For several years I had this "thing" I did closing my show in the evenings. Coming out of my last break for the shift I always played the same song - The Supremes -Someday We'll Be Together. I said my goodbyes for the day over the intro and faded into the dark each night with Dianna & the Girls belting out their hopeful message. This song was never on our play list and for 5 years - nobody ever noticed. I kept the CART as my souvenir on my last shift knowing I was leaving the business. I suppose nobody was ever listening nor paying any attention to me. So much for my ego, but I always felt pretty good I had pulled this off that long in major market Alberta.
I'm just curious if anyone else has ever had a similar routine or rebel streak? Love to hear your stories.
Great things about evenings (at least when I was in the biz) is that management very seldom listened. They were either in a bar or, heaven forbid, a few would actually go home and be with the wifey and little ones. Only one that ever listened was Bob Robertson when he was PD at CKXL in Calgary - he'd have his air check tape machine in his office and he would pass comments on what he thought we were doing wrong.
I wouldn't pretend to be anywhere near as "rebellious" as you, but I do remember hoodwinking Calgary on the evening of the station's Christmas party back in 1974. I relieved the regular evening guy so he could attend. Since it was a Friday and I knew that no one from the station (CFCN) would be listening, I took my brother in with me. He did a great Aussie accent and for the evening was my guest - DJ Nigel "Nightime" Patrick from Radio Perth. We actually got a few phone calls with people enjoying the "guest" and not a soul from CFCN ever commented. Made the evening fly faster and we had a blast.
The problem with little stunts like that is, unless you had been marking down what you played...the logger tapes and the reconciled logs would not match up. That's not a fun thing for any PD to discover when the tapes are called by the CRTC... especially if that extra tune put you out of compliance. Then again, if it was after midnight...it's funny.
So my very first job in Radio in 1980 was in Wetaskiwin (Just outside Edmonton) at CJOI Casual Country. Working an evening on a Saturday night, I had put the religious tapes away and turned off the transmitter at midnight. The guy who had trained me showed up drunk with a couple of his buddies with a case of beer. After having a couple more he decided that he would fire it up again at 2am. For the next 2 hours CJOI Wetaskiwin was WPPQ from Seattle Washington playing rock music...Damn that was fun...the PD and GM never did find out about it...
I remember that the guy who worked the graveyard shift at the little store across the street from the radio station where I cut my teeth in was a big fan of Herb Alpert (Trumpet player who did these catchy up-beat tunes in the 60's). He (my friend) was disgusted when our station switched from a mix format to all country. I would get off at midnight and flip the switches to a satalite program called Cryin Lovin or Leavin and proceed to the local bar for a few coctails. Then when the bar closed, I'd walk home which involved walking past the station. To please my friend, I would pop back into the control room, fade out whatever crappy song was being played and crash into one of Herb's many hits. I can't remember the names of the songs but it was kind of fun to get away with something (even if almost nobody heard it). My friend at the store loved it!!!
Shoulda started with a K....KPPQ. I know. Nit picking.
When I worked at CFQC Radio last century we'd grab a case of beer and go up to the TV side well past sign-off, grab a cannister of an old movie from Telecine and use the sales office to watch it on the projector they used for sales meetings. (Talkin' reel to reel movie film here.) Nice big couches, no commissionaire watchman in those days. In hindsight I guess we coulda hired hookers but dang the movies were too good! Not sure if we pulled anything off but nobody said anything the next day.
If you played the same damn song at the end of every shift, and said the usual goodbyes overtop, you probalby didn't have any listeners hearing it either!
I took the decorated News Cruiser out one night. I was told I could not borrow the vehicle. When the boss left I grabbed the keys and returned in the wee hours of the morning. I had a date that night.
Hey Gotobreak....your story reminded me of the days I was a junior newsman at CFAC in Calgary back in the late sixties. Couldn't afford great wheels and the station news car was a fancy powered up Dodge - 2 door hardtop and a huge motor with CFAC painted in huge letters. Sure beat my little od beater so I took that sucker out for a spin a few times with friends - never a date 'cause I didn't want to be out too long and caught at it. In this day and age, they probably have vehicle logs and if they did back then, I'm surprised I never got busted.
I ran the Sunday log on Saturday. But I got caught when a client called in wondering where there garden feature was. I was fired 4 hours into the shift.
While working in rural Sask. we used to role religious programming in the evenings. Quite often I would slow down the tape speed just to see if anyone was listening. They weren't. But G-d probably was and I've been paying for it ever since.
We had a REALLY, REALLY hokey BGM cart to go with our "Pet Patrol" feature on CHWK. It consisted of PD Bryan Laver's voice saying: "And NOWWWWW, Pet Patrol" followed by two woofs of a dog, then a Looney Tunes sounding BGM that ran behind the announcer. Well, when the PD went on holidays, I seized the moment and that BGM cart went missing. Laver was fit to be tied when he came back and couldn't find it.
Another time at CKQR Castlegar, I did a quick one on the Birthday Show BGM cart. What the morning host normally heard was the chorus of Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday", followed by a repeating loop of the instrumental intro to the song. Well, when the morning host hit the intro cart he got some rocker going "YEAHHHH" followed by a quick guitar riff....then it went to the usual sappy Stevie Wonder music....then about 10-15 seconds later the rocker let out another shriek...back to music.
Fun times...Tommy D, what kind of silliness happened in Hope? Don't be hiding behind that halo neither...I'm sure you pulled a few quick ones.
Thanks "Dead Air". It was Tijuana Taxi!!! I remember the horn honking. I used to laugh my arse off as I faded out of some inbread hillbilly into the comical up beat sound of Herb. Great stories folks. Keep them coming!!! Did any of you ever host a trading post. Without the 6 second delay, they can be hilarious. That is, if you can stand to listen to all those boring calls while you wait for the wing nuts!!!
Did any of you ever host a trading post. Without the 6 second delay, they can be hilarious. That is, if you can stand to listen to all those boring calls while you wait for the wing nuts!!!
oh yes, no delay in the Cowichan Valley. I was doing a part time gig at CKAY Duncan in 1975 when Ernie Mykete owned 1500AM.
The program was called "Bargain Mart", it ran three times a day, 10:30am, 1:30pm and 7:30pm.
on my first shift, I'm sure the dude out in the radio audience was just waiting for me to take his call next, Good Afternoon, I said, "Hi! Is this Bargain FART!"
when I worked in Red Deer as a board op I use to have girls in at all times on the weekend and never got caught even did the nasty on the big board room table lol I also use to record the Sunday Night Sex show on the old DCS when it first came to the station(use to have to record it on a big reel to reel stop and play carted commercials) insert the commercials then head on down the hall and watch TV in the news room for 2 hours then head home lol good times.
I remember that the guy who worked the graveyard shift at the little store across the street from the radio station where I cut my teeth in was a big fan of Herb Alpert (Trumpet player who did these catchy up-beat tunes in the 60's). He (my friend) was disgusted when our station switched from a mix format to all country. I would get off at midnight and flip the switches to a satalite program called Cryin Lovin or Leavin and proceed to the local bar for a few coctails. Then when the bar closed, I'd walk home which involved walking past the station. To please my friend, I would pop back into the control room, fade out whatever crappy song was being played and crash into one of Herb's many hits. I can't remember the names of the songs but it was kind of fun to get away with something (even if almost nobody heard it). My friend at the store loved it!!!
I happen to be one of those guys on the air after Cryin', lovin' or leavin.
Sorry Tommy D. The show was fine but the music was terrible. I like some (maybe 10 to 20%) country music but these were the same 20 or 30 songs over and over again. Give the people what they ask for I guess. Still enjoying this thread. Keep those funny stories coming folks. Glad I wasn't the only bad arse.
Here's a story for ya... CJNB North Battleford, in the early 80's... one of our sponsors was the local drive-in theatre, and the owner was known for (I am not making this up) his pet Canada Goose. He would actually walk this goose downtown on a leash. So as a way to attract attention to the ad, we would play a cart with the sound of a goose honking just ahead of reading the live ad telling people what movie was at the drive-in that weekend. No explanation, just "honk honk" and "This weekend at the <whatever> Drive-In, Footloose..." Well, our evening guy (who'd been there forever) decided this was too good a prank to pass up. He starts reading the copy... you hear the honking in the background... and he says "Excuse me, one moment..." and you then heard the unmistakable sound of a goose being strangled. He then came back to the mic and continued as if nothing had happened.
Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... so over the next few days, that poor goose died in several different ways. (I seem to recall I used machine gun fire on my shift.) Finally, it all ended after one of the oddest memos ever was tacked up on the control room door. It just said "Please stop killing the goose."
And that's why we all recall the old days of radio with such fondness... it was *creative*. Try and find that on today's micro-managed frequencies...
Amen Dave!!! Radio was way better when each station was owned by a local family!!! If Rogers, Newcap, Standard and Corus had owned those stations 2o years earlier, none of these stories would have happened. I think you could publish a book of these stories if enough people were willing to share them.
The goose story made me laugh, and triggered a few good memories. I was working with a guy named Steve Scott, (Steve Philpott) at CJUP in the mid 80's, and he was doing a thing at night called "Scott's Triva". He'd produced a little intro for it, and I just couldn't resist. I yanked out his intro cart, took off the label, and put it onto a new cart. That night, when he said, "it's time for Scott's Triva", and hit the intro, he was introduced by a pack of yappy dogs. Stopped him cold in his tracks. I was at home pissing myself. The next night, knowing he'd fall for it again, I replaced the dogs with honking geese. By the third night, I knew he'd catch on. So, I put two 30's on the cart. Sure enough, he played the intro in cue, just to make sure I hadn't screwed him again. Then he went live. Out came a bunch of cows. Again, I was at home, stomach in pain from laughing, tears running down my cheeks. I knew I couldn't get him a third time, so I took a few days off, and hit him one last time the following week with a flock of ducks. Just thinking about those night brings back a ton of great 'old memories. Keep 'em coming.
Back in my CKQR Castlegar days (talking mid-80s here), we had our morning man arrested on the air for an outstanding "matter" from when he lived in the Bulkley Valley. Even had a local member of the constabulary (complete with a poker face) take him away in cuffs during a break. His wife (who was listening at home at the time) went through the roof with fear/anger, etc.
Another time we nailed him going into the 8am sports. The sports announcer had FULL control over his voicers and actualities in the booth back in the day through the use of two cassette players. As the sports guy is launching into his lead story, he hits a cassette which had a phone quality clip of one of our part-time staff in her best seductive tone saying how she's so lonely and asking the morning man why he hasn't returned her calls. The morning man was HELPLESS to stop the clip. The sports guy comes back on and chided our morning man for taking personal calls live on the air. Again his wife was livid! (OK we got caught on THAT one, but it was still funny.)
Sorry Tommy D. The show was fine but the music was terrible. I like some (maybe 10 to 20%) country music but these were the same 20 or 30 songs over and over again. Give the people what they ask for I guess. Still enjoying this thread. Keep those funny stories coming folks. Glad I wasn't the only bad arse.
That was when "achy breaky heart" broke.
3 plays in a 6 hour shift.
Anyway I digress. I think the best gig we ever pulled in Hope was the one time every year we let the local Rotary Club take over the airwaves. We'd have a "green room" at a local motel next door and the members would have a chance to "limber up" before they took to the air. Once we handed a guy a lost and found note for a pair of men's bikini briefs that had gone missing the night before at the local lake. He proceeded to read cold not noticing that the phone number was his. Only after he repeated it three times and heard through the studio door the laughter behind the scenes, did he realize what he had read. His live reaction was equally hilarious and, shall we say, spontaneous.
OMG, Bruce... loved that story. I can just imagine that one happening. Wish I'd have had the cojones to pull that on someone...
Another CJNB story... we had an evening show once a week of classical music, a local guy (not with the station) put it together as a voice track on reel-to-reel and then sent that over with a script and a stack of records. (You remember records, right?) So I'm running the show, I come out of his voice intro with the standard CBC two-second pause... then to the record. I was talking on the phone at the time, so I reached over and took the last record off, put it away... then took the playing record off, put it away... talked for a while... looked at the meter, and it's laying there like a dead fish. Yup. Dead air, at least five minutes of it. So (thinking quickly) I just put that album back and dropped the needle right in the middle of what *should* have been playing. Of course, I got a call a few minutes later - from the guy that voiced it - I told him "the transmitter must have overheated" (it had been doing that all summer, actually).
Funny thing is - he was the only person that complained. Or noticed.
On Swap Shop in Weyburn Sask., lady called in to sell a beautiful like new suit. I asked her why she was selling it if it was so new. She told me that it was her husband's and he just died the day before. Oops.
when I worked in Red Deer as a board op I use to have girls in at all times on the weekend and never got caught even did the nasty on the big board room table lol I also use to record the Sunday Night Sex show on the old DCS when it first came to the station(use to have to record it on a big reel to reel stop and play carted commercials) insert the commercials then head on down the hall and watch TV in the news room for 2 hours then head home lol good times.
I think getting nookie on the job is almost a prerequesite. Especially on those weekend or all-night shows.
I also took the news vehicle for a few nights on the town back in the day.
my days on college radio were the best, I rememember once calling a local DJ on the air at another station, live to air from our station as he proceeded to open up about his life/girls he's nailed over the past little bit.
Bruce Richie's prank on a co-worker reminded me of something I did to one of my co-workers. I think our station was the last in Canada to ban spoking in the control room so when I started my 6PM show the air was practically blue from the drive guy's constant puffing. I should admit that I used to smoke myself but felt I owed it to the athsmatics in the building (there were 2) to do so outside. Our drive guy used to keep his smokes in the fridge so I dipped the smokable part of the cig (about 3 quarters of the tabaco part) in the lighter fluid. A little dangerous and quite childish I admit but at least I got to start one show without barffing up a lung. I heard he was furious but if it helps any of you smokers who may be offended by my actions, he was not well liked by any of the staff or listeners.
It's hard to believe I've been a part of this amazing business for 15 years... In reality, I missed the fun times back in the '70s and early '80s... But it's been a great ride so far...
My story comes from Moose Jaw - CHAB where BV allowed me to cut my teeth... Sunday mornings where a drag at the B... one hour of CanCon country til 7am... then interspersed Gawd Squad tapes with some music between til 9am...
Of course... Saturday nights being what they were (even in the Jaw)... I was Really Tired... so at 7am when the first 30 minutes of inspiration hit the air... I pulled BV's Chair (the PD - it was pretty comfy) from his office, set my (not so loud) watch alarm and snuggled in for a nap... woke up about 10-12 minutes past the end of the tape... freaked out... threw on a song... heard not a word...
Now the B had this great silence sensor on the logger... 17 seconds of dead air and the Engineer was in the building in not time flat... luckly, our engineer was away on vacation due to arrive back the following day, and the sub from Speedy Creek left the pager on his desk friday when he left...
BV and Hilly never mentioned a word... but my wifes Grandparents heard it... or didn't as it would be...
Ah Memories.....We played the Gawd shows Sunday from 6:00 until 9:00. They were a half hour each on reel to reel. I came in after less than 2 hours sleep one Sunday morning and promptly fell asleep 5 minutes after I started the first show and woke up just before 7:30 so we had dead air for about an hour. I was afraid of being fired so I said nothing. To my surprise, The week went by and nothing was said. Unfortunately for me, both programs that didn't play were taped down (edit tape so the reel would stay together) and when the People's gospel hour and The Lutheran Hour got their tapes back, they knew the tape didn't air. I offered to pay for the mistake but they were cool about it and let it slide (If anyone knew how poorly we were being paid, it was them).
I was really happy when we automated everything because it meant I got to sleep in until 8:30 Sunday morning. I was supposed to be in at 6:00 but I trusted the automation and it never let me down. Radio paid a lot more when I got to major markets but I never had as much fun as I did in the arm-pitts of Canada.
When you guys were talking about the religious tapes on a Sunday morn reminded me of my teen years while doing weekends at CHFM in Calgary in the sixties (the days we had our studios in the Westbrook Mall). While the God tapes were running, I decide to do a tape letter to my old radio bud back in Winnipeg. One wee problem, I hit the mike button to live and not cue and so here I am talking away over religion. Phone rings and it's the PD telling me the tape I've retrieved from his desk is personal and to put it back. With red face I tell him I don't have his tape and that I'm doing my own. Never tried that one again
Or in the seventies when Herbert W. Armstrong (The World Tomorrow or some such title) would run on CFCN at 9pm or 9:30pm. I'd head upstairs and see what I could scrounge from the staff cafeteria if anything was left accessible or unlocked.
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