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EULOGY

Born: October 28, 1945, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

After a few reincarnations 1050 CHUM quietly passed away on March 26, 2009

1050 CHUM was a legendary Top 40 powerhouse from the late 1950s through to the early 1980s.

The station had a formula no other station has been able to duplicate.

Through the formative ‘50s, the unforgettable ‘60s and the interesting ‘70s, 1050 CHUM played a major role in shaping the radio landscape in Toronto. Recording acts from Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Guess Who, Elton John, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers and Bob Seger not only graced the airwaves but walked the halls of 1050 CHUM.

The radio station was famous for the CHUM Chart. From 1957 to 1986, 1,512 consecutive weekly charts were published, making it the longest-running chart of its kind in the world.

Also, 1050 CHUM was noteworthy for hosting many famous rock concerts including, among others, visits to Maple Leaf Gardens by Elvis Presley (1957) and The Beatles (1964, '65, and '66).

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RECENT POSTS

Monday, November 16, 2009

ARCHIVES, AIRCHECK ARCHIVES - TOP 40 HISTORY

1050 CHUM HISTORIC ARCHIVES RELATED SITE

AN EXCELLENT 1050 CHUM ARCHIVES SITE:

LINK: RT40RR - The Dan Haber CHUM Collection
1050 CHUM HISTORY:

The CHUM Chart: A History



LINK: http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/chum1050.html

DALE R. PATTERSON

(Note: Much of the information below is gleaned from Ron Hall's book, "The CHUM Chart Book." I've added and expanded on that information and put it into my own words.

On May 27, 1957, CHUM radio in Toronto made two changes that would prove very historic. They became the first station in Canada to program Top 40 hit music, 24 hours a day. Also, they began a tradition that would last 29 years with the weekly issuing of the CHUM Chart.

It was not unusual for Top 40 stations to issue their own weekly music charts in 1957. Several North American stations were issuing charts by that time; even more common were informal charts like Hound Dog Lorenz's weekly list for WKBW.

What made the CHUM Chart unusual was its longevity. From May 27, 1957 to June 14, 1986, 1,513 charts were issued without interruption (the last chart was prepared but never issued; there was one week in 1971 when two charts were issued.) This extended run made it the second-longest continually issued music chart by a private North American radio station in history (the record of 32 years - from 1960 to 1992 - is held by Hamilton's CKOC).

Few of the first CHUM charts survive. One reason for this is that on the early charts listeners were asked to fill out a form on the chart, tear it off and mail it in. So, many of the early charts were destroyed. Also many people simply never thought to save these early charts - who knew at the time it would last 29 years? ....
READ MORE @ http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/chum1050.html


LINK: Pictures - GORD JAMES MORNING SHOW

105 CHUM HISTORICAL ARCHIVES SITES - ROCK RADIO SCRAPBOOK

LINKS
Rock Radio Scrapbook: Doug Thompson's Production Corner

Rock Radio Scrapbook: The CHUM Archives, Part 1, the '50s and '60s

Rock Radio Scrapbook: The CHUM Archives (Part 2)

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Rock Radio Heaven (U-V-W)

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Jingles

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1961 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Airchecks 1963

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Airchecks 1965

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1969 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Airchecks 1971

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1972 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1973 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1974 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1979 airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Airchecks 1981

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Airchecks 1990

Rock Radio Scrapbook: 1996-present airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: CHUM lineups

Rock Radio Scrapbook: The CHUM Charts

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Goodbye airchecks

Rock Radio Scrapbook: Canada's Aircheck Archive

On May 27, 1957, CHUM radio in Toronto made two changes that would prove very historic. They became the first station in Canada to program Top 40 hit music, 24 hours a day. Also, they began a tradition that would last 29 years with the weekly issuing of the CHUM Chart.

It was not unusual for Top 40 stations to issue their own weekly music charts in 1957. Several North American stations were issuing charts by that time; even more common were informal charts like Hound Dog Lorenz's weekly list for WKBW........READ MORE @ Rock Radio Scrapbook: The CHUM Charts

LINK: 1050 Chum at Canadaspace.com


....................................

1050 CHUM LINK SITE
LINK: http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/ck-apr19.html

CHUM Twin Spin (Part 1)CHUM 20th Anniversary Remembrance1977 (never aired)

(The CHUM Archives)

Rock Radio Scrapbook


AIRCHECK OF THE WEEK
For week of April 19, 2009
Weekly issue #526

Subject: CHUM's 20th ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE
Station: CHUM Toronto (never aired)
Date: 1977
Time: 16:34

In 1977, on the 20th anniversary of CHUM adopting a Top 40 format, CHUM founder Allan Waters was presented with this audio recording as a gift from his staff. And what a gift! It contains greetings from many of CHUM's early voices, in the following order and times:

(00:17) - Harvey Dobbs (mid-morning host 1957-58)

(2:36) - Phil Stone (afternoon host 1957-59)

(3:52) - Pete Nordheimer (afternoon host 1957-61)

(5:52) - Bob Laine (all-night host 1958-68; midmornings 1968-69)

(7:01) - Dave Johnson (evening host 1957-65)


CHUM HISTORY

"1050 CHUM" was a legendary Top 40 powerhouse during the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s.

Early history and Top 40 format

CHUM AM was launched as a dawn-to-dusk radio station on October 28, 1945 by Jack Q'Part, an entrepreneur in the business of patent medicines. The station, then operating from studios in the Mutual Street Arena, was taken over in December 1954 by Allan Waters, a salesman from Q'Parts' patent medicine business. Waters' first major move was to secure a license for 24-hour-a-day broadcasting for CHUM, along with a power increase to 5,000 watts. Less than three years after Waters acquired the station, and soon after bringing the new fulltime transmitter online, a major programming change was made. On May 27 1957, Waters switched to a "Top 50" format that had proven itself popular in some U.S. cities; Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" was the first song played. "1050 CHUM" pioneered rock and roll radio in Toronto, and was noteworthy for hosting many noteworthy rock concerts including, among others, visits to Maple Leaf Gardens by Elvis Presley (1957) and The Beatles (1964, '65, and '66). While the station was rising to the top of the popularity ratings in Toronto in the early 1960s, it also built yet another new transmitter in Mississauga, Ontario (a few miles west of the current Toronto city line) along the Lake Ontario shoreline, and raised its power once again to its current 50,000 watts around the clock.

CHUM DJs of the 1960s were zany morning man Al Boliska, who quit in late 1963 to go 'across the street' to CKEY.He was replaced by WKBW, Buffalo radio & TV personality Jay Nelson, popularly known as "Jungle Jay" from his role as host of a children's show on Buffalo's Channel 7 which was also popular among Toronto youngsters. He would be followed by housewives' jock John Spragge; singer/DJ Mike Darow; Pete Nordheimer, replaced in 1961 by witty Bob McAdorey; teen DJ Dave Johnson; and all night maven Bob Laine. Later additions to the CHUM DJ lineup included Duff Roman and Brian Skinner, both of whom came over from CKEY (then owned by Jack Kent Cooke). In the late 1960s, early 1970s, CHUM DJ's included Duke Roberts (also known as Gary Duke for a time), Johnny Mitchell (better known today as Sonny Fox), J. Michael Wilson, Tom Rivers, Scott Carpenter, Jim Van Horne, John Rode, Don Reagan, Terry Steele and Roger Ashby. Among their later mighttime hosts was John D. Roberts, who joined CHUM in 1977 and would eventually become known across North America as White House correspondent for CBS-TV and host of CNN's morning program "American Morning."

CHUM was also well known for its contests, like the 1970s' "I Listen to CHUM" promotion, in which DJs would dial phone numbers at random and award $1,000 to anyone who answered the phone with that phrase.

From gold-based to oldies

By the mid-1980s, CHUM had lost ground in the Toronto ratings to competitor Top 40 station CFTR and FM-based music stations. On June 6, 1986, CHUM dropped its Top 40 format for a heavily gold-based adult contemporary format ("Favourites of Yesterday and Today"). By 1989, CHUM adopted an oldies format, drawing heavily on its previous Top 40 reputation to cater to the fans of that era's music.

Chart #1 - Monday, May 27, 1957 - TOP 50

CHART NUMBER 1

Monday, May 27, 1957

Chart Number: 1
This
Week
Last
Week
ArtistTrackTotal
Weeks
10Presley, ElvisAll Shook Up0
20Boone, PatLove Letters In The Sand0
30Williams, AndyI Like Your Kind Of Love0
40Everly Brothers, TheBye Bye Love0
50Mineo, SalStart Movin' (In My Direction)0
60Storm, GaleDark Moon0
70Robbins, MartyA White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)0
80Gracie, CharlieFabulous0
90Como, PerryGirl With The Golden Braids, The0
100Ray, JohnnieYes Tonight, Josephine0
110Diamonds, TheLittle Darlin'0
120Dell-Vikings, TheCome Go With Me0
130Boone, PatWhy Baby Why0
140Husky, FerlinGone0
150Como, PerryRound And Round0
160Berry, ChuckSchool Day0
170Knox, BuddyParty Doll0
170Lawrence, SteveParty Doll0
180Dorsey Orchestra, JimmySo Rare0
190Domino, FatsI'm Walkin'0
190Nelson, RickyI'm Walkin'0
200Gracie, CharlieButterfly0
200Williams, AndyButterfly0
210Belafonte, HarryMama Look At Bubu0
220Lowe, JimFour Walls0
220Reeves, JimFour Walls0
230Dee, JohnnySittin' In The Balcony0
230Cornell, DonSittin' In The Balcony0
230Cochran, EddieSittin' In The Balcony0
240Mathis, JohnnyWonderful! Wonderful!0
250Mello-Tones, TheRosie Lee0
250Tune Drops, TheRosie Lee0
260Coasters, TheYoung Blood0
270Domino, FatsValley Of Tears0
280Draper, RustyFreight Train0
290Gilkyson, Terry & The Easy RidersMarianne0
290Hilltoppers, TheMarianne0
300Bowen, JimmyI'm Stickin' With You0
310Laine, FrankieLove Is A Golden Ring0
320Platters, TheI'm Sorry0
330Hunter, Ivory JoeEmpty Arms0
330Brewer, TeresaEmpty Arms0
340Sands, TommyTeen-Age Crush0
350Little RichardLucille0
360Sands, TommyMy Love Song0
370Starr, KayJamie Boy0
380Starr, RandyAfter School0
390Johnson, BettyLittle White Lies0
400Bennett, TonyOne For My Baby (And One More For The Road)0
410Knox, BuddyRock Your Little Baby To Sleep0
420Clooney, RosemaryMangos0
430Cornell, DonMama Guitar0
440Belloc, DanFlip Top0
450Baker, LavernJim Dandy Got Married0
460Boone, PatBernardine0
470Copeland, KenPledge Of Love0
470Torok, MitchellPledge Of Love0
480Four Lads, TheI Just Don't Know0
490Armenian Jazz SextetHarem Dance0
500Williams, BillyI'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter0

John Gilbert "No Charge"

Mike Cooper's April Fools Joke





80's PROMO





Bob Sam Robbie - 1050 CHUM Morning Show - 1992




Tom Rivers 1982


John Majhor CHUM 1050 Morning show 1986





1050 CHUM Card 1983