At 3PM on May 7, 2000 CHUM signed off for the last time.
There is still something at 1050 on the dial but it's an all sports format
called The Team 1050. This completed 44 years of rock and roll at one
of the world's most innovative radio stations.
For weeks before the closing everybody, including the media, were busily trying to guess what the last song played would be. My personal favorite would have been "Farewell, So Long, Goodbye" by Bill Haley and The Comets since it was from the early rock and roll era, but such was not the case. It was left to
Duff Roman and Bob Laine, two of the original DJ's that were dusted off for the Grande Finale, to pick the last song and it was "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley. This was okay since it was the first song played when CHUM signed on at 6 a.m., May 27 1957. The last actual show aired was "Henny In The Morning" from 6 to 10AM. Brian Henderson finished off with "It's Over" by Roy Orbison. Good one Henny.
CHUM may have disappeared from the airwaves in Toronto but it lives on via the Internet. You can still listen to the oldies if you have Real Audio. There is a link to their site at the bottom of this page.
Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Goodbye CHUM, I'm gonna miss ya.
Below is my original tribute to CHUM. I'll just leave it intact.
For me, 1957 was one of the most
pivotal years of the 50's. I was eight years old and the world around
me was moving ahead at an alarming rate. My favorite baseball team,
the Dodgers, played their last game in Brooklyn. Humphrey Bogart, who
was and is my favorite actor, died. Cars grew tail fins and started
to resemble the spaceships that flew across the movie screens at the
Saturday afternoon matinees. The Soviet Union sent up the first
sattelites to ever orbit our planet, with one having a live dog in
it. Rock and Roll was still young and coming into it's heyday and was
getting damn near respectable. In Toronto, one radio station became
Canada's first 24 hour a day all Rock and Roll radio station, and one
of only a few in the World. Even though I was just a little kid, I
had been exposed to music from the time I was a baby. The radio was
always on and if it wasn't we were probably out on the back porch
listening to a 78 or those new fangled 45 rpm records. Occaisionally my
brothers would go down to Buffalo and bring home a batch of those
crazy Rock And Roll songs and throw them on the record player. My
parents seemed to like this new stuff so our family had quite a
varied selection of music to choose from. Purple People Eater, Running Bear and
My Friend The Witchdoctor being some of my favortes at that early
age. I was fooling around in the school yard
one warm sunny afternoon, probably in June, 57, when a friend came up
to me and asked if I'd heard the new radio station called CHUM. I
hadn't so he let me listen in on his crystal radio. Crystal radios
were the predecessor to the transistor radio, you just clipped it to
a metal fence and listened through an earplug, no batteries required.
Anyway, I listened in awe to what was flowing from that earplug. Not
that I hadn't heard it before as I explained above, but this was
different, it was on all the time, whenever I wanted to listen to it,
all I had to do was twist a dial. Unfortunately, I don't remember who
that friend was nor do I remember the songs, I only remember the
incident. I had a beat up old floor model radio
in my room that was always tuned to CKEY. That station played Dean
Martin and the Andrews Sisters and other stuff like that. I liked it
but I was eight years young at the time and this new music was
exciting and fast becoming a new lifestyle for kids and teens alike.
I tuned it to CHUM and it stayed there. One of the neatest things this new
radio station did was put out a CHUM Chart, the top 30, 40 or 50
songs of the week, the number varied throughout the years. At first
it was distributed at various record bars in the city and later ran
in newspapers. These charts are much sought after collectors items
around Toronto now. I had hundreds of them that have all disappeared
over the years, I wish I had them now. They ran from May, 1957 to
June, 1986 for a total of 1512 charts over 29 years. The longest
running radio station music chart in North America. Back in the mid 60's when the Toronto
Maple Leafs were winning lots of Stanley Cups, the CHUM Witch would
show up at Maple Leaf Gardens to put a hex on the visiting team
during the playoffs. It seemed to work. Maybe the Leafs could use her
help right now. Chum was a perennial favorite at "The
EX" (Canadian National Exibition). They always had a big trailer down
there with huge speakers blasting out the music and you could watch
your favorite D.J. doing his thing live through the window. This was
a great way to enter The Ex, listening to the music as the smell of
hot dogs and greasy french fries assaulted your nosrtils. That's some of the things I remember
best about CHUM in the old days. I guess you could say I grew up with
that radio station. CHUM is still going strong and playing the same
music they did back then. And I'm still a loyal listener. You can be
too if you have Real Audio. I don't remember the D.J.'s from the
50's. But in the 60's it seems that I paid more attention to the
D.J.'s. Each one had a distinct personality and were sometimes as
important as the music. Many time I would spend half the night
listening to Bob Laine's All Night Show. I could always catch a nap
in school next day and usually did. As I recall, Knobhill Farms was
the only sponser most of the time, but Ted Davey Used Cars might have
been in there. I still remember the Ted Davey jingle. Thanks to Doug MiIntyre for adding a line
I had forgotten...
Bob played lots of oldies and country
oldies too. Where else could you hear a Hank Williams ballad followed
by some kickass Little Richard? This was always my favorite show even
though I wasn't supposed to be listening to it. Al had the morning show for quite a few
years on CHUM before he moved to another Toronto radio station. He
was absolutely one of the funniest guys I've ever heard. Al wrote
most of his own jokes and some for other shows too. He passed away at
the very tender age of 40. When Al Boliska left, CHUM held a week
of auditions for the morning show. Two of the hopefuls were Irene
Ryan, yes Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies, and Jay Nelson. I wish
I could remember the others but I don't. This was obviously a
publicity stunt since I'm sure Jay was "the man" right from the
start. Jay was lured over from his very successful TV kiddies show in
Buffalo. It had a jungle theme and he was known as Jungle Jay, a name
he couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. He remained the morning man for an
incredible 17 years. He was also a very funny guy writing most of his
own material. Jay died in 1994. Moose Latreck's show was something a
little different. He played country music for an hour or two on
Sunday nights if I remember correctly. Many may find this hard to
believe, but it's true. This and Bob Laine's All-nighter were my only
exposure to country music back then. Also, there were a couple of phone-in
shows hosted first by Larry Solway and then John Gilbert. Hey there
John, I've still got your 45 RPM record "No Charge"
DAVE JOHNSON
JOHN SPRAGGE
MIKE DARROW
BRIAN SKINNER
BOB MadADOREY
DUFF ROMAN... Yes, I was a member of
The Duff Roman Legion...