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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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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Marc Chambers

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Sadly, Marc is no longer with us ...

Marc Chambers - As J. Marc and Marc Webber CHUB Nanaimo 1973, CJAV Port Alberni 1978; as Marc Webber CJVB Vancouver 1979; as Marc James CFUN Vancouver 1983; as Marc Chambers CHUM Toronto 1986, CJOJ Belleville, ON 1995, Oldies Network 1996; voice services and CHUM Toronto. Died in Toronto May 2, 2008 at age 52.

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CHUM, Toronto -- THE LAST CHUM ARTICLE
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SOURCE: http://www.440int.com/favesc.html#last_chum

This from Marc Chambers, who worked there as a Jock in the final years:

By the time you read this, 1050 CHUM will be a distant memory although, not too distant I hope. Choosing to convert to All Sports (at 3pm, Monday, May 7, 2001), 1050 CHUM leaves a legacy of memories including a colourful array of true radio personalities that graced the airwaves.

I'm proud to say that I was a CHUM Jock for the majority of my career and was extremely fortunate to work with some of the best people in the radio business. There is an "energy" about CHUM that is hard to define, an energy that is a part of the building, a part of the mystique and definitely a part of the history. I've heard hundreds of CHUM stories over the years and I'm sure that I'm even the subject of a few along with the likes of Duke Roberts, John Rode, Daryl B., Terry Steele, John Majhor, Scott Carpenter, J. D. Roberts, Mike Holland, Russ McCloud and Jay Nelson. Add to that, Dick Smythe, Brian Skinner and son Kori, Bob Macadorey, Al Boliska, Larry Wilson, Brian Henderson, Jim Van Horne, Roger Ashby and Tom Rivers. The list is endless. What a history.

Some of Canada's finest radio Programmers graced the "South Wing" of CHUM including J. Robert Wood and Duff Roman. When I was transferred to CHUM in 1986 Duff Roman was running an FM station that had just launched their new morning show. The station was CHUM FM and the morning team was Roger, Rick and Marylin. As for Bob Wood, he remains a legend at 1050 CHUM. Personalities were born out of this mans vision, as was a unique Top 40 sound that became a legendary part of contemporary radio and a thumbprint for CHUM.

CHUM was the station to be at in the 60s, 70s and 80s and everyone else wanted to be just like them. CHUM was the Beatles, the Stones and Led Zeppelin. CHUM was The Ex. CHUM was "Don't Say Hello". CHUM was your favourite pair of jeans. Just right.

I got my dose of CHUM through CFUN who employed the same jingles, music, Personality hype and culture to create Vancouver's template of CHUM. CFUN battled CKLG while CHUM battled CFTR. That was radio! I grew up in Vancouver yet, I feel as if I grew up with CHUM.

It was 15 years ago that I arrived at CHUM following the famous tower incident in which two residents of the apartment building opposite the radio station decided that CHUM's flashing neon sign, mistaken for a broadcasting tower, was causing interference on their tv. Using heavy-duty cutters they succeeded in toppling the CHUM sign onto Yonge St. and into a GM Dealership across the street. Mr. Waters had the sign repaired and we just kept rockin!

CHUM has always had the "CHUM sound", a style or characteristic that is hard to put your finger on yet; it is unmistakably CHUM. When CHUM launched Oldies following their attempt at Soft Rock it was definitely CHUM again. The jingles, the memories, the music and the Personalities. I was amazed at how Torontonians embraced the new format. 1050 CHUM was fun once again! We gave away money, trips, more money, cars and even more money and we made a statement in Toronto that 1050 CHUM was the CHUM Toronto grew up with. Moms, Dads, Kids and even Grandparents love CHUM.

CHUM FM is the new 1050 CHUM. It is a Pop music machine much the same as it's AM predecessor and, it is a very successful machine which will continue the spirit of CHUM and it's legend. In fact, most contemporary Canadian radio stations owe a great deal to CHUM for blazing innovative trails in radio throughout our country and for providing professional environments in which to work. And, let's not forget the people who've travelled through the CHUM system.

I feel honoured to have been one of the last CHUM Jocks and I thank Allan Waters for believing in his vision, which, in turn, became such a big part of my life and many others like me in the CHUM family. Goodbye, my old CHUM!

Marc Chambers via Warren Cosford
SOURCE: http://www.440int.com/favesc.html#last_chum


Related information can be found at:

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/radchum.html

http://www.thechildrenrock.com/bubblegumschmooze.html

http://www3.sympatico.ca/craig.smith/chumi-2.htm

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/chumbug2.html - This site contains many airchecks including one from Marc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIWS-FM

http://www.jimib.com/bbgarchives.html

http://www.sowny.ca/radio-2a.html

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No comments:

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