New Year's Remembrances of Paul Reid and radio that was

A bit of a diversion again this week, but one I have been meaning to write for some time.  The impetus for my column this week came earlier this month when Robert Williston sent out an email requesting help locating a copy of Paul Reid's Christmas album for his Museum of Canadian Music.  It is a wonderful and valuable resource for Canadian music of every description, based in Calgary, Alberta.  Their website, www.mocm.ca, has been compiling a collection of Canadian Christmas music this season, and the Paul Reid was one they simply couldn't find.

No surprise there.  I picked up a copy of the original release on RCA Records, dating from 1974, sometime in the late 70s at the old A&A's Records & Tapes on Yonge Street in Toronto, probably paying about $ 4.99 for it, plus tax of course.  As lovely and enchanting as Paul Reid's own Christmas memories are on the disc, the real gem is his reading of The Littlest Angel.  I have heard several other recordings of the story as well, including Fred Gwynne for heaven's sake, but none came close to tugging at the heartstrings as Paul Reid did.  The album grew out of his annual radio broadcast in early December on CJAD in Montreal and became hugely popular with his many listeners at the time.

It has been out of print for many years now, and I had my copy transferred to CD along with his earlier recording, A Letter to My Love, released on Columbia Records in 1967, which I picked up many years ago as well.  Listening to both over the last few days brought back a lot of memories for me, and I thought I would share some of them with you this week.

Paul Reid began his career in Peterborough at CHEX Radio, moving to Hamilton in 1954 to host a show that included his trademark poetry readings at CHML.  It launched his career and ten years later in 1964, he got a call from CJAD in Montreal, the powerhouse AM English-language radio station then part of the Standard Radio group.  He stayed there many years, raising his young family and becoming one of the most recognizable radio personalities in the city.  He was lured back to Hamilton in the late 70s, but the maxim "you can't go home again" played out, and he returned to Montreal to host an evening show on rival CFQR Radio from 1980 until his untimely death in 1983.

That is a capsule overview of Paul's career; the full bio and lots of other great information is provided by his son Mike on the website www.paulreidchristmas.com, which is well worth a visit.  But the information there is merely a launching point for me as I offer a few heartfelt remembrances of my own of a great broadcaster we lost far too early in his career.

I knew of Paul originally through his first album, A Letter to My Love, recorded at the height of his popularity in Montreal.  I was not aware of his radio career personally; that came much later when I heard he had returned to Hamilton, and late one evening as I was driving back home to Toronto from attending a show at Hamilton Place, I decided to finally tune in and hear him on the air for the first time.  I never forgot that night; that familiar, gentle voice enveloping me in a serenity suggesting no matter what else is going on around you, Paul says everything will be okay, and he was right.

I didn't realize it at the time, but Paul influenced my early career in radio when I moved here to St. Catharines to host the evening show, Niagara by Night in the spring of 1981.  It was primarily music and I was all of 24 at the time; eventually, though, I moulded the show to reflect my personality and that included the occasional story and even poetry late at night, as Paul had done for so many years.  I could never hope to carry on the legacy he had established; no-one could.  But without thinking about it at the time I was honouring him by carrying on the tradition in my own small way.  I miss those days of radio when personality still reigned and you had some measure of creative control over your show.

For several Christmas seasons, either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, I hosted my own special show of music and stories, all chosen by myself, on CKTB Radio.  I always included Paul's fabulous recording of The Littlest Angel, of course.

Back in the 70s when Paul returned to Hamilton, I was spending a lot of my time in the evening listening to another radio personality making the evening hours something special in his own unique way.  Bill Robinson hosted The Robinson Connection for several years on the old CKEY590 in Toronto, where I lived at the time, and it often had the same effect on me.

Later on in the 80s, my radio career becoming established in St. Catharines, I still drove to the family home in Toronto after I signed off Friday nights at midnight, so I spent many a late night driving with two other early radio influences for me, both on overnights at our parent station, CFRB in Toronto.  Weekends for many years were hosted by another former CJAD stalwart, Rod Dewar, whom I never met but thought I new through his radio show in the early morning hours.  It took months before I actually knew his name, as he rarely if ever actually said it on the air.  This intrigued me at a time when everyone else was giving theirs after almost every break.  I think it was someone else on the station promoting Rod's show coming up when I finally found out his name!

A few years ago when Rod passed away I found out much more about his legacy at CJAD in Montreal; but for me, one joke told in the middle of the night years ago while I was driving home to Toronto has stayed with me all these years:  a couple goes to a hotel and while there orders the 'honeymoon salad' - lettuce alone...okay, maybe you had to be there but I laughed that night in the car and never forgot it!

The third and final voice that influenced me in my early years is still around today; most recently as the voice of Home Depot Canada on their radio spots up until a couple of years ago if I remember correctly:  Fred Napoli.  Fred was for many years on CFRB's FM sister station, CKFM, but when I began listening to him he was, like Rod, hosting the weekend overnight show on CFRB.  Fred's voice is one-of-a-kind:  gentle, genial and knowledgeable.  He has lived life to the fullest and it shows in that wonderfully weathered voice of his.

Fred has been famous for many years for his many stories he told on the air, many of which I heard on those long, lonely drives to Toronto.  Many of them were included in a book entitled "Re-Inventing My Self", published around 1988 by Talent Seven Limited Publishing.  I ordered a copy of it, autographed no less, and treasure it to this very day.  If you ever manage to find a copy, grab it and enjoy - you won't regret it.

I have always wanted to meet Fred, and shake the hand of a man who, like the late Paul Reid and Rod Dewar, influenced me greatly in my early, formative years as a radio broadcaster.  To the best of my knowledge he still lives in the Dundas, Ontario area, so maybe someday...

Funny how an email out of nowhere brings the memories flooding back of voices from the past; four great broadcasters each making their marks on their industry with their great command of the English language and an ability to weave magic through the airwaves late at night with their own special skills.

Have a great New Year!

December 29th, 2012.