Year
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1959/1960
Dave
McCormick's
"Unofficial"
Surveys
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
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Photo
credit:
"The C-FUN Studios on
West 4th Avenue".
Courtesy of
Vancouver
Radio Museum
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In the early
Fall of 1959 at Vancouver radio station CFUN, a
young disc-jockey named Dave McCormick, introduced
and hosted a weekday afternoon program of popular
tunes called the "House of Hits". Additionally Dave
hosted the Vancouver chapter of the nightly
"Hi-Fi
Club"
sponsored by Coca-Cola. Dave also began producing
his own weekly surveys, reportedly using the
one-finger method on his home typewriter. The
survey was called the "HI-FI FORTY". For the first
few weeks the surveys were not publicly
distributed, but soon a limited number were printed
out on a Ditto copier, typos and all, and with
Dave's hand-drawn C-FUN logo at the top. They were
then issued to a limited number of Vancouver record
stores.
By the the summer of 1960 CFUN had morphed into a
24-hour Pop/Rock 'N' Roll station. The first
"official" C-FUN survey labeled number 1, was
issued for the week of March 19, 1960. Like the
earlier homemade McCormick surveys it still carried
the name "HI-FI FORTY" although the surveys, which
were now more professional in appearance, usually
listed at least fifty, sometimes 60 songs. By
mid-summer the station settled in on the name
"FUNTASTIC FIFTY" (or C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY). It would
remain as such for many years. CFUN, largely due to
McCormick's efforts, had established itself as
Vancouver's new hit parade station and in addition
to Dave, gave us the radio personalities, known
then as the "Swingin' Men At 1410", which included
Al Jordan, Brian Lord, Ken Chang, Frosty Forst, and
Jerry Landa. On Sunday evenings Andy Laughland
(pronounced LOCK-lund) would host "Comedy Night",
the only time during the week that CFUN deviated
from the hit parade format.
In early 1962, as competitor CKWX began phasing
itself out of the "Top Forty" format, over at C-FUN
Dave McCormick was preparing to leave the station
for a position in Fresno, California. (Brian Lord
had departed only a few months earlier, also for
California.) Red Robinson left WX and moved to
C-FUN that April, filling Dave's spot as Program
Director. Red didn't actually move into Dave's time
slot, but rather the evening slot occupied by
George Morris (aka the Late Daddy 'G'), who also
left the station around this time.
With Red and other new personalities coming aboard,
by this time nicknamed the "Good Guys", C-FUN
solidified its position for the next few years as
Vancouver's Rock 'N' Roll/Pop music station. The
new DJs would include, over a period of time, Buzz
Leboe, Ronn "The Beard" Grimster, Tom Peacock, Fred
Latremouille, Mad Mel, "Jolly" John Tanner, and
Daryl 'B'.
CKLG entered the "Top Forty" format in August 1964.
The two stations vied for top spot in the Rock/Pop
format for several years during which time
personalities moved back and forth between the two
stations, although mostly from the former to the
latter. Eventually CKLG gained supremacy.
Red Robinson left C-FUN in 1967 and returned to
CJOR. CFUN's last survey, by this time called the
"FUN FORTY" was issued in September 1967. The
station switched to easy listening music then soon
began introducing "Talk" shows. Then it went to an
all-news format and soon changed its call letters
to CKVN. With the eventual failure of the news
format after only a few years, Toronto's CHUM
purchased CKVN in 1972 and had the old CFUN call
letters reinstated.
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