Red Robinson's Legends

Jimmy Wakely was one of the last "singing cowboys". According to Wikipedia, "he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television and even had his own series of comic books." In 1958 he had his own CBS Radio show based in Los Angeles, and his guest this night was a young up-and-coming Vancouver deejay.

Sir Roger Moore replaced Sean Connery when he tired of the James Bond series. Roger had been very successful on British television with a couple of highly rated series including "Ivanhoe" and "The Saint". He played the British secret agent in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985.

Roger became an ambassador for the United Nations which brought him to Vancouver in the late 90's. I took my trusty tape recorder and a camera person with me and interviewed this charming English gentleman. And that's what he was.

In 1959 "Big Daddy" Dave McCormick was hosting the Hi Fi Club, a syndicated radio show, on C-FUN. The producers would send the package but the local deejay would run the contests, read the commercials and follow the scripts supplied. Dave’s show became so popular station management suggested he take over programming, and Dave took C-FUN to its very first Top 40 format. Dave was creative and went up against established CKWX and won the ratings battle. He was inventive, promotion minded and saw the future. He knew what the kids wanted and delivered with great deejays and music. Dave hired Frosty Forst, Jerry Landa, Brian Lord, Andy Laughland and Al Jordan and called them the Good Guys. He was the first in North America to use this phrase.

When I returned from working in the US in 1961, I returned to CKWX but times had changed and C-FUN was now King of the Hill. When Dave quit C-FUN in 1962 to take a job in California radio, we worked together on the transition. We both introduced C-FUN's top 50 songs of the week on a 4 hour radio show. Dave returned in later years to CFMI with his new show and a feature he called Discumentary.

Dave McCormick passed away yesterday and the radio people who knew him loved him as listeners over the decades will long remember his gifts to Vancouver radio. We all will miss him. Rest in Peace old friend.

Back in December 2009 I wrote about this painting on redrobinson.com.

"The timing couldn’t be better for the genius of Bruce Stewart to strike again with this brand new “fantasy” painting of Dave McCormick and the original C-FUN deejays. Bruce has the ability to capture the essence of an era. This period at C-FUN was the first fling at Top 40 that was totally driven by Dave. He left in early 1962 and that is when I joined the illustrious group. Brian “Baby Blue” Lord left at the same time.

For more on C-FUN, visit Jim Bower’s FUN-tastic site Vancouver Top 40 Radio http://www.vancouvertop40radio.com/. Jim was kind enough to pass along Bruce’s note:

'Late evening – summer of 1961. I, as a boy of almost fifteen, in hospital for a small procedure, but bed-bound for almost two weeks. Nothing to do but count the holes in the acoustic ceiling tiles, over and over — and listen to C-FUN, when Roy the Boy was ‘Crying’, and Paul Anka was ‘Kissing on the Phone’… all I could think of was the hot days and how they were passing me by, outside my window.

And that imaginary summer view inside another window: the ‘Control Room’ and the board, where mischief was afoot, with Big Daddy at the controls, the Good Guys providing backup, awaiting their turn at the mike, taking requests, spinning the disks and weaving the magic! A fantasy image of what the listener (me) imagined just what the DJ board at C-FUN might look like amid the chaos of a Summer Soundathon week — if radio had pictures! Only in the mind’s eye of a listener, out there, everywhere around a place called Funland!

In the late 60s, when I was working summers at UBC, I did an illustration for a dual Ampex tape deck module (reel to reel) commissioned by Stan Davis, whose company Broadcast Technical Services produced the module. Long after, I learned that Stan (now sadly passed) designed and built the technical end of C-FUN in the early 60s. I guess he was my inspiration for this piece, although a lot of my ‘technical’ input was made up — part of my ‘imagining’ concept. It IS a change from the other illustrations on the Vancouver Top 40 site, however! I kept adding more and more ‘stuff’, until it became a bit of a MAD magazine piece with subplots abounding... cats keeping the mice population down, and Frosty passing a chipped 45 to a harried and overworked Dave!'”

Don Everly turns 80 tomorrow (2/1/17). I have known Don and his late brother Phil since 1957 when we first met at The Biggest Show of Stars in Vancouver.

Their harmony was second to none and the Beatles admired them. As a matter of fact it took Paul McCartney to bring them together for a reunion at the Royal Albert Hall. Paul wrote their last major charted hit On The Wings Of A Nightingale.

True icons in the music world and now the last man standing is Don Everly.

We talked many times over the years. As we salute Don on his 80th, here's an interview from November 1966, taped at C-FUN/Vancouver when the Everlys appeared at Isy's Supper Club.

Don Everly turns 80 tomorrow (2/1/17). I have known Don and his late brother Phil since 1957 when we first met at The Biggest Show of Stars in Vancouver.

Their harmony was second to none and the Beatles admired them. As a matter of fact it took Paul McCartney to bring them together for a reunion at the Royal Albert Hall. Paul wrote their last major charted hit On The Wings Of A Nightingale.

True icons in the music world and now the last man standing is Don Everly.

We talked many times over the years. As we salute Don on his 80th, here's an interview from November 1966, taped at C-FUN/Vancouver when the Everlys appeared at Isy's Supper Club.

Don Everly turns 80 tomorrow (2/1/17). I have known Don and his late brother Phil since 1957 when we first met at The Biggest Show of Stars in Vancouver.

Their harmony was second to none and the Beatles admired them. As a matter of fact it took Paul McCartney to bring them together for a reunion at the Royal Albert Hall. Paul wrote their last major charted hit On The Wings Of A Nightingale.

True icons in the music world and now the last man standing is Don Everly.

We talked many times over the years. As we salute Don on his 80th, here's an interview from November 1966, taped at C-FUN/Vancouver when the Everlys appeared at Isy's Supper Club.

The Teen Canteen was a name I used for my radio show when I moved from CJOR to CKWX in 1957. The CJOR show was called Theme for Teens and they owned the name so I changed it. When the Biggest Show of Stars came to Vancouver I took my trusty tape recorder and a professional photographer down to the Georgia or Denman Auditoriums. I would go on stage and introduce one of the acts and then rush backstage to conduct interviews. By the time I moved to Portland in 1959, I had 50,000 members with cards good for discounts at various retailers.

This photo of Rick Nelson and me was taken in his car when I worked at KGW in Portland, OR in 1959. Notice the tape recorder. It was called a Mohawk, and like the haircut of the same name, it cut out the interview. When I got back to the station there was nothing on the tape. The same thing happened in 1958 backstage at the PNE Forum, no sound. It wasn’t until 1976 when he returned to Vancouver for a concert at the PNE Star Spectacular that I was able to get an interview. I showed Rick the picture and we had a laugh about my bad luck.

Rick was the first teenage idol, and there is no doubt about that, but in those early days in the 50’s he had no stage presence. He would sing a song and then take a drink of Coca-Cola. Having seen the dynamic Elvis on stage at Empire Stadium, the audience booed him. He didn’t deserve to be booed. He was a great guy and one of the early rockers who really could rock and roll. He was a very quiet man. Many people said if James Dean could sing, he would have sounded like Rick.

I had booked Rick for the Legends Of Rock'n'Roll show at Expo 86, but sadly he was killed in a plane crash near Dallas on December 31, 1985. Rick Nelson was 45.

This photo of Rick Nelson and me was taken in his car when I worked at KGW in Portland, OR in 1959. Notice the tape recorder. It was called a Mohawk, and like the haircut of the same name, it cut out the interview. When I got back to the station there was nothing on the tape. The same thing happened in 1958 backstage at the PNE Forum, no sound. It wasn’t until 1976 when he returned to Vancouver for a concert at the PNE Star Spectacular that I was able to get an interview. I showed Rick the picture and we had a laugh about my bad luck.

Rick was the first teenage idol, and there is no doubt about that, but in those early days in the 50’s he had no stage presence. He would sing a song and then take a drink of Coca-Cola. Having seen the dynamic Elvis on stage at Empire Stadium, the audience booed him. He didn’t deserve to be booed. He was a great guy and one of the early rockers who really could rock and roll. He was a very quiet man. Many people said if James Dean could sing, he would have sounded like Rick.

I had booked Rick for the Legends Of Rock'n'Roll show at Expo 86, but sadly he was killed in a plane crash near Dallas on December 31, 1985. Rick Nelson was 45.

Within days recently two iconic artists passed away, and they were related to each other. Debbie Reynolds was 84 and her daughter Carrie Fisher was 60. Carrie was best known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. Debbie was a major Hollywood actress at 19, just like Carrie! She starred in many musicals including Singing In The Rain with Gene Kelly.

I met the engaging Debbie during a November 1989 appearance at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre. She was here promoting her show The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and she had much to say about the Hollywood system of yore and her relationship with her kids.