Curator’s Notes:
Not only was CHOG the final CHR in the Toronto market, it was just over one month away from changing formats from CHR to News Talk. Not surprisingly, being on the AM band did nothing to help AM 640 in its transition. The new N/T format suffered from low ratings, as did it’s successor, launched in 2000, male oriented, talk formatted CFMJ “Mojo Radio” (no relation whatsoever to WPLJ New York). Just four years later, the station would adopt it’s more mainstream Talk format. The CFMJ call letters remain today.
Original Comments:
We hear two jingles in this scope, along with the hits of 1995. AM 640 was little more than a month away from flipping to Talk radio, and at this point in time, was the LAST contemporary hit station left in Toronto – on AM OR FM! CHOG had a great lineup at the time, including John Gallagher, Tarzan Dan, Kenny ‘The Hitman’ Caughlin, Roger Kelly and the Toronto radio team of Jesse and Gene.
There’s one stopset included. Imaging is used sparingly. This is the way Top 40 radio is supposed to sound like!
I would love to hear AM 640 back in 1990 when it was the HOG “Maximum Grunt”.
Does Airchexx have anything like that?
@Gary: I haven’t run across an aircheck of that yet, but I may have one. Still several hundred airchecks to post, all in boxes. I’ll go through and see if I have one.
-West
I remember visiting Toronto in 1993 & 1994 and was curious why their CHR stations were on the AM dial. It seemed alien to the teenage boy I was at the time, but this airchexx doesn’t sound too bad all these years later.
oh man i miss that radio station every morning i get up at 6 am early to listin to jesse and gene and those guys always made my day the good times bring it back bring it back 90s rule
LOL. As someone pointed out on another aircheck (see CFTR August 1988), it’s just Gary Bell, who also covered overnights at CFTR as the “Space Cowboy”. I believe he’s still working behind the scenes at 640 even today.
Spaceman sounds really into it in this aircheck. He still works at AM 640, doing a talk show on Saturday nights about conspiracies.
Great to hear and look back on, but I’m still glad the CFL is all Canadian now.
Wow , Gary was a really good DJ !! I would love to hear more, and it would be cool to be able to put a face with the voice…. Any photos of him ?
IIRC, 640 is one of those “mega” antenna farms along the QEW near Grimsby. I remember driving up to Toronto for the first time in 1995. I was very impressed with the antenna farms along the way including CFTR.