Back in the British Invasion days a young Vancouver singer took the city by storm. His name was Terry Black and he was discovered by Buddy Clyde on CHAN-TV’s teen show Dance Party. Through some connections, Buddy was able to get the attention of Lou Adler from Dunhill Records, the same label that the Mamas and Papas recorded for. In 1964 Terry charted the hit Unless You Care and it became a major hit  in the U.S. and Canada making him one of the few artists from this  city to ever appear on the Billboard charts:

He followed with a  few more moderate hits: covers of Sam Cooke’s Only 16 and Russ  Hamilton’s Rainbow. Terry married Laurel Ward and the two had a hit titled Goin’ Down (On the Road to L.A.) which charted, but should have been a much bigger hit. I know it is one of the most requested songs that I get from listeners:

He and Laurel joined Dr. Music and recorded a few hits over the years. Terry was a most sincere, humble guy who had the pipes to sing but not the management to make it  happen. Like so many of the hitmakers of the Sixties, he was lost in the avalanche of folk songs and psychedelic music. He continued to perform until recently.  He made his mark but has  not received the recognition his talent so richly deserves. I will miss Terry Black’s music but mostly his humanity.

It has been a trying month with the passing of sportscaster Ted Reynolds, ace announcer Al Jordan and musician/businessman Arnie Nelson. I was one of the many speakers at Arnie’s tribute. It was nice to see so many media people in attendance. Many had worked with Arnie during his career: former CKNW General Manager Bill Hughes, Canada Wide magazine publisher Peter Legge and former partner Neil Soper. Former radio production and sales people also came out to say goodbye. Two members of Arnie’s family spoke about their dad and their love for him. One of the best salutes came from the B.C. Country Music Association’s Elmer Tippe, who made it possible for Arnie’s induction into their Hall of Fame.  Arnie is also in the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame as a Pioneer. It was a great  send-off for a man who helped so many during his lifetime. If a man can be judged by his friends and family Arnie gets top marks.

It is indeed strange that deaths in show business seem to come in  threes. This past week we lost Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson.

News of Michael’s death swept the world through all available media. I know I spent almost a whole day talking to various media about his influence and his legacy in the world of  entertainment. I never did meet him or interview him but from where I sit he had to be considered one of the greatest entertainers of all time.  I sincerely hope that his weirdness near the end of his life is not all he is remembered for.

In my mind, his music and showmanship will live on for generations. Like Elvis of an earlier time, he seemed bigger than life, and maybe that was  the problem.  We should not make them so “big” they cannot live normal lives. Neither performer could go out in public for fear of being mobbed or worse. In the end maybe they become prisoners of their own fame.

I met Ed McMahon years ago and he was a true professional and a warm human being. He will always be remembered for his introduction to Johnny Carson: “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny”.  All three will be missed.

I was honored to be emcee for a recent appearance by Chantal Kreviazuk at the Kay Meek Theatre in West Vancouver. It was a benefit concert for the centre and for youth with ambitions in the creative arts field. Chantal is one of the warmest entertainers I have met in years. She honestly cares about her fellow citizens and her show is a mixture of music and mirth. The lady has a great sense of humor.

Saturday June 20 at the old Spencer mansion near Jericho Beach, a gathering of radio personalities came  to pay tribute to one of the industry’s own, Al Jordan.  It was a bright sunny day and friends and family were out in force.  It was wonderful to see Al’s wife Donna on hand. Donna was  accompanied by  daughter Laura and sons Randy and Brook. Randy handled the emcee chores like a pro. His father would have been proud particularly since he did not refer to any notes with the exception  of the list of people who were in attendance from media. Both Laura and Brook also spoke.

It was really amazing to see so many from radio’s dynamic past.  On hand were Jerry Landa, Dave Abbott, Pam Burge, JB Shayne, John Tanner, Terry David Mulligan, Jack Bennest, Frosty Forst, Cameron Bell, Dan Russell, and Douglas Miller.  Others sent regrets including Dave McCormick and Fred Latremouille. They were out of town and couldn’t be there.

Jolly John Tanner, Terry David Mulligan, J.B. Shayne & Pam Burge
photo courtesy BC Radio History

Some wonderful and poignant moments when Terry David Mulligan and John Tanner spoke, and Randy Jordan read a letter from Dan Russell. Dan was there but chose not to speak as I believe he was too choked up to read it. I had an opportunity to tell how Al made it possible for me to get into radio. This was indeed a fabulous send-off to a mild man with a heart of gold and a voice from heaven. We all were  once part of a great  medium called radio. I know that those who were at the tribute will agree with me that Al Jordan was a positive force in their lives and in their careers. He will be missed. Goodbye old friend.

Sunday’s Province newspaper ran a wonderful tribute to Al and the cover of the Province entertainment section showed a full  page photo of the C-FUN  Good Guys.  A special thanks to Susan Lazaruk at the paper for  this recognition.

I really enjoyed Rodger Harding’s recent article in Broadcast Dialogue magazine:

“I cannot count how often I hear the words appropriate and inappropriate. If inappropriate is interpreted as anything that might offend others, then I guess it would be safe to say that anything extreme, strongly worded, risque, contentious, ambiguous etc. would be included.”

Rodger goes on to describe this as “being unrealistic to persist with the illusion of a world painted solely in positive hues.” He thinks this is a breeding ground for arch deceit.

His words got me to thinking about the “vanilla” role of broadcasters who are frightened to have an opinion so as not to upset anyone, anywhere at anytime. There, hanging over everyone’s head the threat  of the tyrannical so-called Human Rights Commission coming after you. Remember not one single defendant has ever won in circumstances like this. Even the best hockey team hasn’t got  a track record this good. 100% just doesn’t exist in any other world. It is worrisome.

How many meetings have you attended where everyone is nodding in agreement? No one dares to disagree and have a different opinion as you will be labeled negative. And as Rodger points out, we are now a “snitching” society.  If you see something your neighbor is doing and you don’t like it you can call the “snitch” line.

With the constant threat of losing your job or offending someone we  have become a nation of sheeple, just sitting waiting to be herded down the road to righteousness. The apathy in my country is a sick testimonial to the self-righteous zealots who tell you what to eat, what to drive, how to think and so on. I find this age a dangerous one. Most can identify what is going on but there isn’t much you can do to prevent it. Knowing this we have all surrendered.  We have surrendered to opinions we may not agree with for fear of being marginalized. We live in fear of having a certain religious belief. We dread the fact that we may not agree with our neighbors’ political beliefs. And most of all we tolerate just about everything including rudeness on the road, in stores, in parks and on the street. We bow our heads to the morons who ride their bikes across a  red light, push you when walking down the sidewalk, push you when entering an elevator while you are in the process of getting off.  We tolerate kids spitting at us, skateboarding in the parking lot at  the supermarket, having rowdy parties next door, swearing at everything and everyone. We are told to tolerate everything.  I ask this question: As a society have we reached the point where we tolerate everything and stand for nothing?

George Orwell was right. The only thing he got wrong was the year 1984. It has finally arrived. This thinking is choking us as a society and eventually will destroy our way of life.

Agree? Disagree? Let’s hear your opinion!

It was a great night at the Red Robinson Show Theatre with a part of the famous British Invasion taking to the stage. Chad and Jeremy appeared with The Searchers and it was quite a show. It was also one of the longest in the theatre’s young history as the show didn’t end until 11pm. These two produce great harmony on stage and genuinely like each other, which is most refreshing in a dog eat dog business.

Photo: Kevin Statham, shotbykevin.com

These two creative men are as busy as ever. Their million seller Yesterday’s Gone was the only hit they had in the U.K., while in North America they charted seven top 40 hits. The boys appeared as themselves on TV’s Batman series. Chad is the voice of “Flap” the vulture in Disney’s The Jungle Book. Jeremy Clyde appeared a few years back on The Dating Game and won. Jeremy Clyde also acts at the Old Vic in London when not working with Chad. A wonderful pair of true gentlemen. By the way… they told me that when they met Lucille Ball in Hollywood she told them her two parakeets were named Chad and Jeremy. And Jeremy and Chad are the namesakes of Jeremy Duncan and his brother Chad in the comic strip Zits!

Bob Bogle – the co-founder of legendary Tacoma garage-rock band The Ventures and the architect behind the distinctive guitar sound of early hits Walk, Don’t Run and Perfidia – has died.

Bogle, a resident of Vancouver, Wash., was 75 when he died on Sunday. He suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma and became too frail to play with the Ventures in his waning years, but lived long enough to see his band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2008. (more from the Tacoma News-Tribune)

I last worked with Bob Bogle and Don Wilson of The Ventures at Expo 86.  Both men began work as bricklayers and performed music part time until a record they made became a monster hit.  Walk Don’t Run was one of those definitive hits from Seattle’s garage bands.  To this day we can all recall their version of Hawaii 5-0, the theme from the TV series.  Their music in Asia is legend.  The Japanese in particular buy their instrumental albums by the millions.

The Ventures are featured prominently in the Northwest Passage exhibit at Seattle’s Experience Music Project.  The voice that carries through the careers of Northwest artists is Pat O’Day. Pat gave many of Seattle’s biggest musical names their big break — including the Ventures. He used parts of their music for production breaks on his KJR radio show to get listeners interested in their unique sound. Pat also put on dances and developed talent at Parker’s and The Spanish Castle. These were the weekend “clubs” for Seattle teenagers.  At one of these weekend gigs Pat let an unknown guitar player take to the stage. His name was Jimi Hendrix. Pat also exposed The Wailers, The Frantics, Merilee Rush, Don and the Goodtimes, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Fleetwoods and so many more.  Is it any wonder that Pat O’Day is revered in the Northwest?

Photo courtesy Vancouver Radio Museum and Brian Walks

Just the other day I received word that Arnie Nelson had passed away. Arnie was only a kid when he worked for CKNW. He appeared on many of the old “live” radio shows of the Forties and Fifties and was well known as a steel guitar player with Mike, Mark & Jack, The Rhythm Pals, locally and across Canada. Decades ago Arnie stopped performing to embrace broadcast sales. He retired from the  business some time ago.  Arnie Nelson was 74. He was a wonderful man.

Lately we have been inundated with TV networks asking us to Save Local Television. But what are the facts? Only a handful of corporations own most of the media in this country. They neglect to tell you that corporate headquarters are in Toronto, or Montreal or Winnipeg. They fail to tell you how much “local” television there is in their broadcast day. It is very little percentage wise.

It is interesting that the leading TV outlets in all cities are the ones that really do deliver more “local” news, information and entertainment. In Vancouver Global TV is and always has been the leader in the community.  They host two major telethons, have the largest news department in the city and the most recognized personalities. This is true of only a handful of other Global markets. You see, the easy way is to plug in prepackaged shows or buy American programs. Even though these shows cost money it is nothing compared to carrying a large staff. Not only that, the price of the bought program is spread across several markets.

I truly believe the TV networks brought this on themselves. When  a television license is given out in a market such as Vancouver many promises are made. Some will not survive the competition. The CRTC has granted more licenses in some markets than the traffic will bear. Add to this burden the expansion of cable shows and the growth of specialty channels.  This is proven in the U.S. where the three major networks do not have the viewer monopoly they once enjoyed.

During this recession advertisers have pulled back from all media, and this has really hurt the profit situation at local television stations. One of the suggestions from CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein is that a local programming fund should be created so all TV stations can draw from it. Sounds too much like the kind of bureaucratic thinking going on in the U.S. right now.

In Canada we love bureaucracy. We have 1 in 4 workers employed by government in some form. The CRTC is one giant bureaucracy that is not necessary. Its interference will only make things worse. The  CBC has almost unlimited funds yet it barely functions due to the red tape in every department created by too many bureaucrats. I guess I believe that letting corporations fail is a good thing because better operators will take over and improve things  with a fresh start. Giving a losing operation government cash  keeps the enterprise alive but hardly creative or competitive.

As an employee of a media outlet, you have to worry that if you are fired you are fired from every one of their outlets. It used to be  that you could go down the street and apply. Not anymore. In my opinion,  that hinders creativity because every employee wants to toe the line to keep their job, and the process stifles creativity and initiative.  For heaven’s sake, don’t come up with an idea, you just might upset the applecart.  Be a good boy or girl and play the game.  And you wonder why we have so much vanilla media in this country. The first qualification to survive is to be a good  little robot. I know many good little robots who keep their jobs by toeing the line and ignoring anything that would improve the product. I would love to see the conglomerates broken up and the  sooner the better.

Go ahead and attack me.  I would love to hear you defend this mess.

Julio Iglesias, honorary Colombian Consul Rosa Marshall, me. photo: Steven C. Pesant

Julio Iglesias lived up to his reputation as a great Latin romantic when he appeared at the Red Robinson Show Theatre on May 30. He did not disappoint. The biggest applause came when he performed his hit, Of All The Girls I’ve Ever Loved. The audience was thrilled when he did songs such as Can’t Help Falling In Love and Always On My Mind, not to mention the numerous Latin numbers he is known for world wide. Many local Latinos and Italian fans showed up for his performance and they loved every musical minute. He is most charming and I can hardly wait for his return.