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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

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

TOP 100 1980 - selected YouTube tracks










TOP 100 1980

Source: Craig's M. Smith's 1050 CHUM Chart fan site

1 Another Brick In The Wall (pt2) - Pink Floyd
2 Emotional Rescue - Rolling Stones
3 Misunderstanding - Genesis
4 Brass In Pocket(I'm Special) - Pretenders
5 Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
6 Don't Stand So Close To Me - Police
7 Dreamer - Supertramp
8 Let My Love Open The Door - Peter Townsend
9 Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
10 (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon
11 Call Me - Blondie
12 Cocaine - Eric Clapton
13 I Got You - Split Enz
14 Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
15 Fire Lake - Bob Seger
16 De Do Da Da De Da Da Da - Police
17 Turning Japanese - Vapours
18 Fool In The Rain - Led Zeppelin
19 All Night Long Joe Walsh
20 Don't Do Me Like That - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
21 Touch & Go - Cars
22 Ride Like The Wind - Christopher Cross
23 Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
24 Come Back - J. Geils Band
25 Rock Lobster - B-52's
26 It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - Billy Joel
27 Boulevard Jackson Browne
28 Whip It - Devo
29 Coming Up - Paul McCartney
30 Against The Wind - Bob Seger
31 Breakdown Dead Ahead - Boz Scaggs
32 Tired Of Toein' The Line - Rocky Burnette
33 You'll Acompany Me - Bob Seger
34 Romeo's Tune - Steve Forbert
35 You May Be Right - Billy Joel
36 Little Jeannie - Elton John
37 Sara Fleetwood - Mac
38 Drugs In My Pocket - Monks
39 She's So Cold - Rolling Stones
40 Don't Ask Me Why - Billy Joel
41 Cars - Gary Numan
42 Cool Change - Little River Band
43 Sometimes A Fantasy - Billy Joel
44 Real Love - Doobie Brothers
45 Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
46 Set Me Free - Utopia
47 Echo Beach - Martha & The Muffins
48 Love Stinks - J. Geils Band
49 Head Games - Foreigner
50 This Is It - Kenny Loggins
51 Message In A Bottle - Police
52 All Over The World - Electric Light Orchestra
53 Back On My Feet Again - Babys
54 Late In The Evening - Paul Simon
55 Play The Game - Queen
56 99 - Toto
57 We Don't Talk Anymore - Cliff Richard
58 And The Cradle Will Rock - Van Halen
59 Refugee - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
60 Baby Talks Dirty - Knack
61 Jo Jo - Boz Scaggs
62 I'm Alright - Kenny Loggins
63 Babe - Styx
64 Holiday - Nazareth
65 Anyway You Want It - Journey
66 Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel
67 Jane - Jefferson Starship
68 I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
69 Free Me - Roger Daltrey
70 I Can't Tell You Why - Eagles
71 Sprit Of Radio - Rush
72 The Tide Is High Blondie
73 Keep The Fire - Kenny Loggins
74 Stop This Game - Cheap Trick
75 Under My Thumb - Streetheart
76 Biggest Part Of Me - Ambrosia
77 Damned If I Do - Alan Parsons Project
78 Clones (We're All) - Alice Cooper
79 The Long Run - Eagles
80 Money - Flying Lizards
81 This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide - Kings
82 Dreaming - Cliff Richard
83 I'm Alive - Electric Light Orchestra
84 He's So Shy - Pointer Sisters
85 Deep Inside My Heart - Randy Meisner
86 Take The Long Way Home - Supertramp
87 Remember (Walking In The Sand) - Aerosmith
88 Into The Night - Benny Mardones
89 Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie
90 Dream Police - Cheap Trick
91 We Live For Love - Pat Benatar
92 How Do I Make You - Linda Ronstadt
93 Johnny & Mary - Robert Palmer
94 I Thank You - ZZ Top
95 Young & Restless - Prism
96 Third Time Lucky - Foghat
97 Teacher Teacher - Rockpile
98 Train In Vain - Clash
99 Something On My Mind - Teenage Head
100 Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd



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