by johnsykes » Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:29 pm
Thanks for falling into my trap. I could never understand why people had to change names....there was no need for so many....my favourite guy, Mr. Cool on air....Fred Latrimouille.....(maybe sp) many simply typed Latrimo....no big deal.
Phil Toombs had to change to Phil Roberts for some reason....yet others were totally successful as Dean Hagopian....Brian Forst, etc. No one ever questioned my name, John Sykes.....oh yes, they pronounced it like there was no tomorrow....Si-kus....Sicks....you name it. Obviously they'd never been into the literary world of Dickens....Sikes the burgler.
I remember one day, I way at CJOR.....preparing to do the noon sports....I thought I'd throw in something different....knowing Vancouver had some famous names already.....I did the intro.....Good afternoon, J. Robson Sykes with the noon sports report....or something like that. When the sports report was done and I was out of the studio, my dear General Manager, Don Wall, called me in and asked me never to do that again. I explained that I was using my correct name....John Robson Sykes.
He believed I was mocking Jim Robson and/or J. Paul McConnell. It took a few minutes for me to cue him in, and all was forgotten. I'd never mock Jim Robson, never. He's the best and forever will be. I also had a great belief in J. Paul's work too. I will always consider those two guys as men I have the greatest respect for. Mr. Wall calmed down and accepted my word. Don Wall was my idol as a boss. I worked for him in Montreal and again in Vancouver. I could never have a better person to work for. Never.
Hope you get a chuckle out of the above. Trying to keep things light. We all need that sort of feeling these days!
Sykes