Year: 2015
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Beach Boys Thrill at PNE
Had a special experience at the PNE with the Beach Boys. Carole and I had tickets to their show at the fair and we visited with them once again. Mike Love greeted us and a conversation began. They were just finishing their dinner and Bruce Johnston joined us. Carole made a request for her favourite…
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Gary O’Bray, Pioneer Rock’n’Roll Drummer
I noticed in the newspaper that Gary O’Bray passed away. Gary was the drummer with one of Vancouver’s original rock’n’roll bands, the Stripes, back in 1955. He and his brothers were all involved. I went to King Edward High with his late brother Garth. His other brother Blaine played bass. They recorded a few discs…
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Red Around Town: Beatles, Bon Jovi, Bruce Allen, Bublé
The media launch for this year’s PNE was held yesterday with a great turnout. The Fair is as much a part of Vancouver as the Georgia Viaduct, but hopefully they won’t tear the Fair down to make way for condos! I was honoured to cut the official opening ribbon with President Mike McDaniel. This was…
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Art Finley dies
The 60s through the 80s were the halcyon days of talk radio in this city of ours. There were bombastic hosts like Jack Webster and Pat Burns but the “thinking man’s host” was Art Finley. He was a thought provoking human being who had worked in media in San Francisco before heading north to Vancouver.…
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Happy Birthday, Michael!
This past Saturday night Carole and I were invited to celebrate Michael Bublé‘s 40th birthday. The location for the party was a revitalized heritage building in downtown Vancouver. Michael’s actual birthday is in September but due to commitments it was decided to throw a “surprise” get-together. When he walked in the door he was truly…
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Flashback: Peter Starr
Years ago while programming C-FUN, my competitor CKLG brought a deejay in from the U.K. His name was Peter Starr and he garnered ratings during a time when everything British was popular. During EXPO ’86 for 13 solid weeks I invited various Vancouver deejays to host our shows. Peter was one of those hosts and…
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Farewell Maggie Calloway, Gordon Rose, CKNW Sports
Three deaths this past week in Radioland. Maggie Calloway (nee Chew) passed away at 72. Maggie’s brother lost a leg to cancer, and in the next hospital bed to him was Terry Fox. Terry had also lost a leg to cancer and had this dream about running from coast to coast to raise money for cancer…
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Beatles Return To Vancouver!
The Magical History Tour: The Beatles Memorabilia Exhibition will be making its world premiere at this year’s PNE, taking over the entire Garden Auditorium. This touring show out of the U.K. has many one-of-a-kind items from their extensive Beatles collection on display. The PNE asked me to be the spokesperson for the exhibit and I…
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Happy Birthday, Rocket Norton!
Carole and I were invited to Rocket Norton’s 65th birthday party. As the drummer for PRISM for those many years it was great to see support for his birthday from so many musical friends. The band played with Rocket drumming as only he can. Entertainment included members of Theatre Sports doing a satire on Rocket’s…
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Tom Harrison’s History of Vancouver Rock ‘n’ Roll
I knew months ago that Tom Harrison, the true-blue rock’n’roll writer at the Vancouver Province newspaper was working on a book regarding the history of rock in Vancouver. Back when he began putting the book together we talked about the roots of rock and roll in our city. He knew I was a believer in…