May 27, 1957 wasn’t the day the music died in Toronto. On the contrary, it was the date when it began. That was the morning that Allan Waters walked into his mostly money-losing radio station, supposedly threw out every record that wasn’t a Top 40 song and boldly brought rock and roll to the city on the now legendary 1050 CHUM. We told you on Tuesday about the incredible week being held on air to promote the 50th anniversary of that fateful day. But now one who was there near the station’s beginning, weighs in with a few stories on his own.
Bob Laine was best known as the overnight disc jockey on the station during the 60s. His years of staying up all night are long over, but his efforts to keep those memories alive are not. An incredible 49 years later, he’s still with the station. In an email exchange with CityNews.ca, one of the architects behind CHUM’s biggest party dishes out the background of rounding up old jocks for an all-star reunion, the first record he ever played at the station and the night he got locked out of the building while still on-air. Link here for the complete City News exchange.
