum.com for details on special anniversary programming.

[Mike Cleaver]

1050 Chum and Chum-FM produced a lot of documentaries.
That all ended in '95 when the CRTC dropped requirements for spoken word on FM.
During my almost 20 years with the company (in three shifts, two in Toronto, one in Ottawa), the most honoured documentary was one on AIDS, a year in the making, produced by Paul Cross.
It won the top prize at the International Radio Festival in New York.
There were many others as well.
Chum also produced the long running National News, heard on Chum stations across the country for many, many years, hosted by people such as Dick Smyth, Hal Anthony, myself, Paul Cross, Micheal O'Brien and several others.
As JRW used to say: "How come for a music station - all our ratings peaks come at the top of the hour?"
Chum produced a lot of music documentaries, including the year-enders and countdowns which included news clips.
I was honoured to do those portions in the early '70's.
There never was as cohesive a production team than there was at Chum.
It included everyone in the building, all contributing to a solid and almost ageless product.
Listen to the rebroadcast of the series mentioned in this thread on-line.
It still stands the test of time.
Happy New Year to all my broadcast friends from the Left Coast and in the East.
45 years in this crazy business as of Christmas Eve and still at it!