RIP Captain Bob Rice - 590 CKEY Toronto

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RIP Captain Bob Rice - 590 CKEY Toronto

Postby Jacqueline Brunet » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:42 am

It is with great sadness that I share with the group the passing of my father Captain Bob Rice a morning personality from the golden age of then 590 CKEY.

He passed away suddenly at home in Newton Robinson at the age of 72 with my Mom Deirdre, his wife of 49 years, at his side. He joined 'EY in 1961, left in 1964 and rejoined in 1969. He was part of the morning team that included Keith Rich, Robert Payne, & Dini Petty (later Dianne Pepper)his role was broadcasting the morning traffic reports piloting first a helicopter and later on a Skymaster airplane logging over 11,000 hours until 1984 when he suffered his first heart attack and was relocated to a studio in the CN Tower where he remained until he left 'EY in 1987, when after a management change they decided to turn the station in a different direction which was not something he was comfortable with.

After leaving CKEY he remained active writing columns, developing radio programs and continuing as the announcer of the International Air Show at the CNE and in 1997 started his own company BDRJ Marketing Concepts developing websites for different hotels, B&B's and tourist attractions which he continued until his death.

His years at CKEY were easily some of the happiest years of his life, he was a well liked celebrity and did a lot to give back to the community as well. He will be greatly missed.

In his own words:

"There were no other morning 'teams' at that time and, over the next few years, Keith, Robert Payne, Dini and then Dianne, and I found the show evolving into a 'team' show rather than just Keith the "Morning Man". We were encouraged to stretch the envelope and for many, many years it was a pleasure to get up at 4:00am and anticipate what nonsense we would get into over the next few hours. There were no scripts, everything just came off the top of our heads."
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Re: RIP Captain Bob Rice - 590 CKEY Toronto

Postby timrs2001 » Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:22 am

I just joined this site and saw this post now. I remember Bob very well. He had a great radio presence. CKEY wasn't my station of choice, but my father was the driver in those days and he chose what we listened to. Fortunately, Bob was on often and made it okay.
I'm sorry for your loss. :(
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Re: RIP Captain Bob Rice - 590 CKEY Toronto

Postby jon » Sun Feb 12, 2017 2:11 pm

I was just reading recently, in a mid-1957 magazine issue, that CKEY was Top 40 then already.

Everybody knows that CHUM was first in Canada with 24 hour Top 40, but it is easy to forget that CKEY went head to head with them in a matter of months.

Not sure the date, but CKEY was originally 580, then moved to 590.
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Re: RIP Captain Bob Rice - 590 CKEY Toronto

Postby jon » Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:26 pm

Just took a closer look. CKEY was on 580 until January 1964, when they moved to 590, to greatly improve their night-time coverage, which was impossible on 580 because of the need to protect CKPR-580 in Fort William (now Thunder Bay).
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