Gord Robson on Cool 880

[radiofan]

Just got a note from Gord Robson and he says he'll be on air at Edmonton's Cool 880 starting this Saturday.

I sure a few aircheck machines will be running in the Edmonton area!

[jon]

That is great News! To the best of my knowledge, there had been no live programming between 6 p.m. Friday and 5:30 a.m. Monday since they started the Wolfman Jack program shortly before Hallowe'en 2005. Aussie Michael Hogan had been doing live noon-6 p.m. All Request shows Saturday and Sunday until he got a better day job, and no longer had the time to do Radio on weekends.

Brit. Andy Beale (I forget the correct spelling) filled in for a while before Wolfman "arrived". But many listeners found his accent too thick to understand.

Wolfman on the Weekend was scaled back to just Sunday afternoon (1-6), with Chuck Chandler voice-tracking a Theme Park feature on Saturday afternoons.

The Top 40 Countdown (of a year) is still running, though only once a weekend now, 9-noon on Saturday mornings. But Tim Schutz and Chuck Chandler have been re-voice-tracking them (Ed Mason had done them with Chuck previously).

It will be interesting to find out when Gord is on the air, what he'll be doing, and whether it is live or voice-tracked. Sadly, my TASCAM DP-01, which can record 53 hours straight of 44Kbps .wav stereo is awaiting the replacement of its hard drive (by TEAC on warranty).

[jon]

I just phoned the station, and Gord is "in training" this weekend on Cool 8-80, so has no assigned shifts.

[Jack Bennest]

so what time will you be on Gord?

or do we have to listen and listen for wolfman?

[jon]

I should have been more specific: I spoke to Gord's new boss when I phoned the station. If he (likely, the trainer) doesn't know, I suspect Gord (the trainee) won't either.

Not only is it the issue of how long will it take before training is complete, but also there is no indication that programming will change this weekend. That being the case, Gord may not be heard for more than a few station breaks -- he will likely be spending his time Operating, or whatever you want to call it these days.

[Jack Bennest]

three guesses

[jon]

It's 5:05 p.m. Saturday in Edmonton, and I've been listening to Cool 8-80 off and on all afternoon, and this is the first break I've heard Gord (or anyone) do, into Ray Charles' "Georgia on My Mind". And a nice one it was.

[jon]

Next break Gord did, ID'ing himself (I didn't hear all of the 5:05 break) was at 5:12, intro'ing a song from this week's Theme Park -- The Women of Rock. A song by The Three Degrees.

[jon]

Last break before 6 p.m. and The History of Rock and Roll gave me the impression (i.e. - I could be wrong) that Gord won't be back on the air until next weekend. An earlier break (by Gord) confirmed that Wolfman is still on this Sunday afternoon.

And Gord was definitely live, as he gave the current temperature during a weather forecast.

[jon]

Gord's back. Doing the hour up to the 1 pm Sunday start of Wolfman Jack. Not sure if he was on earlier.

[jon]

Just spoke to Gord on the Request Line at the end of his shift (1 p.m.). He is really enjoying playing and interacting with the music -- sounds like what attracted me to Radio in the first place.

No details on future shifts yet. Lots of opportunities for vacation relief work, of course.

[radiofan]

three guesses

That looks like Gord Robison in the park [Tompkins Park?] in front of the CKXL studios on 17th Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets in 1970 - 71.

Many pics on XL charts in that era were taken in that park.

[jon]

I had high hopes that Gord had replaced Wolfman this Sunday (yesterday) just after 1 p.m., as he extro'ed a song and went right into a recorded commercial aired city-wide that he voiced.

Checking a little later, and Wolfman was there. I like Wolfman a lot, but I'd prefer that a live local DJ were heard intro'ing or extro'ing practically every song (like Wolfman does), saying some interesting about the music over the fade or up to the vocal. Even Easy Rock Edmonton gave up on playing 20 minutes of continuous music (with some jingles or splitters) at 5 p.m. every evening. Last time I checked, they talk out the end or beginning of the song at 5:10.