Mike Darow (January 8, 1933 – December 7, 1996) was a Canadian-American television game show host best known for hosting the 1968-1970 ABC run of Dream House, the 1985-1988 Canadian-produced run of the Bob Stewart game show, Jackpot (seen in the U.S. on the USA Network), and Club 6 from 1960-1962.
He also hosted the first season of the game show The $128,000 Question, a syndicated revival of The $64,000 Question, in 1976. Darow's announcing work included the NBC game show The Who, What, or Where Game (1969–1974) and sub-announcing duties in 1980 for the Wink Martindale version of Tic Tac Dough. He also hosted the game show Bluff in 1976 and A Go Go '66 in 1966.
From 1959 until the Fall of 1965, Darow worked as an on-air disc jockey in Toronto at radio station CHUM. One of the zany promotions CHUM had Darow do was to sit in a car attached to a crane at a Toronto car dealers lot. Darow was an excellent singer and had two songs charted on the CHUM chart, "The Battle of Queenston Heights" which was a parody of Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans" and "The Brotherhood of Man", which was recorded by the CHUMingbirds on the Quality label. The CHUMingbirds were Mike Darow, fellow CHUM DJ's John Spragge and Bob McAdorey, along with CHUM copywriter and sometimes fill-in DJ, Garry Ferrier. Ferrier wrote both songs, along with many others, including "Ringo Deer" and "Like A Dribbling Fram", both of which were released on Capitol Records of Canada ("Like A Dribbing Fram" was credited to Race Marbles - who was Ferrier). Although many people misspell Mike Darows' name with two 'r's', there is only one. That happened because "The Battle of Queenston Heights" record label misspelled his name (the two 'r's') on the label and the myth has been perpetuated ever since. A check of any CHUM chart from 1959 until 1965 or a peek into "The CHUM Story" book by Allan Farrell will show you there was only one 'r' in Mike's name.
He also hosted the Toronto-based segment of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labour Day Telethon for a few years. The final Canadian-based local broadcasts of the telethon aired from Ottawa in 2001. After this, MDC officials canceled the local broadcasts claiming cost savings. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Darrow
Related links
http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/chumbug.html - aircheck
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/D/Darow_Mike.html
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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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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
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