http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl? http://www.eblah.com en http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282574196/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282574196/#num1 Tony Parsons
is a Canadian Achiever

    
BroadcasterMagazine.com
Published: July 2010


                                              Tony Parson and Dick Drew
                                                                                               Photo taken by Mitch Drew

For over 50 years Tony Parsons has been a newsman and news anchor, never a news maker. That began changing on December 9/09 when he retired from his enviable thirty year career anchoring the 6;00 P.M major news on BCTV/Global, Vancouver. He was its franchise. He’d built it up to where it had a larger share than any newscast in any major market in North America.   Tony is one of the most highly respected and recognized  persons in BC. Towards the end of his contract he was only working two days per week as the station geared up to replace him with Chris Gailus. Much like the Jay Leno/ Conan O’Brien transition. The station was looking for a newer younger anchor.

Lo and behold on March 15/10  just short weeks after his so called retirement, viewers were excited to see him anchoring the 10:00 p.m news on employee owned CHEK-TV Victoria. He plans to become an investor.  CHEK has excellent cable coverage throughout BC. so now viewers were at peace again. They had their Tony back leading them through the days news as only he can. . Then on April 9/10 Tony was back in the news AGAIN when he showed up anchoring news on CBC-TV. Vancouver as well as CHEK.. Going head to head against Chris Gailus on BCTV/Global.  Now Tony was really in the news. The buzz around BC was incredible. Viewers who had gone South for the winter came back wondering if they were dreaming.  When they left Tony was on BCTV/Global. Now he’s on CHEK and CBC .

Over at BCTV/Global some may have felt it was more like a nightmare.  Tony explained it to me over a pleasant lunch at his Italian restaurant called  “ The Poor Italian“ .[don’t let the name fool you]

He and wife Tammy moved to her home town of Victoria when he signed with CHEK.  Tony planned to enjoy several years in semi retirement.

CHEK’s News Director Rob Germain feels this way about it.  “Dick, when it comes to news anchors. Tony is tops. His choosing to come to CHEK was amazing. A great endorsement of what we are doing at our newly independent employees’ owned station. Tony is still passionate about broadcasting“

To make matters even more interesting, enter the bright and creative Johnny Michel, Managing Director for CBC,BC If this were an old black & white  melodrama on TV you would see Johnny hunched over wearing a black cape and stove pipe hat while twisting a black handle bar moustache over the sounds of thunderous dramatic music.  Johnny had a plan, he had worked with Tony at BCTV/Global for seven years, he knew of Tony’s Italian heritage, so he made him an offer he could not refuse. Johnny’s offer was simple. Come to CBC-TV, anchor the 5:00-6:30 pm news with seasoned co- anchor Gloria Macarento head to head against Chris Gailus. In return Johnny would give Tony a sum of money, a two year contract with options, and  a talent share deal with CHEK.  “ Dick” Johnny told me “ I’m thrilled to be working with Tony again! Not only is he the most trusted face in local news, he is also one of the nicest people in the business. The entire CBC News Vancouver family and viewers have welcomed him with open arms. He felt right at home the minute he walked into our state of the art newsroom.”  
            
Now Tony  helicopter’s from Victoria at noon week-days to anchor CBC news in Vancouver , thirty minutes is simulcast on CHEK. He signs off, rushes to the airport and flies to Victoria to anchor the CHEK 10:00 p.m news.  Its rumoured his two deals earn him  $400,000 per year plus Global pension, OAP  and CPP.  [ he’s 71]  Tony would not confirm nor deny this figure, nor would he say what his plans are for the air miles he‘s piling up...

You have to live in BC to fully appreciate the respect and credibility Tony has. If he’d only wanted something to do he could become Premier of the Province for life and play golf every day.   To my knowledge there has never been a disparaging word said or written about Tony.

I have known him since the early 60’s when we worked together at CHML Hamilton.  Someone who has known him even longer is Warren Beck who told me “ Dick, three of us, Tony, Bryon Cox and I shared an apartment in the late 50’s while we all worked in news at CHML. We were all in our early 20’s.  Tony was the “ Class” of the three of us. He always dressed to the nines. used lots of hot water for showers, and despised a cluttered kitchen.  The superintendents wife had the ‘hots’ for him. So, when we wanted anything for our apartment we would send Tony to negotiate. His charm and extreme good looks always got us what we wanted including samples of her home cooking. Occasionally she even cleaned our apartment.” Then Warren told me some juicy scandal
“If one of us were: "entertaining” we had a rule that you left the balcony light “ on” that meant ..stay away.”

Hey,what can you expect, these guys were in their early 20’s.

Four years later Tony moved on to CHUM, Toronto, then CTV, then BCTV.. Warren remained at CHML where he retired as news director. He was enticed out of retirement by the late  Dick Buchanan owner of CKPC Brantford to head up news where he is today.

What is it with these news guys?? they retire, then go back to work full time somewhere else. go figure.

Not counting his three marriages, Tony has led a very uncomplicated life.  He love’s golf. met his present wife Tammy on a golf course. Plays guitar, enjoys a glass of wine and the occasional cigar.  His life is laid out in a very interesting best selling memoir released recently titled “ Tony Parsons, a life in the news” After knowing him for 50 years, and reading his memoir I feel the title could be:

               “ Teflon Tony, nothing sticks to him except success”
                                                            He is another Canadian Achiever.

Visit Dick Drews Website
Home of the 69Cent Dollar
http://www.dickdrew.com/]]> Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:36:36 Voice Over http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272303103/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272303103/#num1 Canadian Rock Pirates
Shake the British Empire; Rattle the Radio Industry


    
BroadcasterMagazine.com
Published: March 2010



Some forty years ago, they were the dreaded pirates of offshore radio; more recently, they were the honoured guests at a radio reunion hosted by the BBC. And the hits just keep on coming.

"There's eight million people listening; they're gonna love ya!"


Tom Lodge

With those words from a Canadian program director named Tom Lodge, a nervous 20-year-old Calgarian named Keith Hampshire became a pirate -- with his first on-air DJ shift from Caroline One.

It was Easter Sunday 1964 -- the day the genie known as Pirate Radio exploded from the British broadcast regulator's bottle.

Over the next three years, the explosion led to a fleet of a dozen or so illegal commercial Pirate Radio ships anchored off the British coast, out of reach of British regulators.

Operating much like pirates of yore, they plundered audiences and advertisers unfettered -- until the government passed a Marine Offences Act specifically to shut them down.

The end came August 1967.

Some say what the Internet is doing today to disrupt conventional media is comparable to what Pirate Radio did back then.

Overlooked entirely in the recent movie of the same name is the crucial role Canadians had in driving Pirate Radio's success

Canadians can lay claim or take blame for much of the infamous success of Pirate Radio and what British Parliamentarians soon called "the destruction of all things sane and sound".

The first two Pirate Radio ships were Radio Caroline One and Radio Caroline Two (some recall it as Caroline North and South). Each ship directed its signal to a different part of England, but each also spilled over into adjacent countries.

The fresh new sounds of rock 'n' roll that everyone wanted to hear were being delivered by energetic announcers keyed up and ready to rock. Who knew they were mostly Canadians?

Back then, there were no private commercial radio stations in Great Britain, There was the staid and revered BBC, over which the British Government exercised strict control. For damn sure they could not play that confounded rock 'n' roll music. And no commercials please, we're British!

Strange when you consider that British groups like the Beatles and others had invaded North America several years earlier and taken over our airwaves. It was seemingly only fair that Canadians would play a part in this role reversal.

Radio Caroline was first imagined by a brash 27 year old Irishman named Ronan O'Reillihy. The money came from his wealthy family. Ronan looked to Canada for both on-air radio talent and experienced salespeople, wise in the ways of selling and packaging radio advertising.


Terry Bate [left] and Don Mackenzie
make a sales call on dry land.

He hired a dynamic sales team headed by Allan Slaight of CHUM, Toronto. Allan formed a partnership with Terry Bate of Stephens & Towndrow, one of the hottest radio promotion sales shops in Canada. They recruited a bright young pistol named Don Mackenzie (also from Stephens & Towndrow), and Don's wife Saundra sailed off to England with them to work in their traffic department.

Allan Slaight is the same Allan Slaight recently featured in this column. Years later, he would be in charge of CFRB and a number of other stations. He later sold them several years ago for a reported one billion dollars and was recently included in the Canadian Business magazine list of Canadian billionaires.
(Allan's son Gary is being honoured this year during Canadian Music Week.)

When Don Mackenzie returned to Canada, he came to work with me at CHML/ CKDS-FM Hamilton where I was General Sales Manager. We all enjoyed hearing his dazzling stories of sales promotions including 'Caroline Cash Casino' which brought in tens of thousands of letters each containing a proof of purchase.

One promotion worked so well the client rewarded them with the use of his villa in Spain.

As Don now recalls, "It was a feeding frenzy!"

Gord Cruse was a 24 year old former DJ from CFQC Saskatoon, in London while working his way around the world. Earning five pounds per week doing back breaking work in a warehouse, he heard someone was looking for announcers with neutral accents.

Gordon Cruse taking a breather
from Pirate Radio scrap book

"Midway through my audition," Gord told me, "The producer opened the studio door and asked if I could start tomorrow at 25 pounds per week." Terms were two weeks on the ship, one week ashore, and that was juts fine for most of the approximately two dozen Canadian DJ's.


Keith Hampshire poses on board

Hampshire, for example, stayed right to end, and then went on to have a very successful singing and recording career (among his disparate hits, The First Cut is the Deepest and OK, Blue Jays!)

"Dick," he told me recently, "I was originally hired by Tom Lodge, who later returned to Canada and worked at CHLO St. Thomas before he initiated the Recording Arts program at Fanshawe College. I also worked with Errol Bruce, who came back and did the all night show at CKFH Toronto. Steve Young came back and went into radio in Kelowna. Gary King, who now lives in Hamilton, went on to be the London correspondent for one of the big TV networks."

Hey, these pirates have legs!

Much later, as Gord Cruse told me, "Dick, the irony here is stunning. In 2007, the 40th anniversary of the Marine Offences Act which put us out of business, the BBC outfitted a ship complete with studio and transmitter. Anchored it in Harwich Bay. And invited about sixty of us former Pirates to come on board and work air shifts for one week just like the old days to relive the 60's. Not only that, they paid us a talent fee for our work!"

With a broad smile, he added, "I would like to acknowledge the BBC for having the maturity and humour to invite pirates to celebrate with them."

Gord continued his wandering through radio winding up eventually C-FAX in Victoria, where he now lives in retirement.

But back in the mid 70's, the clamour created by Pirate Radio forced the British Government to raise the white flag.

It eventually approved commercial radio stations throughout the UK through the Independent Broadcast Act, [IBA] .Their mandate was to issue one license per area. London received two. By the summer of '78 there were about 19 commercial radio stations on-air with more to come.

Yep you guessed it folks. Canadians were in there like pirates.

Toronto's Canadian Standard Broadcast Company-UK had investments in about 15 licences. Canada's Selkirk Radio Company was equally as aggressive. Terry Bate remained in England consulting for all of them earning tons of pounds. Today he lives between homes in West Vancouver and Spain.

  
In 2007, the BBC outfitted a replica ship as part of a 'pirate party'.
The original, moored six miles off the coast of Holland,
broadcast illegally on 253 meters 1187 kHz, 50kW

Now, borrowing from Paul Harvey, "Here is the rest of the story."

In 1986 I met with the IBA in London to seek their approval to syndicate throughout Great Brittan several of the syndicated radio programs I was producing here in Canada. The IBA controlled all pre produced programs entering the UK. To say the reception I received was frosty is an understatement. It left me baffled. Now while researching this story it suddenly dawned on me that the IBA were still smarting over the disruption Canadian "Pirates" had caused them. It's fair to say there was some "skullduggery" going on.


The cinematic story of the pirates of radio
leaves the Canadian connection all wet.

They figured I was just another swashbuckling Canadian, planning to invade their protected shores and sail away with many of their precious gold doubloons. Just my luck I had a Maple Leaf between my eyes for a bull's eye!

You may not see all of the Canadian Pirates as Canadian Achievers, but arrgghh, matey, they managed to affect us all to this day. B


http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000363895

.]]> Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:31:43 Voice Over http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1239578995/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1239578995/#num1 Rod Black
is a Canadian Achiever

BroadcasterMagazine.com

"He Lives What He Asks"  
Rod Black


The photo with this story shows Rod Black with a group of orphan children in Africa. For over a dozen years Rod has been an active and dedicated spokesperson for Plan Canada. The non profit foster parents organization which urges families to sponsor foster children in Africa.

Before I tell you too much about Rod’s involvement with Plan Canada let me explain his professional background and why I feel what he is doing is so remarkable.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, He is now one of Canada’s leading, and busiest, sports play-by-play announcers. He is the voice of sports for the sports Network TSN, Canadian Football League CFL, The Raptors basketball, Blue Jays baseball, Canadian Open Golf tournament, winter and summer Olympics.

You name a sports event and there is a good chance you will see Rod Black working it. His life seems to be a different sport in a different city every day.

That is why I marvel at the amount of time and effort he donates to Plan Canada. It is not unusual for busy high profile celebrities to lend their name and image in support of a worthwhile event. Some even record TV and radio commercials and attend certain high profile events. I commend celebrities who do this. This is not the case with Rod Black. His involvement with Plan Canada is total and absolute.

Becky Crampton, Director of Marketing for Plan Canada told me “ Dick, his work on our television programs and other engagements has helped us acquire tens of thousands of new child sponsors in Canada and the US. He is truly a part of the Plan Canada family. He has a wife and four children plus a job that is very demanding of his time. So for him to take out time to travel to Africa with us, work on the ground for several days, and return another 20 hours in the air is truly remarkable and selfless”

Then she added “Rod is amazing with the people in these countries-especially the children. He is so natural at making them feel comfortable”

Now you know why Rod Black is truly another Canadian Achiever

http://www.canadianachievers.com.





]]> Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:29:55 Voice Over http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1229640192/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1229640192/#num1 50 Great Years with Many Great People



By: Dick Drew
.com
October 2008 Edition

Earlier this year, the Grammy Awards and I celebrated 50 years. They celebrated with a multi-gazillion dollar entertainment TV extravaganza -- and they won three Emmy Awards for doing so!

I was quietly inducted into the C. A. B. Half Century Club.

That's a great award in its own right, but to misquote former U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt: "June 8, 1958 is a day that will go down in broadcasting infamy."

That was the day a microphone opened at CJQC, Quebec City and a young; nervous 22 year old spoke the immortal words, "Hello! I'm Dick Drew."



The Plains of Abraham shook -following the cue of my shaking knees. Water levels in the nearby St Lawrence River rose to dangerous levels because of my own over-flowing kidneys. It was the realization of several years of mailing audition tapes, and reading rejection letters. I still have the letters and enjoy reading how so many program directors graciously suggested I seek another career.

Looking back on 50 years:

[1] It's been a hoot!

[2] Where did the time go?

The broadcast industry has been very good to me and my family. I hope the feeling is mutual.

Born in Edmonton. Raised in Vancouver. In 1958, I was happily married to my wonderful wife Aline. We lived in Montreal where I was a jewellery salesman at Mappins's Ltd. But I wanted to break into radio.

I met Dick Lewis, founder of this magazine at the CAB Convention in Montreal May '58. (The first issue of Canadian Broadcaster, all eight pages of it, appeared on January 8th, 1942 -it only took me 50 years to get here!)

But Dick suggested I phone Hal Burnside, Manager of CJQC in Quebec City, saying, "Hal is always looking for people."

That was the understatement of the century! CJQC went through announcers faster than a speeding bullet. The station still holds the world record for the briefest broadcast career!

That occurred when a retired army officer was hired: He strode into the studio, I opened his microphone, he announced his name with great flair, introduced a recording by the Four Aces, immediately fainted, then came to and staggered out the door. Never to seen or heard from again. (Aline says I should write a book about radio characters such as this. I would -except the title "Believe It or Not" is owned by BC broadcast and media owner Jimmy Pattison.)

But CJQC was a great place to learn at because you did everything.

Today it's called multitasking...

My shift was on air mornings and drive Monday-Saturday, selling advertising between shifts. Being bilingual, I freelanced for English and French CBC radio and television, and did freelance phone reports to radio stations across Canada, including sports reports for Jim Cox at CKNW, New Westminster.

He helped convinced me that broadcasting truly was the place to be -and an exciting 50 years flew by, all the while I was meeting and working with the most interesting people God ever placed on this planet.

Show me another industry that allows a person of my limited talent to explore all of these exciting aspects, while loving every moment of it:

Announcer, Salesman, General Sales Manager, Station Manager, Toronto Rep Shop Manager, owner/operator of Radio Station CKAY, Duncan 1979-2005. From 1985-99, I created, wrote, hosted, produced and syndicated over 3000 episodes of the daily radio feature The Canadian Achievers heard on an average 150 stations. For several years I also produced the series in French syndication as Les Success Canadiens.

Over the years I wrote, produced and syndicated many features in both official languages; some are still available at http://www.dickdrew.com. I've written three books. Two became best sellers.

I was asked once to describe the broadcast industry in three words. I quickly replied "People, people, people!"

Only in a generous industry like broadcasting in a great country like Canada can a guy like me end up owning a radio station and a production company, eh! And to top it all off, my wife Aline, our kids, Louise, Mitch, Cam and former daughter-in-law Shelly all worked together at CKAY.

A national magazine once called CKAY 'the Wong Family station.' Comparing us to a Chinese grocery store which typically has the entire family working hard for its success was a nice compliment.

Of all the areas of this industry that I have stuck my nose into, sales promotion has provided the most satisfaction. I'm proud to call myself a peddler. Nothing happens until something is sold. There is no greater high than filling out a broadcast order because you know things will happen.

Ideally, people will go to the sponsor's location because they heard about it on-air. They buy the advertised product and begin a chain reaction that reaches all the way back to the factory or field where the product first began its travels to the market place. WOW!

While I was producing syndicated shows, I would get "buzzed", or high as they say now, thinking about thousands of listeners being touched by the content, and responding to the advertising.

It still does. So, to borrow a line from Dick Lewis, "Buzz me if you hear anything."


Now semi-retired, Dick Drew and his wife Aline live in Maple Ridge BC, near their five grandchildren. After 50 years, Dick is still involved in the industry he loves, writing this regular column for Broadcaster Magazine and operating Drew Marketing Ltd.

http://www.broadcastermagazine.....sue=10012008&PC=

.

]]> Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:43:12 YourRealDad http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1213314682/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1213314682/#num1
Magazine.com

Four Generations
of Brownes
On The Air


    
Puget Sound Radio
June 12th, 2008

Billy Browne was one of this country's
first disc jockeys.


Billy Browne Sr.

Some eighty-five years after he first signed on, his legacy is alive and well and still on-air!


Roo Phelps

Take a good look at the attractive young lady named Christen Roo Phelps. She is fourth in a long line of Browne's, the latest family member to entertain radio listening audiences since her great grandfather Billy Sr. began singing on radio station CJCG in Winnipeg in 1922.

When that station closed down in 1923, Billy Sr. moved to CKCK Regina, then on to Vancouver. There he began what was to become a 48-year radio tradition, with shows like Browne's Brevities, Sunrisers, and - on CJOR - a program called Breakfast with Browne, one of Vancouver's first and best-rated morning shows.


Billy Browne Jr.
From the time Billy Browne Jr. was five years old, Billy Sr. would have him on the air regularly. Audiences followed Billy Jr. as he grew up, joined him as he went to school, and listened attentively as he began dating.

When Billy Sr died suddenly of a heart attack in 1951, Billy Jr.- by that time an established radio personality in his own right - took over Breakfast with Browne.

In 1958, Billy Jr. and wife Norma received a radio licence for Courtenay on Vancouver Island, where Billy continued Breakfast with Browne until his sudden death, of a heart attack in 1990. He was 63.


Charleen Phelps
By then Billy and Norma had a network of six radio stations known as Coast Radio, serving upper Vancouver Island and Powell River. Their daughter Charleen did some air work; however, she preferred administration, including a stint as network music director.

She married station news director Greg Phelps, and their boy and girl became the next generation. The boy chose to become a teacher; but the girl, Roo Phelps, let her rampant radio genes take control as she began carving herself a promising career in radio.

Like her grandfather and great grandfather before her, she hosted a morning show for several years. When her grandmother, Norma Browne, sold Coast Radio to Vista Broadcasting in 2005, Roo felt the urge to stretch her wings and is now working on the air at CKPG, Prince George.

Over the years my wife Aline and I became quite close to the Browne family. I worked at Coast Radio in 1960-61 before returning east. In 1979 Billy Jr. encouraged Aline and I to buy Radio Station CKAY, Duncan [now SUN-FM] and return to the West. In 1990 I was honoured to be asked by Norma to deliver a eulogy for Billy Jr.s' to a church that was packed to overflowing.

Will there be a fifth generation of Browne's in Canadian radio? Well, as they say in radio land: "Stay tuned, folks ..."

Dick Drew is a Canadian broadcaster and writer. His "Canadian Achievers" series ran in radio syndication from 1984 to 1999, and now appears as a week syndicated newspaper column. This column is exclusive to Broadcaster Magazine, and there is more about the Browne's achievements at http://www.canadianachievers.com, including links to http://www.broadcastinghistory.ca.

Ed's Note:
This column continues a series of short profiles of "Canadian Achievers" in the Canadian broadcast TV and radio industry, written exclusively for Broadcaster Magazine by Dick Drew, a well-known achiever himself.
http://www.broadcastermagazine.....sue=03012007&PC=


Drew Marketing
& Productions Ltd.
http://www.dickdrew.com/

Dick Drew's email addy
dickdrew@shaw.ca

]]> Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:51:22 YourRealDad