Spirit of the Radio (Part 3): Q107 Toronto

It was our first Canadian client.  A territory we hadn’t probed until we received a call from Alan Slaight,  the legendary Canadian broadcaster and entrepreneur to work with CILQ in Toronto.  I knew this one would be different due to cultural differences and the highly regulated Broadcast  environment.  

I landed in Toronto on a blustery  afternoon and was instantly impressed with the city which seemed like a cross between London,  Chicago and San Francisco.   Clean,  progressive, multi cultural and alive with neighborhoods.  I was picked up at the airport by Dave Charles, a Canadian radio veteran,  and John Parikhal,  a well schooled futurist with a passion for media.   They gave me a  tour of Toronto while I asked questions about the city,  radio scenario and culture.  At one point I asked if there were a lot of stoners in the city,  a logical question for a 70’s era rock project.  They glanced at each other and said “well yes,  are you?”   ‘ well,  kind of’ I replied,  and they whipped out a joint and we got gonzo.

Shortly thereafter we checked into the Plaza II Hotel at Yonge and Bloor,  in the same complex as the station.  We had an incredible brainstorm session that lasted through room service dinner and deep into the night.  I knew that one of the great brain trusts was emerging.

It was a great balance.  Dave was a nuts and bolts programmer albeit a very creative one,  John at first was from a distant planet loaded with ideas and observations  from the impractical to the interesting to the brilliant.  He was a quick study and in short order he distilled  his thinking into one that was very focused and supercharged on the realities and challenges of the battles ahead.  The relationship of the three of us was one that was both social and business,  but the station,  culture and radio/music in general was always in some way,  the topic,  as we took full advantage of Toronto’s ethnic restaurants and even saw Star  Wars on its premier night.   It was pretty magical.

As I figured,  we had to navigate a myriad of CRTC ( the Canadian FCC ) regulations,  ranging from the dreaded “ Can Con “ to various regulations that translated into a ton of public service programming.  The problem with the Canadian Content reg was the need to completely rethink music programming.  The American lists were the foundation but local and Canadian artists were injected into the mix. Discovered quite a few artists.  One I really liked was a prog band called FM,  that along with others,  we imported to the US with varying degrees of success. Dan Hill was one that clicked.  A bright side is that the regulations   Forced ultra creative thinking and joyfully,  that was the focus of our pre launch brainstorms.  Almost always held in the war room privacy of a suite at the Plaza II.

They had been assembling a staff  and I found their choices to be great.  I couldn’t help much there because of my unfamiliarity with the Canadian talent pool.  I discovered that there was a different mindset among the people they brought in.  Far more creative driven than many of their American counterparts.  Maybe it’s in their DNA,  maybe it’s because of the challenges of the markets regulations,  or maybe because they grew up with a different kind of radio and had a different M.O.  Personally I found it refreshing if we could balance that creative with the practicality and discipline of the architecture of our programming.

Production and clever takes on what were public service type regulatory programming requirements were designed to match the vibe of the station.

The staff they assembled for the May 1977 launch included,  as I recall,  John Rode,  Murray  Smith, John Donabie, Mary-Ann Carpentier, Scott Marwood and Bob Mackowycz.  There were other contributors too of course

One interesting side note is that once our relationship was known,  I got invited by Robert Wood to meet to say hi.  Robert ran programming of the high profile ( and competitive) CHUM group.   Much to my surprise,  I entered the room and it appeared the whole company was there.  Clearly they were probing for information,  not-so-subtly suggesting there might be the potential to hook up with the larger CHUM group.   Kinda saw through that...

I made a lot of trips to Toronto,  and with each trip,  my biggest challenge became customs.  I got nailed coming in and out as both US and Canadian customs were handled at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.   I never had anything illegal with the but I must have fit some profile.  Coming in I was faced with kind Canadian officials who had great concern about WHY I was visiting.  Suffice to say I was always escorted into some Room 410 for interrogation.  More on that here:  https://www.leeabramsmediavisions.com/blog/the-horrors-of-being-a-consultant-in-the-eyes-of-federal-agents.   Coming back into the USA I was generally treated like a spy,  returning to the US for some nefarious reason.   Once I did get into the Country and back,  I found the return the visits were like the first—- inspired,  productive and media fun at its best.   

With creative solutions to the regulations and a Canada friendly music library assembled,  it was off to the races and the station enjoyed immediate traction.  Charles and Parikhal eventually left and formed Joint Communications which was affiliated with Burkhart/Abrams providing our clients with John Parikhal’s brain while we provided direction on our programming they could transmit to their Canadian clients ...and our relationship continues to this day.

When Dave and John left the station,  my relationship continued with Gary Slaight who grew from a Salesman to leading the station.  Gary had gone on to become  a powerful force in North American media,  running or owning broadcast groups,  introducing Satellite radio to Canada, owning the Toronto NBA team,  and a myriad of other high profile projects as he remains a  Mogul and ambassador of Canadian Music. Throughout his ascent,  he remained a grounded leader.  A no BS good guy.  Back in the early Q107 Days,  he was my contact and it was different from Dave and John,  but equally productive.  Our meetings continued in the “war room” aka The Plaza II.  I would spend all day listening,  and all night with Gary talking and brainstorming.  I’d come with a list of ideas and thinking from the American stations.  In Gary style,  he’d comment good naturedly to each idea “ good...good...that sucks...good...eh...that sucks...good...no,  etc....”. He had command over the station and was was also extremely receptive to ideas and directions.   Expertly translating things into the Canadian environment.  When they embraced an idea...they executed.  Along with John and Dave,  Gary was always a contributor to our Burkhart/ Abrams conventions often presenting the way they delivered on an idea. In most cases,  Gary and his team would take an idea literally and deliver to a Torontoized and remarkably high standard.  

This was an era where we were developing a lot of new features,  like Psychedelic Psupper and Gary and the station were very adept at adapting the presentation  to the Canadian market and by this time the station had a distinct  Toronto accent as all great stations “sound” like their city.  The creativity in executing features and in inventive production was outstanding 

They really developed into a “complete” station with focused music,  strong “image enhancer” features,  engaged talent, animated production and a high IQ/Low BS vibe.   Signal was good and they were very visible.

Q107 was always refining itself,  competitive to the highest degree and always quality driven

It’s great to see that Q107 has gone through many evolutions with many great people roaming the halls, and through it all has firmly engrained themselves as leader in North American rock n roll. A long term success story that keeps rockin.