CFUN Funtastic 50 Countdown

Jingles and IDs from Radio Stations in Western Canada and Washington State

CFUN Funtastic 50 Countdown

Postby radiofan » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:09 am

From the early 1960's. another goodie from C-FUN. Here's the jingle that was used to kick off the weekly Saturday afternoon countdown of the C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY.

C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Postby jon » Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:00 pm

My memory is a little foggy, but didn't Dave McCormick use the musical bed to give some exciting tidbits like "biggest chart jump this week sees last week's #40 song now in the Top 10"?

From what I can tell, based on the dates the charts were published in The Vancouver Province, the countdown switched from Friday to Saturday on March 24, 1962, just a week before Dave left for KMAK Fresno, to join Ron Jacobs. And Red Robinson joined CFUN as Program Director.

Dave told me that Al Jordan had been Program Director up to that time. Dave, Brian Lord and Frosty Forst shared the Music Director job. But I remember Al continued doing the Morning Show after that, despite losing the PD title.

Why hadn't the countdown been scheduled for Saturdays previously, instead of Friday afternoon, when kids in school would miss half of it? Presumably because a second Chart was compiled and aired each Saturday night, based on the Request Line calls that evening.
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Postby VancouverTopFortyRadio » Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:10 pm

According to the actual charts the dating was on Saturday from the first chart in Mar/60 right through to the last chart in 61. Starting in 1962 the charts were dated Friday up to March 24 as you said. Funny thing, my memory may be a bit foggy too because I thought they were doing a Friday unveiling much earlier than that.

Another possible reason for the Friday release may have been to get a one-day jump on CKWX which revealed it's Fabulous Forty on Saturday afternoon. People often forget that CFUN and WX were vying with each other at that time.

As for the Saturday night chart you refer to, the program was known as the Ding Ho Party Line and was originally hosted by Brian Lord and sponsored by the now defunct local Chinese food chain. All evening listeners voted for their favorite songs while Lord played the hits and promoted the "mouth-watering" Chinese food delivered "piping hot to your door." I don't know how many people actually picked up the phone and ordered but after several hours of listening to that, you'd swear if you opened a window you could smell Chinese food clear across the city. (Sometimes my sister ordered, but usually from the Rickshaw. Maybe that's why Ding Ho went out of business.):)

During the last hour from 11 to midnight, Lord played the top 15 songs, referred to as either the Ding Ho 15 or the Party Line 15. McCormick recently told me these charts were used to help tabulate the following week's Fun 50. When Lord left C-FUN in early '62 Cameron Bell took over the program and around that time Chicken Delight, I believe, became the new sponsor.

The Party Line show lasted through much of 1961 and 62 although I can't narrow it down to exact dates. The charts themselves were never printed and are lost to history.

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Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:50 am

"Hi Jack....
Re the chart part of the email... that would be Dave McCormick's question to answer...it would appear that you are conducting a Q&A with someone else on the subject as the tale begins in the middle. Just an observation though... you are very likely correct about the Friday release date...to beat WX's Saturday release. As to your reference to "earlier than that" CFUN didn't change format till, at the earliest, April of 1960..more likely May. I think I was the first guy hired (from Kamloops TV) and Brian Forst within a day or so of me..maybe even first. Landa came on board soon after. Line-up (as you know) Jordan 6AM-10, Lord 10-2, McCormick 2-6, Forst 6-Mid, Landa Mid to 6 AM.

Yeah Jack...I ran the Ding ho Party line. Actually it started out unsponsored. Sometime in 1960..within weeks of the format change, I just ran a telephone survey from 6PM to 11PM to determine the most popular songs of that Saturday night...a way to relieve the boredom of a 6 hour show. After two saturdays, the phone's were so heavy that I had to have my wife Carol come in and man the front office switchboard. I'd play the top 15 tunes back (with a couple of flashbacks and the week's pick etc) between 11:05 (post news) to midnight starting with last and ending with the top tune of the evening.. I don't remember any charts being printed. Unless Ding Ho did something...that is really hazy but you are correct.... no charts on the Ding Ho Party Line. I didn't know, didn't want to know to keep it honest, what the top songs would be until Carol brought the tabulation in during the 11PM News. (It was just that, a tabulation not even looking like a chart) She took hundreds of calls...all lines humming from the get go to cut off at 11. I left for California in early1962 and what happened after that, I have no idea although Cam Bell took my show and inherited the Party Line. I gave my tabulations to Dave who made up the "Funtastic 50" ...and took the telephone survey into consideration although it was just an "assistance piece" much the same as my Housewive's Hitlist that I ran daily as a write-in thing... draws were made and food hampers were given as prizes. Dave very occasionally would refer to it as well... it was a much softer sound...Anita Bryant "Paper Roses" type songs more than Chubby & "The Twist" Hope this helps. Brian L."

shall send this off to Dave as well.
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Postby jon » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:13 am

VancouverTopFortyRadio wrote:McCormick recently told me these charts were used to help tabulate the following week's Fun 50.

Listeners were given the impression, on air, that the Fun 50 was compiled (mainly?) from the list of (5?) top songs that were mailed in each week by listeners hoping to win one of 50 copies of their choice of the Twin Pick Hit of the Week.

Newspaper radio listings were notoriously wrong in those years, but I recall, from 1962 or 1963, The Vancouver Province regularly listing a shift schedule on CFUN that ended at 2:00 a.m. From what I read on VancouverTopFortyRadio's site, Red Robinson did evenings, so that is when the change may have occurred to a 6-10pm shift and a 10-2am shift.
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Postby VancouverTopFortyRadio » Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:27 pm

jon wrote: Listeners were given the impression, on air, that the Fun 50 was compiled (mainly?) from the list of (5?) top songs that were mailed in each week by listeners hoping to win one of 50 copies of their choice of the Twin Pick Hit of the Week.


Yes, mailed-in votes from listeners primarily made up the Fun 50, but I believe telephone requests tabulated throughout the week were factored in too, along with the weekly Party Line results. All in all the C-FUN chart at that time was almost entirely voter-based. CKWX also relied on votes, theirs taken from the daily Teletune line during the after-school hours (the first five callers would win the Disk-Covery of the week.) WX also used sales figures from local record stores along with telephone requests.

jon wrote:Newspaper radio listings were notoriously wrong in those years, but I recall, from 1962 or 1963, The Vancouver Province regularly listing a shift schedule on CFUN that ended at 2:00 a.m. From what I read on VancouverTopFortyRadio's site, Red Robinson did evenings, so that is when the change may have occurred to a 6-10pm shift and a 10-2am shift.


Prior to Red's arrival C-FUN was operating 24 hours except Sunday night when it signed off for six hours. When Red arrived he occupied the 6 pm to 10 pm slot. Buzz Leboe had the slot from 10pm to 2am, then the station signed off till 6 am. Why they cut back like this I don't know nor do I know offhand when they returned to a 24 hour operation. And yes the Province listings were notoriously unreliable.

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Postby jon » Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:36 pm

VancouverTopFortyRadio wrote:except Sunday night when it signed off for six hours

As late as early 1970, both CHQM & CFUN (then CKVN) did not assign the Sunday night shift to anyone, and were off the air whether they needed to or not, for transmitter preventative maintenance. I recollect, by this time, CKLG only being off the air when they actually needed to. Yet, by June 1971, when I joined CHQM, Art Enns was assigned Sunday nights as part of his 6 night per week All Night shift. Whenever maintenance was required on the transmitter, the station only went off the air for the period required for the required maintenance. As CHQM AM & FM were simulcast for the All Night show, Art would just keep working, as it would have been very rare for both AM & FM to have to be off the air at the same time.

The early 1970 date comes to mind as I recall a weekend when we all had a lot of homework or studying to do in Grade 12, and, Monday morning, a couple of kids talking about CKVN-1410 (CFUN) and CHQM-1320 both being off the air, and presumably CKLG, too, as they talked about how much they enjoyed WING-1410 Dayton, Ohio, and KCPX-1320 Salt Lake City. These kids didn't know what DX was, and likely just tuned to the same frequencies they were used to, and got killer signals from two killer Top 40 stations.

As far as the scheduling of air staff issue, I have a short recording of KOL-AM Seattle from June 1969 after midnight Sunday night simulcasting automated KOL-FM, because no one was scheduled to do an air shift on KOL-AM.
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Postby Jack Bennest » Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:16 pm

Mornin' Jack

During my Summer of '62 there was a lot of business on CFUN with Chicken
Delight, but I remember the Saturday night program as the A and W
Partyline. It differed little from what Brian L. launched. We played
as many songs as possible on the log-light Saturday evening. Solicited
calls and tabulated them. A few times I recall working on the
tabulation in the very few minutes of the 10:55 pm News.
Then we played them back from 15 - 1. The handwritten list was
scratched together and left in the library for Dave. I doubt copies
survived the first music meeting on Monday.

The Partyline was an influential program, in its way. The volume of
calls was large enough to provide a pretty good indication of the
potential strength of the material.

The CFUN format allowed a few, very few, album cuts. For several
weeks, I opened the program at 6:00 with Ray Charles covers of either
Bye-Bye love or (I think the other was:) I'm Movin'
On. The Everlys or Hank Williams treated as big, brassy, rollicking
rocking, fully orchestrated dynamic numbers with Ray welding
western and soul into truly great rock. I loved them. Played hell out of them. but...

They bombed. Got absolutely no reaction. don't think either ever got
a vote.

On the other hand, a friend visiting the studio one saturday night
persuaded me to include an unlisted album cut. First play got a few
calls. Second play brought an avalanche of support. The unscheduled
renegade song jumped into the top 15 -- maybe even the top five -- and
prompted Dave to get reaction from the label - upset we'd played it
because they hadn't released it on a single.

It was Roy Orbison's Lana. It became a hit of sorts...don't know how
far it went. But its fan potential was established first CFUN A and W
party line by my guest who was Ad man Bob Taylor of Vancouver,
who also had a keen ear for the music of that era. All I did was risk the wrath
of Dave and the others by including music not scheduled for play. [But
I've always had a bit of a problem with rules.]

In those days, that audience knew what it wanted to hear, and gave
pretty clear signals - partly through that program Brian L. launched.

(Someone else can tell you about the 'songs we couldn't kill.' There
were a few titles which garnered hundreds of votes even though we had
stopped playing them. Weeks went by, I was told, where Johnny Angel
by Shelley Fabares was polling in the top ten -- but not because we were
still playing it. We weren't. The teenies were loyal and, by god,
they loved her.

I think the same thing might have happened with kid from the Rifleman -
Johnny Crawford. But memory dims. The oracle for all this, of course,
is Dave and you might also get some gems from Mike Powley
who was one of our version of 'the kids in the hall.' He was involved in a lot of the music planning and assessment, I believe.

hope this helps.

cheers
Cameron

Jack....Cam is correct regards the News Times. I forgot, we ran our news from :55 to the top of the hour. BL
Last edited by Jack Bennest on Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby VancouverTopFortyRadio » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:25 pm

Top Dog wrote:Mornin' Jack

During my Summer of '62 there was a lot of business on CFUN with Chicken
Delight, but I remember the Saturday night program as the A and W
Partyline. It differed little from what Brian L. launched. We played
as many songs as possible on the log-light Saturday evening. Solicited
calls and tabulated them. A few times I recall working on the
tabulation in the very few minutes of the 10:55 pm News.
Then we played them back from 15 - 1. The handwritten list was
scratched together and left in the library for Dave. I doubt copies
survived the first music meeting on Monday.


A wealth of information coming out here, and much appreciated. Yeah, I could have been wrong about Chicken Delight although I thought it was in there somewhere. But then, "Chicken Delight Party Line" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue very well.

Top Dog wrote:On the other hand, a friend visiting the studio one saturday night
persuaded me to include an unlisted album cut. <snip>

It was Roy Orbison's Lana. It became a hit of sorts...don't know how
far it went.


Oh it was a hit alright. Rose to the #1 spot on the Fun 50 for three straight weeks, and hit #1 on the Dec/63 Soundathon, unusual, to say the least, for an album cut.

As for the Party Line program, it should be noted that although the name continued for many years, the format eventually changed. The top 15 was dropped and the program became more of a request/dedication line.

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Postby Jack Bennest » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:56 am

Hi Jack

Yes, Brian Lord accurately described the DING HO PARTY LINE feature, that just kind of happened. It was Brian’s idea for a late nite feature of his 6-hour show. It happened, as a lot of programming did on C-FUN. It was such an incredible radio scene – we literally experimented On the air – our young audience was Very responsive, and if they liked a song or a feature, they let us know instantly – i.e. our phones told us how to proceed.

We would add a new record, and would know in 24 hours (or less) if it would be a hit, or a dud.



The Party Line Saturday nite feature, became so popular, that kids would call in, and literally cram (jam?) the REgent 1-6511 phone #, AND the REGENT exchange. As a result, somehow, on some Saturday nights, kids calling in, could hear other callers, and gave out their home-phone #’s, over the over-load – so it became a teenage game, to get phone #’s of other kids (usually of the opposite sex!), hang up, and then dial their new phone-pals! A Dating Game!



Unlike regimented radio today, we didn’t ‘think tank’ or sit around with department heads, or hire a consultant…the listener phone line was our consultant. Our “format” was very loose, in fact just about non-existent! If it worked, we kept doing it!



i.e. “Fujikami The Warrior” – an idea we stole from K-POI, it was Frosty’s project, he “wrote” the chants & did the Fuji voice – Lord, Cameron Bell, myself and others, did the background Responses, and a local band came in the station, and did the instrumental background (“The Hi Fives” maybe?) The late Andy Laughland, did the recording-production – all done at our 1900 W. 4th Avenue studios.



Ditto, another record project “The Untouchables” – That Lord voiced, in a great Walter Winchell style. Andy took snippets from recent hit records, and Spliced them In between Lord’s parts, somewhat based on the big tv show back then, that starred Robert Stack. All of us worked on that, all one evening, and into the a.m. hours – we had Landa play it, on his all night show, and we all sat in my parked car out back, and listened to it on the car radio, and then came back in, and re-tweaked it – and like FUJI, it also ended up on a pressed 45 rpm record!



As Lord mentioned, he left to go to K/MEN San Bernardino, CA., in early 1962. That was the first of the 2 new mainland radio stations, that genius Ron Jacobs (from K-POI in Hawaii) was heading up. Brian was hired for San Bernardino



I was hired to go to the new Fresno station (K/MAKe) which got on the air about 3 months after K/MEN, so I stayed on at C-FUN

Until the Fresno station was almost ready to debut. Lord and I were the lone Canadian jox at those 2 stations. The other staffers were mostly Californians.



I’m CC-ing this to Lord, Forst & Cameron Bell, and to Mike Powley – “the kid in the record library” – who was in his late teens, we were in our early to mid-20’s.



Mike worked in the “record library” and was the middle-man between the label reps, and myself. Mike started with us when he was still attending Kitsilano High School, so he was very much in tune, with teenagers’ tastes. Mike and I, always sat down together,

(I believe on Wednesday nights) and compiled the weekly FunTastic 50 surveys. The phone response on the preceding Saturday’s Ding Ho Party Line top 15 survey, plus phone response to new product, AND the results of the Mailed-In Top 5 favorites was the basis of those surveys.



We did the 2 Twin-Pick-Hits of the week feature, 25 copies of each of the 2 twin-pick-hit records (hopefully future hits!) were mailed out, to 50 letter-writers drawn at random. All those trying to win, needed to write in, and list their 5 favorite current songs.

We would receive HUNDREDS of letters every week – Mike tabulated those top 5 favorite song titles.



So you see, how we were the musical pulse of our Vancouver listeners – i.e. we were weeks ahead of the American Surveys –

“Cashbox” was the hot U.S. music bible back then, “Billboard” wasn’t as effective.



I’m sure Mike et al, will have more memories of those days, and hopefully he’ll (They) contribute to this – whatever it is? Project?



Regards



Dave McCormick…and still “the Big Daddy!”
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