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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, with the "Top Forty" format
gradually waning in popularity. 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.
CKLG was a "Top Forty" station longer than any
other Vancouver station, from 1964 to 2001, nearly
37 years. Its passing is, to this day, lamented by
many. These pages deal with the earliest years from
1964 to 1969.
For
a tribute to CKLG click here.
For a look at CKLG in the eighties and nineties
click here.
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