Howard Langdale

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Howard Langdale

Postby Landrew » Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:16 am

I remember Howard Langdale's first week on the air back in Calgary back the sixties. I think it was either CFCN or CFAC. It didn't go perfectly smooth as I remember, but he soon became one of Calgary's most popular radio personalities. He was a household name in Calgary for decades, so much so that he was convinced to come out of retirement in the 90's (I believe) to head up a new oldies station (CKMX?) but unfortunately died of a heart attack just as the new project was getting off the ground. I may be fuzzy on the details after all these years, but I think I got the main details right.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby drmusic » Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:21 pm

I may have this wrong, but I seem to remember reading in a newspaper in Regina (where he and Don Slade had worked together at CKCK in the 1960s) that Howard Langdale died in an accident. I may be mixing him up with someone else.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby Landrew » Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:27 pm

drmusic wrote:I may have this wrong, but I seem to remember reading in a newspaper in Regina (where he and Don Slade had worked together at CKCK in the 1960s) that Howard Langdale died in an accident. I may be mixing him up with someone else.

I believe he had a massive heart attack while driving, which caused a traffic accident.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby drmusic » Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:43 pm

Landrew wrote:
drmusic wrote:I may have this wrong, but I seem to remember reading in a newspaper in Regina (where he and Don Slade had worked together at CKCK in the 1960s) that Howard Langdale died in an accident. I may be mixing him up with someone else.

I believe he had a massive heart attack while driving, which caused a traffic accident.


Okay. What I specifically remember was him hitting a tree, but I didn't want to be too specific in case I was wrong.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby Ron Wood » Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:57 am

I worked with Howard in Ottawa at what was then CKPM and he was an excellent morning guy. After some sort of disagreement I think (not certain) he worked briefly in another Ontario station and then moved to Calgary and he was a huge success here. He did suffer a massive and fatal heart attack while driving and there was some vehicular damage as a result.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby albertaboy4life » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:36 am

Welcome Mr. Wood. I still miss hearing your daily commentary.

I think Howard Langdale joined CFCN Radio in early to mid-1966 after Gary Parkhill went to CKOC in Hamilton.

***
Dean of morning radio dead at age 63; [FINAL Edition]
Bill Musselwhite, Calgary Herald. Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alta.: Mar 31, 1996. pg. A.3

(Copyright The Calgary Herald)

Howard Langdale, dean of morning radio to thousands of Calgarians, is dead.

Langdale, 63, died Friday while driving in the downtown area. Police believe he suffered a heart attack, which resulted in his car crashing into a light pole. Neither city paramedics nor Foothills Hospital trauma physicians were able to revive him.

Langdale's stepson, Scott Hounslow, said his father was on his way home from the Saddledome, where his grandson Kailen had played in an exhibition game between periods. ``He was very happy that evening,'' he said.

Langdale's boss, CKMX vice-president Gary Russell, said Calgary had lost a radio legend.``Howard was a wonderful man,'' he said in a radio station press release. ``He will be dearly missed.''

The broadcaster grew up in Regina, and his first job in radio was at Regina's CKRM in 1953. He worked in Winnipeg and Ottawa before signing on with Calgary's CFCN -- now CKMX -- in 1966.

In 1981 he left CFCN and, after a short-lived late-night talk show on Calgary 7, he retired from broadcasting.

An avid golfer, he retired in earnest in 1992, spending much of his time in Arizona with his wife. In September 1995, he got a call from Russell, who was putting together a new format featuring pop and jazz from war and post-war eras.

Russell was told Langdale was the man he needed.

Langdale agreed to come out of retirement and his familiar voice went on the air Dec. 1. He missed a few days because of heart trouble, but easily nailed down the morning spot for lovers of Sinatra, Ella, and other famous singers of the era.

Bob Blakey, the Herald's TV columnist, described Langdale as an honorable man. ``It was a very important thing for him to come back into radio,'' he said. ``I think there were years where he felt out of it and missed it.''

Hugh Delaney, a childhood friend of Langdale , described him as ``a man who loved people and he was able to communicate that.''

He was a total professional, he said, ``a very dedicated kind of guy who really worked at his craft.''

Besides his wife Sharlene, Langdale is survived by stepson Scott, stepdaughter Sheryl Hounslow and three grandchildren.
***

One piece not noted in the story was Howard's TV ads for Douglasdale Estates in Calgary after his CFCN Radio days. This was during a period when Calgary was not booming so real estate and new large developments were not particularly common. Amazing how Douglasdale doesn't seem so far "out of town" now.
Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby raydeo » Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:19 pm

Just seen this post as I haven't been around for a while. Howard was what I would refer to as one of the gentlemen from the "good old days" of broadcasting. Reminded me a lot of Frosty Forst from NW. CFCN had a number of the gentlemen who I had the pleasure of working with back then - Don Wood, Gord Kelly, Hap Freeman, Byron Close, Willy Cole and many others. Howard sounded good on CKMX when he worked there although his sudden passing was too soon.
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Re: Howard Langdale

Postby Landrew » Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:17 pm

I remember Howard Langdale's first day on CFCN in Calgary. He was a little nervous at first, doing the phone-in program, I remember him not knowing what to say when a child phoned into the program. He finally said "OK kid..." at one point. But it wasn't long before he won over the hearts of Calgarians, and continued to do so for years to come.
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