|
On this
site you will find an extensive collection of
surveys from the three Vancouver radio stations
that adopted the "Top Forty" format at one time or
other. These are not replicas of the originals nor
are they scans, but rather stylized retypes of the
originals. Many of the original errors have been
kept, but it was necessary to correct some errors
as well. (There may be a few typos of my own as
well, which will be corrected when
found.)
Feel free
to browse the surveys and relive the past of
Vancouver's hit parades. Compare them to
Billboard's, or CHUMs. You'll see many of the top
hits by Elvis, and the Beatles. You'll see immortal
classics like Runaway, Telstar, Hit the Road Jack,
Stranger On the Shore, Runaround Sue, Get Off My
Cloud, Roses Are Red and dozens of others all
hitting the number one spot as they did on
Billboard. But you'll also see the more obscure
hits, and you may remember those too, or wonder
what they sounded like. Some perhaps, deserve
obscurity. But some didn't and gained huge
popularity here, all because our DJs had the
freedom and independence of mind to play them.
So click
on the radio station links. Then
enjoy.
And if you
haven't visited the home page, click on the logo at
the bottom of this page.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE KEPT INFORMED BY
EMAIL
WHEN NEW ADDITIONS ARE MADE TO THIS
SITE
CONTACT
ME
AND I'LL ADD YOU TO THE "UPDATES"
LIST.!
|
WHAT'S
NEW
Update #21 - July 31,
2008
Over a year ago I began working on a complete
revamp of the CKWX section of my site. There
was much I wasn't happy with and I began the
project by first reformatting the 1961 and 62
surveys, now both complete for over a
year.
Now, as well, the years
1958, 1959 and 1960 are completely redone. In
addition to the reformatted charts, new audio and
memorabilia have been added, to be found on the
Index page for each year as follows:
1958
1. Five more
surveys added. These are Top Twenty charts
for July and August and were among the
station's very earliest surveys, preceding the
Sensational Sixty charts that followed soon
after. The originals of these were typed out
on CKWX stationery, mimeographed and were
distributed to the public. Thanks to Alex
Galbraith for providing the photocopies of these
and to Red Robinson for providing valuable
information about them.
2. One partial survey has been added for the
week of Sept. 1. This is a reconstruction
using the Last Week column on the Sept. 8 survey,
meaning that some chart information is missing.
3. New audio clips have also been added, among them
one of Buddy Holly plugging Red's Teen
Canteen.
1959
1. Two partial
surveys added for the missing weeks of
February 9 and March 2. Both are
reconstructions using the 'Last Week' columns on
the following weeks' charts.
2. One new jingle added, courtesy of the
Jamie Anstey collection. Long-time WX
listeners may recognize this once-familiar "Top
Personalities, Best In the West" jingle.
3. Also not to be missed is another of Bruce
Stewart's classic paintings, this one a fabulous
Vancouver scene of Capilano Stadium from a 1959
Corvette parked on Little Mountain. In my
opinion this is one of Bruce's best. Click on
the picture for a larger image which will fill your
screen, along with a description and explanation by
me as to how the subject matter of this scene
(baseball?) can possibly be connected with "Top
Forty" radio.
1960
1. Remember Buddy
Clyde? Well the index page now contains a
brief tribute to the popular DJ, who arrived in
Vancouver in April of that year. You'll also
hear audio clips by three well-known artists
plugging Buddy's program. A link will take
you to more Buddy Clyde memorabilia which includes
a letter Buddy typed on WX stationery to his friend
Jim Reeves, describing his stay at CKWX.
2. Four jingles have been added to the 1960
index page, courtesy of the Radio West
collection.
3. An 8-minute audio piece containing what
could best be called "generic" promos, all by a
variety of different artists. Courtesy of
the Jamie Anstey collection.
4. Also added to this page is Bruce Stewart's
digital image of a 1960 Olds against a nighttime
backdrop of the Vancouver Skyline. This image
was moved here from another part of my site.
Click on the image and you'll get a larger
panoramic view.
If anyone out there has
any information that could lead to the two missing
surveys from 1959 along with the summer of 1958,
I'd love to hear from you.
Coming
projects:
-I'm still not finished
with CKWX. Some of you may have noticed the
dead link to 1957 that's been there on the Year
Index page for some time. I do have plans for
this, a transitional year for the station. It
will include a number of unpublished, pre-Top 40
charts put out by the station, along with Red
Robinson's Teen Canteen charts (or the portions
that have survived.)
-And I haven't
forgotten CKLG. More of that to come
too.
In the meantime, enjoy
the rest of the summer.
Update #20 - July 15,
2008
July 15 is the anniversary date of the last
Soundathon, which ran from the 15th to the 23rd
during the "Summer of Love" 1967.
Unlike the summer
Soundathons of past years which featured only past
summer hits, Soundathon #14 was a full-fledged Top
300 like the year-end Soundathons.
1. To commemorate this
event the Soundathon 14 chart is now posted on my
site, which essentially completes the section of my
site devoted to the Soundathons.
2. Below the chart
you'll find what I hope you'll consider a big treat
-- over 77 minutes of audio recorded from this
event! This audio was recorded by Frank Carpenter,
a longtime resident of the United Kingdom. During
the mid-1960s, while in his early twenties, he
lived in Vancouver's Kitsilano district. He
attended BCIT with the hope of breaking into radio
in our city, and while Frank says that didn't
happen here, he did eventually get into radio in
the UK, and even did broadcasting stints in Tehran,
Iran and Vienna, Austria. He recorded this audio
using a professional portable UHER 4000L mono
reel-to-reel recorder.
Frank sent me over 5
hours of this audio on 4 CDs, which I have edited
down to 77 minutes by means of "scoping" the songs.
(Scoping is essentially the removal of all but the
beginning and end of each song, leaving just the
DJs intros and jingles.) DJs heard include Peter
Alpen, Terry David Mulligan, Neil Soper, Lee
Gabori, John Tanner and (briefly) Red
Robinson.
You'll also hear parts
of local C-FUN newscasts describing the racial
strife in Detroit and a major earthquake in Turkey.
The audio is presented in four parts for easier
loading into your mp3 player. If anyone out
there remembers Frank from his BCIT years, he would
love to hear from you. You can contact him via my
email.
Two months after the
last Soundathon aired, on September 16, 1967, C-FUN
exited the Top Forty format, ending a chapter in
radio history.
FOR
A HISTORY OF THIS SITE
VIEW THE "UPDATES"
ARCHIVES
This
is
VANCOUVER
"TOP
FORTY" RADIO
|
