John Wilson

[OpenMike]

'Radio station managment owe it to us to tell us the truth'...

A great line. It's (almost) believable

I've been out of it for so long

I forgot that radio is still there...

Wait...

(Click)

Hey! It IS still there!

Cheers, from the happily retired...

John Wilson

dear john I couldn't find the reference - good to have you on the board
you can answer this on a thread if you like.

[Jack Bennest]

wilson in montreal


how about that board Cleaver?

[jon]

This is fun -- trying to guess the photo's year from the equipment pictured. Theoretically, easier in major markets, where the equipment was generally kept up to date.

OK, first clue appears to be the lack of cart machines, unless they are out of view. The mic. is pre-cardiod. Dig those ancient tone arms on the turntables! There may well have been more than the three turntables shown. 3 wouldn't be enough for a heavy spot load, since pre-cart, without a monster like the Mackenzie Repeater, you'd need at least 4 turntables for music and spots, even without jingles. The only way you'd live with three turntables would be if did most of the spots live. Those could be LPs on the front two turntables, but more likely transcription discs with the ads on them.

There you have my responses to the clues the picture provides. Now, drum roll, my best guess. Very early 1960s.

[Glen Livingstone]

Do I detect the faint outline of an iPod in John's shirt pocket?

[Mike Cleaver]

Fantastic gear shot!
Altec 250 console made just after the split with Western Electric!
There's one on Ebay now.
RCA turntables, with the washing machine sized motors and clutch assemblies under the platter in the cabinets and infamous grey "gouger" viscous damped tone arms, probably with GE VRII mono cartridges.
Beautiful RCA 77DX radio model mic in chrome.
I see an NE multiline phone on top of the console and an RCA intercom station.
Can't place the gear with the VU meters behind and to the right, might be some incoming lines monitoring set up.

[jon]

Do I detect the faint outline of an iPod in John's shirt pocket?

Yes, the cigarette companies gave them out to broadcasters who smoked their brand.

[PMC]

I downloaded the picture and put it into Adobe, then magnified the image.

Tried to read the script board for a logo... there is a large patch board on the lower left, in front of the turntable... perhaps a production studio... it is now time for John Wilson to turn on his mic

John Sykes would know the date...

[Mike Cleaver]

The patch panel is part of the board.
That thing was a wonder for it's time, dual channel long before stereo showed up and multifunctional because of the patch panel.
An operator could set up the pots as he or she liked using that panel or run it stock without any extra cables.
It also allowed external sources to easily connect with the console.
I would guess this is late '40's into the '50's.
This was a deluxe, no expenses spared control room.
I imagine there were at least two tape machines, probably Ampex 300s, out of sight behind the operator.

[cart_machine]

This is fun -- trying to guess the photo's year from the equipment pictured.

Is the station CFOX in Montreal? If so, one of those transcription turntables ended up at CKO in Vancouver in the production studio at the request of the then-production manager, just because he liked transcription turntables.

cArtie.

[johnsykes]

You guys have opened up a wonderful time of my life.....John Wilson at CKGM in Montreal. I only wish any of you in broadcasting today, could have spent some time in the business in those days. You surely, would thank me for the suggestion. At CKGM we had some amazing equipment....I cannot recall the brands of mics or turntables etc....but I can recall our echo chamber had to be at least ten feet long and five feet high...and maybe a foot deep.....because it was in my office, so to speak, the place where I began to work in 1961. I can't remember when dear John Wilson joined us....it had to be somewhere around that time. He was marvelous to work with....(I also had the pleasure of working with him at CJOR in Vancouver.) I think it would be the same time as when Charlie Johnson, Doug Burrows, Bob Gillies, John Hart, Tom Cherington, Paul Taylor, Earl Reidy, Marge Anthony, Pat Burns, Doc Stone (Stein), Bob Washington, Jack Finnigan, oh so many greats were there....my mind is racing, trying to remember to be fair to one and all. John Wilson was a prince to be around.

Earlier today, my wife and I spent some time cleaning our eldest daughter's house in Mission. She's a teacher trying to run a house with four kids who are very active.....one is a skater who could potentially be in our Olympics in two years. Our youngest grandkid was home after suffering a wound from two other brothers horsing around two nights ago.
Alex asked me what kind of music I had put on to the TV...it was Shaw 419....Rock and Roll.....the stuff from my era in the 50's and early 60's. He said (and he's 9 years old).....can't you play 403 - The Beat? I said...that's rap stuff....you listen to that? he said...of course....its great...that's when it sunk in....my yesteryear and today's radio are like one million miles apart. My era has gone by the way of the dodo bird....the moa....you get the drift. Today, things have changed and I've finally caught up....my time is at an end...better change my thinking and be quick about it. I accept the fact that I am a dinosaur. There, I have
accepted the fact that I have dwelt too much in the past.....you young uns have now to accept you are in charge. All I ask is that you accept the challenge and do something positive about it. Don't let us down!

[cart_machine]

John, music is a generational thing. You know how parents would complain about the "noise" that was coming out in the 50s .. Elvis, Buddy Knox, all that horrible rock-and-roll. And those who grew up in the 50s who loved all that stuff became parents and said the same thing about Zeppelin and drugged-out groups and all the stuff that their kids listened to. And now, those kids are parents complaining about hip-hop and gun-toting thug rappers. Hell, the Charleston was The Devil's Dance to some bluenosed parents in the 20s.

As for the people "in charge" of radio, they're in another world 3,000 miles away. Some may not even know what time zone it is here.

cArtie.