by jon » Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:02 pm
"Thanks for thinking of me." Terry's final words of this interview remind me the most of the Terry Bell that I knew at CHQM in 1971-72.
I was the lowest of the low: part-time Operator. A washer of records, watcher of the automation machine and operator of the AM and FM boards. Touching the red switch (microphone) was grounds for instant dismissal. But everyone was kind to me, all the way up to majority owner Jack Stark. He even expressed his thanks and was quite conversational when I helped him find some LPs in the record library to take home for the weekend's listening.
When I arrived in mid-June 1971, Terry was the first full-time announcer I got to know in the last few weeks that CHQM-AM did Saturday afternoons live. Terry did that shift and was always very friendly and helpful as I started my regular Saturday afternoon/evening shift by manning the CHQM-FM automation machine. Terry also did the majority of voice tracks for the stations, so I may well have been playing tapes of Terry on CHQM-FM at the same time as he was live on AM.
Glad to hear that Terry is still at NW. And retains such a positive outlook for the industry.
Surprised he didn't mention what must have the most boring job he ever did: doing a complete set of time checks for every minute from 6-9am. When the CRTC regulations tightened up on simulcasting on September 1, 1971, AM Drive could no longer be simulcast, with Brad Keene as host. CHQM-FM then had the Terry Bell Morning Show. Terry recorded voice tracks on one reel of tape and the board operator had Terry's time checks on another tape reel.
Although I didn't notice it at the time, there has been lots of talk in recent years on the large number of Bells at CHQM. While I was there, there was Terry Bell, Newsman Barry Bell, and Station Manager Bill Bellman. For the record, no one was asked to changed their on-air name.