ON AIR STAFF Memories
NOTE: Some comments are edited for brevity or because they might land me in court.
In the midst of all the early 60s madness of Rock 'N Roll radio, it never got any madder than when Dave Mickie landed at CKEY. We had crowds at the front door waiting for him to arrive each evening and, in his trademark gold Lame jacket, he wowed them at our booth at the CNE more than some of the headliners in the Grandstand shows.
"OH - I so fondly remember those nights looking through the glass at my Producer. Bob Rice. I think (Gene) Kirby thought Bob was the only guy who could keep up with the fast paced show I had the pleasure to bring to Toronto thru CKEY. And let it be known - Bob never missed a cue and often brought new and exciting ideas to the show. That was my beginning and I often look fondly back to those days with everyone on Davenport Road.
And they thought Dick Clark could beat us! lol"
Dave 'Mickie' Marsden
Feb 24, 2009
More about Dave soon in the 'MY Memories' section.
Brad Franklin joined our newsroom in 1964. Nice guy who now lives in semi-retirement on Vancouver Island.. which is even nicer!
"I remember a couple of things from that era (mine was '64-73 in Toronto and then 73-78 at Newsradio in Ottawa). One was working with Joe Morgan who used to recount his days working in New York. "All the girls there were very fond of baseball, I think. They used to say "I'll play ball with you if you'll play ball with me".".
Joe was always on the case of poor Moe Kestin, the weather guy. Moe, of course, maintained that the best piece of weather forecasting equipment he could have would be a piece of rope strung across the driveway outside his office up on Davenport. If the rope was wet it was raining, if it was swinging it was windy, if there was snow on it, etc. Moe was Jewish but Joe didn't quite see it that way. He would come into the newsroom and bark "Where's Kestin today". He would then stalk into his office where he kept a calendar and try to figure out which Jewish holiday Moe was observing.
Moe, who was a heck of a nice guy, used to get phone calls from listeners. I remember one woman saying she wanted to hang out the laundry to dry but was concerned because there was rain in the forecast and wanted to know when it would start. Moe asked her what part of the city she lived in. "The Bloor and Dufferin area", she said. Without missing a beat Moe declaimed "It will begin to rain there at four minutes after two this afternoon".
Brad Franklin
Mar 01, 2009
Brad has promised to rummage through his drawers (boxers?) and send along some stuff you might enjoy.
Here's an email from Sportstalk host and sports fanatic Mark Hebscher:
"Hey Capt. Bob.
Nice to see 'EY is alive and not forgotten.
I loved working at 'EY. As I've told many people over the years, the talent level there was not to be believed. Keith Rich, Joe Morgan, Pete McGarvey, Pat Murray, Eddie Luther, Bob Rice, Jim Hunt, Robert Payne, Pierre Berton, Charles Templeton, Frank Allinson, Arnis Peterson, Bob Crabbe, Tom Gould, Stephen Lewis, Brad Diamond, John Youannou, Kathy Lynas, Phil Godin, Leslie Jones......the list goes on and on.
My show, "Sportstalk" was on every night from 6:05-8 pm and we had an absolute blast. Soon after that stint, I got a gig at Global TV co-hosting "Sportsline", but without the 'EY experience, I would never have been good enough to make the move to TV.
Thanks for the memories."
Mark Hebscher
'March 2, 2009
Great to hear from you Mark. Hope you're enjoying your current gig at CHCH-TV
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