Frank Callaghan Obit

Stories and info about those no longer involved in the industry

Frank Callaghan Obit

Postby radiofan » Wed Sep 28, 2011 7:31 am

Longtime CKLG Jock/PD Frank Callaghan has passed away. Frank started as a DJ at CKLG in 1960. In 1964 he oversaw the launch of easy listening CKLG-FM while Sam Holman was brought to Vancouver
from WLS in Chicago to launch CKLG AM's new Top 40 format. In 1965 Frank became CKLG PD, a job he held until 1975 following a strike at the station. In addition to his CKLG PD duties, Frank ran the
National Institute of Broadcasting school in the CKLG basement. After leaving CKLG, Frank operated a broadcast school in New Westminster for a few years. He was PD at Langley's CJJC for a short period
in 1978-79. In the mid 1980's was working for Jim Pattison and was responsible for the launch of CJJR-FM where he spent several years as PD/Morning Man. In 1993 Frank spent a few months working as
interim PD at Calgary's QR-77.

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Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Frank Callaghan passes

Postby Rob Collins » Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:00 pm

Frank Callaghan was without doubt a first class Program Director I had the opportunity of working with and in later years developing a true friendship.

I recall walking down the hallway into the library of CJJC and Frank had a stack of 45's sitting on the desk top and labelling each one with a Fast/Medium/Slow Tempo which then fit nicely into the programming clock he had developed. A Drake format for Country Music customized by and crafted by one of Canada's premier broadcaster.

He never turned me away during these time as he stood next to the green felt laden turntable. In fact he would request an air-check and we'd sit together finding segments that worked and those that required a wee bit more effort and then I would watch him stroll back into the library laying another 45 on the turntable then sticking it back into the green sleeves after sticking a red, blue or yellow dot indicating it's tempo.

Frank taught me the art of communicating between each record including in the production studio. "Talk to me", he would say and don't try to sound like an announcer. Be yourself and tell me what the copy is trying to say. So simple and yet so effective.

I always thought that CJJC sounded much tigher with a more consistant sound under Franks direction.

Frank, Don McTavish, Ernie Mykyte and I applied for a Radio Station in Edmonton.
At the CRTC hearings, Ernie would drive Frank crazy with all the promises he made to the Commissioners in an attempt to succeed in getting the approval with Frank wanting to stick to the facts and our presentation. I laughed one evening when Frank said that Ernie was the loose cannon however, we both agreed that it was Ernie's money that got us to the hearings. In fact, at the hearings one of the Commissioner's asked Ernie how the station would be funded. Ernie's reply..."with a bank account". Frank and I looked at each other in disbelief.

After graduating from NIB and sitting downstairs at the old CKLG/CFOX studios, I never thought that one day I would have the chance of working with Frank.

The talent in that building was incredible. Always admired the Moffatt lads. They wore black suits, dark hair and all had that powerful image that this young lad back in 1970-71 admired. Frank included.

His horse farm was next door to my father-in-laws and over the years Frank and his family invited us into his home. Sadly his son passed away and an early age followed by his wife. Frank sold that piece of property and became heavily involved in the local horse community in Langley. We'd visit a couple times per month after he left Radio and he always wore a smile.

Some of his New Westminster students also got the opportunity of building their on-air experience at CJJC. Frank I think, had a genuine love for assisting those with a passion for Radio to see their dreams come true.

Broadcasting has truly lost a gifted spirit in Frank Callaghan. Few can walk in his boots however, his legacy will continue with those super stars of today that had their lives forever changed by Frank.

RIP my friend. See you on the other side of life, Frank.

Regards,

Rob Collins
When it comes to horsepower, too much is just enough.
Objects in mirror were not fast enough....
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Re: Frank Callaghan passes

Postby hagopian » Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:37 pm

A real Vancouver radio LEGEND.

He made a lot of good broadcasters great.

Sympathies to all you that knew him - I spent half my career trying to beat him the ratings (*good luck with that).

Thanks to Rob Collins ( a REALLY great all round Radio gent) - for the nice writeup.

Cheers.
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Re: Frank Callaghan passes

Postby flyonthewall » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:07 pm

R.I.P. to the guy who brought Boss Radio to Vancouver. Frank was one of the smoothest guys on the air at CKLG when he was a Top Cat.

It was nice to hear him on the air again at JR-FM when he did mornings with Sharon Graham about 20 years ago.

My condolences to Frank's family and friends.
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Re: Frank Callaghan passes

Postby cart_machine » Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:30 am

Damn. I take a few days off then read this.

I can still hear Sharryn Graham saying "Oh, Frank!" to one of his old jokes now.

Thanks, Frank.

cArtie.
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Frank Callaghan obit

Postby radiofan » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:25 pm

Callaghan, Frank Sept. 13, 1933 – Sept. 20, 2011 Frank passed away peacefully at the Chilliwack General Hospital on Tuesday, Sept. 20th.
Frank is survived by his loving wife, Dianne Callaghan of Chilliwack, mother Naomi Callaghan of Saskatoon, four children Chris (wife Alix), Cayley, Dan, and Julia Wilson three adoring grandchildren Ryley-Ray, Wren and Vance Wilson, and step-daughter Kathy and Brian Grose. Frank will be sadly missed by his family,
friends, his association with Country Music and Horse World.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Frank on Saturday, Nov. 5th in Chilliwack, B.C.

Please RSVP pchrisw@shaw.ca or horsebc@shaw.ca for further details.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to O.W.L. “Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society” owlrehab@dccnet.com
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Frank Callaghan Obit

Postby johnsykes » Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:20 pm

My belated sympathy to those related to Frank..and all who knew him, be it as a friend or as a colleague. Another great from the time that radio meant something to so many, has gone from us. Rest in peace Frank.
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Re: Frank Callaghan Obit

Postby Myles Murchison » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:06 pm

The first time I met Frank Callaghan, I was in the agency business, presenting a marketing campaign for CKLG, proposing that we portray their disc jockeys (Boss Jocks) as flower children, emulating the Beatles and the Monkeys, both sensational rock icons at the time.

The LG management was unsure. It seemed a "little out-there" for them. They were looking for something a little more traditional. "Emphasis on news and sports, maybe." Yawn.

Then, from the back of the room, a voice boomed. Frank Callaghan, the station's Program Director and Protector of the station's intergity, spoke. "I LOVE IT," he said. Confident. Direct. No ambiguity. That was his style, his character, as I came to learn, but that day I just wanted to hug him.

The deal was done. The campaign ran with much success. CKLG owned the youth market for years to come.

Later he was my boss at CKLG but gave me a lot of freedom, a long leash to create meaningful spoken-word community program the CRTC was insisting on. The station's licence was endangered and Frank was open to new ideas and initiated many of them. People didn't work for Frank, they worked with him. He understood programming just as he understood people and particularly the station's audience, and he was very good as getting us all on the same page. For most of us, it wasn't a job but a way of life and Frank modeled that attitude.

Decades later when Frank's radio days were over, he turned to a new medium and he was the first person I'd come across who really understood the Internet. He had a genius for it. He devised HorseBC.com, an inter-active directory and service for the local horse industry, which, as he calculated, was a very fertile market. (There are more horses-to-people per capita in Langley than any place in North America.) The site prospered immediately. Somebody finally knew how to make money on the Internet and it was Frank.

At the time, at my request, he was generously mentoring me in the arts of Internet programming as I learned to build and maintain sites of my own. He wished he was twenty years younger, he would tell me, for he foresaw the medium's incredible promise.

As video was introduced to the Internet, he focussed on recording horse show events and shot and packaged private videos for thoroughbred sales, a niche industry in which horses are sold for tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, with sales often based on Frank's video package.

Partly to pay him back for his advice and help, but mostly just to get the chance to spend more time with him, I frequently visited his townhome and prepared dinner for him in those years.

That's when I saw his Horseman-Of-The-Year Awards. He literally had rows of them. Did he know horses? He raised them, trained them, showed them, and knew more about them than anyone I knew. In fact, he just loved animals of any kind. He even feed his dog at the table from his own fork. Who could forget that?

Later, when I started writing THE YEAR AFTER CUSTER, an historical Western − I wanted real West accuracy − Frank generously agreed to read the text and copy edit on all matters to do with horses and firearms. Nobody could have been a better choice. "I don't mean to get picky," he'd say as he made his corrections and observations. I said, "Please get picky as you can." Who else would know the weight differential between a mustang and an Appaloosa? How to load a paper-wrapped shell into a Sharpe's Buffalo Rifle? Or the difference between Texas and shotgun chaps?

The book's first draft was finished last summer and we hadn't talked for several months. When I looked him up again to show him a final copy of the book and its cover, I discovered Frank had died months before in September. I was shocked, of course. Saddened. Sorry I hadn't been at his funeral to honour him, for I do honour him.

Beyond his generosities to me, he was a true innovator. He understood media − the old and the new kind − just as he understood men. The way he lived his life was a model for me. I learned from Frank Callaghan, and I thank him sincerely.

If there is a horse heaven, I know he's in it, and, when the time comes, I hope we get a chance to sit on together on the corral rails and shoot the breeze. I'd guess he's still got a lot to tell me.
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Re: Frank Callaghan Obit

Postby radiofan » Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:12 pm

This is likely from the campaign Myles mentioned above ...

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CKLG 1967 busboard
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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