Why I Will Miss CKOC 1150

The End of an Era

The oldest continuously-operating radio station in Canada is closing down. Well, not actually closing, but it is transitioning into an All Sports radio station, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.

CKOC started life in downtown Hamilton, Ontario at the corner of King William and John Streets as a side business of the Wentworth Radio and Supply Company owned by Herb Slack. Herb figured he could sell more radios if he also owned a radio station, so in the spring of 1922 CKOC became only the third radio station in all of Canada.

Over the years, CKOC had a number of addresses, including the 11th floor of the Royal Connaught Hotel, the Lister Block building on James North and King William Streets, and a studio on Garfield Avenue near King and Sherman Avenue North. CKOC was a Top 40 station from 1960 to 1992, and became a 50,000 watt station back in 1979.

After 1992 they became Oldies 1150, which for my generation meant that they were once again playing the same music we first heard on the station. As Simone de Beauvoir once pointed out, nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. But one thing the ‘new’ oldies format did remind me of was the diversity of the music on the pop charts in those days.

Rock’n’roll, rhythm & blues, soul, country, bluegrass, disco, ballads, love songs, novelty songs, bubble gum pop, psychedelic rock, jazz, reggae, calypso, and standards all lived happily, and eclectically, side-by-side on the CKCO charts in those days. The hyper-categorization and segregation of music had yet to happen. And we listeners benefited from it. Sure, every now and then a song would come on that would make you run for the dial (Debbie Boone, I’m looking at you) but for the most part, listening to such a wide variety of genres was entertaining and even a form of bonding.

When I first learned of CKOC’s impending demise, all I could think was that it was the end of an era. I think there’s a place for the kind of programming that covers so much ground. It will probably make a comeback someday. My favourite early memories of CKOC were lying in bed late at night with one earphone plugged into a tiny transistor radio, listening to the absolute brilliance of the music of the day… ‘Little Willy’ by the Sweet, ‘I’m Just A Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)’ by The Moody Blues, ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ by Lou Reed. Songs that made me feel excited about growing up, made my blush, made me horny, even songs that made me cry.

I will miss CKOC. Where the hits just keep on coming.