The Station With
the
Happy Difference

CKLG
Boss
Radio!

Year Index


1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
1969 1970
1971 1972 1973
1974
1975 1976 1977 1978
1979 1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
New!!
1989
New!
1990
New!
1991
1992
New!
1993
New!

On August 22 1964, a date that coincides closely with the much-heralded arrival of the Beatles in Vancouver, CKLG underwent a radical change and became the third station in Vancouver's radio history to adopt the "Top Forty" format. CKLG had been born only 9 years earlier, in 1955, and was originally based in North Vancouver. (The 'LG' stood for "Lions Gate".) In those early years, the station carried programming that appealed to the "middle-of-the-road" audience.

Now the station was going up against "Top Forty" giant CFUN and in doing so the station underwent many changes, including the adoption of a new slogan "Lion Radio" and the introduction of several new DJs,, referred to as "Top Cats", which included Paul Arthur, Frank "Emperor" Malone, Russ Simpson, Dave Palmer, Roy Hennessy, and Jerry Landa.

And, of course, it introduced it's own survey, often referred to on air by the DJs as the "Fabulous Forty" or "Fab Forty", although neither of these titles appeared on the actual printed survey. Rather, the banner at the top of each chart read "SILVER DOLLAR SURVEY".

The station gained popularity and, over the next few years, gradually lured over DJs from C-FUN including Jerry Landa, Fred Latremouille, Daryl 'B' and later, John Tanner. By the latter part of of 1966 LG had adopted the new slogan "Boss Radio" and the DJs changed from "Top Cats" to "Boss Jocks". The survey became the "Boss 40", later the "Boss 30", and then just "CKLG Thirty".


By the Fall of 1967 CKLG had toppled C-FUN in the local ratings, driving the latter out of the "Top Forty" format. Over the next few years new DJs would include J.B. Shane, Peter Starr, Timothy Burge, Stevie Wonder, and Terry David Mulligan. By the 1980s the lineup consisted of a whole new generation of DJs.

Over the years, the "Top Forty" format along with AM radio as a whole, gradually waned in popularity. The surveys ended in 1993. The station flirted with other formats including 'talk' radio, although it continued to play hit music.

CKLG unceremoniously passed into history on February 1, 2001, when the station, now owned by the Corus Network, which also owned CKNW, became an all-news station and was now referred to as NW2. It has undergone further format changes since then, including the loss of its call letters. Today it is all-traffic station CHMJ.

CKLG was a "Top Forty" station longer than any other Vancouver station, nearly 37 years. Its passing, to this day, is lamented by many. These pages deal first with the earliest years beginning in 1964 and will eventually work upward to the 1990s.


For a further tribute to CKLG by Gord Lansdell click
here.





Survey scans courtesy of



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VANCOUVER TOP 40 RADIO © 2005