… bagism and shagism and dragism and madism and ragism and thisism and thatism …
[Description by Uncle Ricky for this exhibit contributed by Andy Bologovsky]
I first became acquainted with Hal Weaver and his work on CHUM, Toronto
courtesy of Dan Haber’s CHUM Collection right here at
REELRADIO. This exhibit originally was a lo-fidelity copy; it has since been replaced with a much better version.
This UNSCOPED (includes music for which we pay license fees) aircheck from August 2, 1969 is also fun to hear. Weaver is truly entertaining and quite clever, and I suspect incredibly hip at the time, simply because he was not the standard fare. And this is NOT a liner-card and jingle demo at
all. Weaver has long talk sets and is free to fun around here and there.
The music IS the standard fare (with some surprises) and it’s a Million Dollar Weekend, but it’s a nice mix. And the spots! A classic snapshot of the time. Notice how Coca-Cola spent a ton on WABC in the earlier sixties and by 1969 was into major promotions on CHUM. And what’s that Storz-era news bug doing in the Coke spot?
This aircheck was recorded on the station’s “skimmer” machine, saved for years by a CHUM secretary, and discovered in an antique store by Kent Spraggett. The music was restored by Charlie Ritenburg.