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CHOO Radio Recollections An on line scrapbook of images & text for former staff and listeners alike ================================================================= | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Spring 2009 Update Slowly word has got out about this site and the e mails have started trickling in. My thanks to everybody who has written, sent files and/or promised to send files. Keep those cards and letters coming, folks! Meanwhile, please enjoy these new pages... | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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(ABOVE PHOTO COURTESY BRAD DONNER) One of the very first e mails I received was from "Country Brad" Donner pictured above circa 1978. Brad was the always entertaining high-octane DJ I had to follow most Saturdays during my years at CHOO. I thought I had an upbeat presentation but compared to Brad I was Mr. Serene. Or as Brad used to joke with me off air, "I've woken 'em all up for ya, now you can put them all back to sleep for their afternoon naps!" The photo above shows Brad in the main CHOO on air control room at its McMaster Avenue abode. The turntables are on the left with the station's 45s above them. (I seem to recall Brad always brought in some of his own favourite country 45s as well to supplement the CHOO playlist.) The old reel to reel is just behind Brad's head - we used that to play back recorded features. The phone set on top of the control board was used to communicate with remote locations - although where I don't recall. And this photo really shows up that unforgetable shag rug on the wall nicely - if "nicely" is an appropriate term to use in this case! And now... a few words from "Country Brad" himself. Brad? John: I'm still around! I've been trying to remember as much as I can about the station and the people I worked with. When I started Paul Scott was the PD and had the 2-6 drive slot. He left and took a job at a London station. Joe Conrad, who's real name is Joe Frechette, became PD some time after that. You may not know but Joe was a founding member or the Canadian R&R band "The Beaumarks" and wrote the song "Clap Your Hands" which was a hit. I last saw him in Oshawa about 2 years ago. Bill Johnson lives in Stouffville and still does the occasional music show around the area. Brian Belfry did some voice work a few years ago for a local TV fishing show (Fishin' Canada ?). Another name I remembered was Jeff Stubbins. He worked in copy and production and was later hired by CFRB. Lill Bolton was the secretary to the manager, Lorna Braid, and she just retired from KX 96 about 6 months ago. She would have lots of names and stories! The pictures I sent you were taken in the fall of 1978 (?). During my time at CHOO, 1976 to 1982, I became the "unofficial" swing man and covered all the shifts. I could do this because of my real job on the Fire Department which had rotating shifts, day and night. Bill and I alternated Saturdays,10 to 2, to accommodate my FD shifts and give me at least one regular slot. That's all I've got for now, but I'll keep thinking. It's hard. LOL. - Brad ....................................................................................................................... | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Thanks again Brad and we'll look forward to further memories from you. Brad was kind enough to also send along a photo of Bill Johnson (RIGHT) circa 1978. Bill was the mid-morning DJ when I started at CHOO in 1979 and then left but came back a second time to be the afternoon drive DJ sometime after I had gone by late 1981. Bill (IMHO) was the true heart and soul of the station in many ways. He was a genuine country gentleman and a great performer. His casual, laid-back approach set him apart from the rest of us faster talking jocks - he'd often open the mike to sing and play the guitar himself. His sense of humour was legendary too. Bill, if you're reading this, please get in touch. That goes for the rest of you as well! ............................................................ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Next up, can anybody help our following correspondent? If you have any information on the mysterious CHOO water tower - indeed any photos of it - please contact this site asap and I will put you in touch with Peter. Here is his intriguing e mail... Hello, I have just found your website. My first recollection of CHOO was when I was a very newly-landed immigrant in Canada, December, 1967. I settled in Oshawa, and from time to time I made my way into Toronto. In those days the GO train stopped at Pickering. This meant a GO bus ride along the "Base Line" (now Bayly St.), and somewhere along that road was a water tower, with the call-sign of CHOO radio station painted on it. Now, being British, with a sense of humor to match, I wondered to myself "what a funny place to have a radio station - on top of a water tower!" Many, many years later, I became interested in water towers, but alas, the tower disappeared. I now wonder if there are any photographs of that water tower, available. I did try the Ajax Town offices, but hit a dead end there. Does anyone you know have a photo of that tower? Hope you found the short anecdote amusing - I still think it funny, but, there again I suppose I would! Yours truly, Peter Mills | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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