I have been macerating this post for months... more like years. Okay, for so long that much of the programming has changed! I decided I better do it now before there are more changes!
I started listening to Canada's CBC Stereo, as it was called at the time, some time in the late eighties. It was a mostly classical and jazz channel at that time. And I originally mostly tuned in during my drives into and from work. I had grown tired of the local rock station and the endless annoying banter between the two or three morning hosts and the never-ending commercials. I have liked classical music since grade 6 when we went to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO) to watch, listen and learn. I still remember the conductor (I thought it was Charles Dutoit but after Googling and trying to find info on these afternoon educational classical experiences, I found out he didn't become conductor until 1977 and I finished grade school in 1976 - talk about aging myself!) At that time, I didn't admit to liking it, of course! Mind you, my sister and a few friends got violin lessons from one of the violinists from the MSO which I was refused to have. Hmph! My mother knew me well...
At this time, Tom Allen was the morning host of the aptly named Music and Company and I loved his little snippets of information about such and such a piece of music and will never forget one morning when he said: "And after this short commercial, we'll listen to Freddy Mercury." What? Had he lost his mind? This was classical time! Of course it was the Barcelona Olympic theme song with Montserrat Caballé...
Then, of course, come 3:00 p.m. we had the entertaining, and sadly, late, Jürgen Gothe
who hosted the Disc Drive show. As soon as I heard the opening music, I knew it was 3 o'clock!
His melodious voice and love of telling stories (often made up) of food, wine, music and cats (in no particular order) removed all the seriousness that classical music is "supposed" to be. He would mix up Mozart with Garrison Keillor. I'll never forget when he played the "In and Out Cat Song"...
The late Bob Kerr's two-hour show Off the Record from 1-3 pm was mostly interesting because he wasn't shy about playing whole symphonies and ballets - though at times, that was a bit much for me. And forget Thursdays. Thursdays were "Organ Thursdays"... I was not a fan. One tune, maybe a second... two hours? Non merci! No offense to the fans! He did, however, close his show with Pachelbel's Canon, and that is always a good thing.
Times changed and so did CBC Stereo. With the changes, came new hosts and programs and suddenly, I found myself listening to CBC Radio 2 from 6 am till midnight on week-days (ok, not ALL the time!) Always in my car, so I've discovered other programs.
...to be continued...