Red Robinson's Legends

When I wrapped up my daily radio career on CISL's Wakeup Club this week in 2000, old friend Lesley Gore was among the first to get in touch. Lesley topped the charts in 1963 with her debut single "It’s My Party,” produced by the legendary Quincy Jones! The song sold more than a million copies. Lesley followed up with "Judy's Turn to Cry", “That’s the Way Boys Are,” “She’s a Fool,” “Maybe I Know,”...

Terry Jacks (pictured here with legendary Vancouver DJ Fred Latremouille at Red's Rockin' Gala) is probably best known for his 1974 international multi-million seller "Seasons In The Sun" but he and I go all the way back to 1965 and CBC-TV's Music Hop/Let's Go. In this interview during my final week on CISL's Wakeup Club, Terry tells me how the Poppy Family got started, we reminisce about the "goo...

The Crystals were one of the most successful "girl groups" of the early 60's with hits like "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", "Uptown", "He's Sure the Boy I Love", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Then He Kissed Me" and "He's a Rebel", which hit #1 around this time in 1962. In this 2000 interview, Dolores talks about legendary producer Phil Spector and the enduring success of their Christmas album. Dolores say...

On November 8, 2000, I retired from daily radio and CISL's Wakeup Club morning show. One of the many friends we talked to that day was legendary Canadian singer Anne Murray. Anne had just taken a year off, and I asked her what I should be doing with all this "free time".

On this day back in 2000, I retired from daily radio and CISL's Wakeup Club morning show. We celebrated all week with calls from Anne Murray, Lesley Gore, Spencer Davis, Terry Jacks, and many more. I couldn't think of a better person to celebrate with than my old friend Pat O'Day. We grew up together in radio, Pat in Seattle and me in Vancouver, and our paths crossed frequently. We were both among...

September 30, 1973 — #14CFUN is back! Program Director Chuck McCoy has an interesting story about the promotion: "I selected veteran DJ Daryl 'B' to be the MC and star of our call letter change. I asked Daryl to announce that all regular programming on the new CFUN would be suspended while he dialed randomly selected numbers waiting for the first person to answer 'CFUN is back'. That person would...

American radio legend Pat O'Day, a huge influence and dear friend, passed away a year ago today and I'm constantly reminded of his brilliance. Enjoy this snippet from Pat's onstage introduction of Herman's Hermits at the Seattle Center Coliseum in July 1967. O'Day's KJR dominated Seattle radio and Pat's concert business was a huge success. Here, Pat takes time to acknowledge and thank the people w...

Comedy legend Jackie Mason has died at 93. Known for his quick-witted observational humor, he entertained us for decades with stories from his orthodox Jewish background. His family moved to New York City, where he became an ordained rabbi. He broke into comedy in the Catskills in upstate New York in the 1960s and his career started to take off. Jackie enjoyed success in the 1980s with a solo show...

On July 20, 1986, partner Les Vogt and I presented Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, The Righteous Brothers, at the Legends of Rock'n'Roll show at EXPO 86. Their music was referred to as "Blue-Eyed Soul" and their worldwide smash ballad "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", produced by Phil Spector, made a huge impact on radio. We first met at the Cave Theatre Restaurant back in 1962 and again in 1964...

During one of my frequent 1961 visits with Gary Bruno at KMBY/Monterey, he introduced me to Mark Carroll, who had been stationed at Fort Ord but was now the morning DJ at the station. Gary thought that Mark was one of the finest voices he had ever heard. Just before I left Fort Ord, Gary made arrangements for the three of us to get together for dinner at a restaurant on Cannery Row opposite KMBY....

Lesley Gore topped the C-FUNtastic Fifty for the third straight week on this day in 1963 with “It’s My Party,” produced by the legendary Quincy Jones! The song sold more than 1 million copies. Lesley followed up with "Judy's Turn to Cry", “That’s the Way Boys Are,” “She’s a Fool,” “Maybe I Know,” “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” and another million seller, “You Don’t Own Me.” Lesley was part of...

On this day in 1961, Del Shannon's first hit "Runaway" hit # 1 on Vancouver's C-FUNtastic 50. The song held the top spot for five weeks. In this interview, Del talks about the unique sound keyboard player Max Crook brought to "Runaway". Del had other hits with "Hats Off to Larry", "Little Town Flirt", "Handy Man", "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)". Del's 1963 versio...

In early 1962, I had returned to CKWX and I was trying to regain my following. It was a hopeless cause. The action was now with C-FUN and I knew it. I approached Program Manager John Ansell with the question, "Are you going to be carrying baseball live this Spring?" Ansell said he had been thinking about it but nothing definite had been decided. I went to the sales department of the station and th...

When Gene Vincent performed in Vancouver in 1958, the opening act was Bonnie Guitar. Bonnie started her career in Seattle. She recorded "Dark Moon" on Dot Records in March of 1957, an instant hit even though initially she had strong competition from singer-actress Gale Storm. Her next smash was "Mister Fire Eyes" and her stage presentation was smooth as glass. Bonnie sat down with me at CKWX the d...

Dean Torrence and partner Jan Berry were a couple of California boys who produced many hits together. Dean credits Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for arranging and writing many of their songs. They pioneered the surfing sound with the 1963 Wilson-penned hit Surf City. It went to the top of the charts that year, and paved the way for all that followed. They continued their association with Wilson u...

Dean Torrence and partner Jan Berry were a couple of California boys who produced many hits together. Dean credits Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for arranging and writing many of their songs. They pioneered the surfing sound with the 1963 Wilson-penned hit Surf City. It went to the top of the charts that year, and paved the way for all that followed. They continued their association with Wilson u...

Dean Torrence and partner Jan Berry were a couple of California boys who produced many hits together. Dean credits Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for arranging and writing many of their songs. They pioneered the surfing sound with the 1963 Wilson-penned hit Surf City. It went to the top of the charts that year, and paved the way for all that followed. They continued their association with Wilson u...

Twenty years ago today (2/24) we lost a great friend and a cherished radio companion when Rick Honey lost his courageous battle with cancer. Rick left CKNW in 1997, but afternoon host Jon McComb asked a group of Rick's friends to join him in this tribute shortly after his passing. I was honoured to be there along with Wayne Cox, Neil Soper and Mel Zajac. Another Vancouver broadcast legend, Fred La...

Here’s a rare recording of the legendary Daryl B on CHUM/Toronto with good friend and fellow Winnipegger Burton Cummings in 1990, followed by a composite of Daryl's show. You'll love the ending, where Daryl honours a listener request for "Rainy Night In Georgia"! I brought Daryl to work at C-FUN in late 1965 from CKY/Winnipeg when Fred Latremouille left to move to CKLG. Daryl and his family lived...

Longtime CKNW afternoon host Rick Honey called it a day after 24 years on May 30, 1997. Rick came to Vancouver in late 1969 from Nova Scotia to work at Top 40 CKLG and quickly developed a following. Rick was also a top-notch MC and an accomplished magician! I loved Rick's sense of humour, and it was evident when I called him from my CISL morning show to check up on him. Rick was named Broadcast Pe...

Happy Birthday thesmokeyrobinson, celebrating 82 today! The Miracles' "Shop Around" was Motown's first million seller in 1960. Over the next 10 years Smokey gave us some truly memorable music: "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (1962), "Mickey's Monkey" (1963), "Ooo Baby Baby", "Going to a Go-Go", "The Tracks of My Tears" (1965), "(Come Round Here) I'm The One You Need" (1966), "The Love I Saw in Yo...

Little Anthony and the Imperials were named for lead singer Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his high-pitched voice. The group signed with End Records in 1958 and their first single, "Tears on My Pillow", was an instant hit. The group followed up with "Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop" in 1960. One of the highlights of my brief Portland Bandstand TV hosting appearances in 1960...

Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly were both born in West Texas: Buddy in Lubbock, and Roy in Vernon, 180 miles east. They never toured together (except as holograms in 2019's "Rock'n'Roll Dream Tour"), but Buddy recorded two Orbison songs on his debut album with the Crickets. Here, Roy tells me about meeting Buddy and hearing his first record on the radio.

30 years ago today, on January 18, 1991, Brian Beirne was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Brian was a DJ for K-EARTH 101 in Los Angeles. "Mr. Rock'n'Roll" is considered one of the foremost historians on rock music. His 40 year radio career included stints in San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, and Sacramento. Brian retired from KRTH in 2004 but he continues to host and produce ro...

Chubby Checker's “The Twist” was a #1 song not once but twice — in 1960 and again in 1961. The song that started a worldwide dance phenomenon was a cover of an old Hank Ballard B-side. Chubby had more big hits with “Let’s Twist Again” in 1961, “Slow Twistin’” (with Dee Dee Sharp) in 1962, and “Twist It Up” in 1963. Checker followed his success with popular songs about other dances, including “The...