End of an era: CKOC was Hamilton’s station with heart

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NEVIN GRANT
The Hamilton Spectator file photo
Nevin Grant spent 37 years at CKOC. “I think people thought that we were a little more real.”

 

By Graham Rockingham

May 30, 2015

 

Hamilton is losing a musical tradition stretching back more than 50 years, a wonderful throwback to a time of AM radio and vinyl 45s, when local DJs ruled the airwaves along with Elvis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Back in 1960, CKOC, Canada’s oldest continuously operating radio station, made the bold decision to switch from comedy and drama to a Top-40 music format.

It never turned its back on music until Thursday, when parent company Bell Media made the announcement that CKOC was going all-sports.

The station used to be known as “CKOC The Busy Bee.” Come fall it will be known as “TSN Radio 1150 in Hamilton.”

Young people today may find it hard to believe, but there was a time, through the ’60s and into the ’80s, when CKOC 1150 went toe-to-toe with the best Toronto could offer.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Even big business can be wrong there are still and lot of baby boomers out there and guess who has all the money now a days right us baby boomers and we like the old songs. Too bad wrong move CKOC

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