ADVERTISEMENT
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).
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
RECENT POSTS
Monday, July 19, 2010
THE YEAR 1976 CHUM'S PLAYLIST INCLUDED...
*******************************
TOP 1OO BASED ON CHUM CHARTS FOR THE YEAR 1976
SOURCE: Craig's M. Smith's 1050 CHUM Chart fan site
http://craig.sowny.ca/www/www3.sympatico.ca/craig.smith/chumi.htm
1 Silly Love Songs Wings
2 Saturday Night Bay City Rollers
3 Boogie Fever Sylvers
4 Afternoon Delight Starland Vocal Band
5 Don't Go Breaking My Heart Elton John & Kiki Dee
6 Shannon Henry Gross
7 Money Honey Bay City Rollers
8 Dream Weaver Gary Wright
9 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen
10 Shake Your Booty K.C. & The Sunshine Band
11 Misty Blue Dorthy Moore
12 Disco Duck Rick Dees
13 You Should Be Dancing Bee Gees
14 Love Roller Coaster Ohio Players
15 Play That Funky Music Wild Cherry
16 Disco Lady Johnnie Taylor
17 Convoy C.W. McCall
18 More More More Andrea True Connection
19 If You Leave Now Chicago
20 Theme From 'S.W.A.T.' T.H.P. Orchestra *
21 Theme From 'Mahogany' (Do You Know Where You're Going To Diana Ross
22 Got To Get You Into My Life Beatles
23 Fox On The Run Sweet
24 Kiss And Say Goodbye Manhattans
25 That's The Way I Like It K.C. & The Sunshine Band
26 Devil Woman Cliff Richard
27 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Paul Simon
28 Show Me The Way Peter Frampton
29 Tonight's The Night Rod Stewart
30 Let 'Em In Wings
31 Love Hangover Diana Ross
32 I'd Really Love To See You Tonight England Dan & John Ford Coley
33 Moonlight Feels Right Starbuck
34 All By Myself Eric Carmen
35 Lonely Nights (Angel Face) Captain & Tennille
36 A Fifth Of Beethoven Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
37 December 1963 (Oh Waht A Night) Four Seasons
38 I Only Want To Be With You Bay Ciy Rollers
39 Welcome Back John Sebastain
40 Fly Robin Fly Silver Connection
41 Love Is Alive Gary Wright
42 Love To Love You Baby Donna Summer
43 Rock & Roll Music Beach Boys
44 Muskrat Love Captain & Tennille
45 Breaking Up Is Hard To To Neil Sedaka
46 Right Back To Where We Started From Maxine Nightingale
47 I Write The Songs Barry Manilow
48 Rock & Roll Love Letter Bay City Rollers
49 Evil Woman Electric Light Orchestra
50 I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) Elton John
51 Rock 'N' Me Steve Miller Band
52 Happy Days Pratt & McLain
53 Shout It Out Loud Kiss
54 I Love Music O'Jays
55 Love Hurts Nazareth
56 Fooled Around & Fell In Love Elvin Bishop
57 Sky High Jigsaw
58 You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine Lou Rawls
59 Beth Kiss
60 Still The One Orleans
61 Let Her In John Travolta
62 Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald Gordon Lightfoot
63 Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel Tavares
64 Lowdown Boz Scaggs
65 Love Machine Miracles
66 From New York To L.A. Patsy Gallant
67 Get Closer Seals & Crofts
68 Roxy Roller Sweeney Todd
69 Nights On Broadway Bee Gees
70 Grow Some Funk Of Your Own Elton John
71 My Little Town Simon & Garfunkel
72 Paloma Blanca George Baker Selection
73 Don't Stop The Music Bay City Rollers
74 18 With A Bullet Pete Wingfield
75 Fanny (Be Tender With My Love) Bee Gees
76 Island Girl Elton John
77 The Way I Want To Touch You Captain & Tennille
78 Low Rider War
79 Let's Do It Again Staple Singers
80 You Sexy Thing Hot Chocolate
81 The Boys Are Back In Town Thin Lizzy
82 Fool To Cry Rolling Stones
83 Baby I Love Your Way Peter Frampton
84 Shop Around Captain & Tennille
85 A Little Bit More Dr. Hook
86 Get Up And Boogie Silver Convention
87 Turn The Beat Around Vicki Sue Robinson
88 Fernando ABBA
89 Dream On Aerosmith
90 Over My Head Fleetwood Mac
91 Take The Money & Run Steve Miller Band
92 Love Is The Drug Roxy Music
93 Bad Blood Neil Sedaka
94 Fly Away John Denver
95 Young Hearts Run Free Candi Staton
96 Heat Wave Linda Ronstadt
97 Squeeze Box Who
98 Lorelei Styx
99 Love Really Hurts Without You Billy Ocean
100 Takin' It To The Streets Doobie Brothers
http://craig.sowny.ca/www/www3.sympatico.ca/craig.smith/chumi.htm
.................
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 |
|
1050 CHUM ORIGINAL AUDIO
John Gilbert "No Charge"
Mike Cooper's April Fools Joke
80's PROMO
Bob Sam Robbie - 1050 CHUM Morning Show - 1992
Tom Rivers 1982