Retro Toronto Thread for Nostalgia Purposes.

[black booty lover]

Red rocket streetcars


Alpine Way at the EX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Md-QpfVes



Electric Circus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEmj3zi9plo

Speakers Corner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZpDDJUpuI

You beat me to both speakers corner and EC.

I was on speakers corner and my clip made it to one of those "best of speakers corner" episodes....lol.


I used to see the beginning of EC on t.v on Saturday nights, then would pass it live on the street car going down Queen on my way to one of various clubs I used to hit on Queen St.

P.S, not sure if your a blue jays fan, but at the 4:34 mark of the EC clip, you'll see a black guy with a cowboy hat who was a staple on EC. That's Daulton Pompey's dad! lol



The clip of the Ex is amazing!

 

[clules]

I miss watching the 20 minute workout in the mornings

 

[black booty lover]

Yonge ST 1977, was seedy back then, with all the massage parlours and pornhhouses, at 2:44 , that shoeshine boy is Emanuellle Jacques, the shoeshine boy who was sexually assaulted and killed that summer, I remember that vividly, he was found days later on a rooftop on yonge st. The city decided to clean up yonge st thereafter.

I was only 3 in 1977 so I don't remember the murder, but have read about it a few times.

I remember in the mid 80's, would skip school to go downtown and hit up the grimey head shops thinking I was super cool because I bought a knife or a wallet with a playboy logo on it..lol. I also used to like hitting up some of the military stores like Hercules if you remember that place. There were a bunch of places like that back then and they literally had guns in the window for sale. Man times have changed.

 

[shack]

Anybody remember CFNY back in the glory days when they were truly cutting edge? ...with David Marsden as the programming director (also one of the dj’s). Was available across North America via satellite in the early years and was hugely influential in forming the “alternative radio” format. First time I head U2 was on this station and that was before their first album came out and when they booked into small venues. No other Toronto station was playing eg: the Sex Pistols or anything that wasn’t mainstream. The DJ’s were given free reign to do their thing.

Actually, prior to CFNY, CHUM FM was very avant garde/cutting edge and Dave Marsden (and others) used to ramble on all night long. He sounded high as a kite. The music played was whatever the DJ felt like playing. Not preprogrammed with the same songs being played over and over. I remember hearing "Time" by Pink Floyd for the first time trying to fall asleep around 1:00 AM with my transistor radio tucked underneath my pillow.

It was Peace, Love and CHUM FM.

 

[castaniabrucciatta]

This always did it for me. Before 24/7 broadcast, CITY played this at the end of their day.

Always loved the tune and the video. Really brings me back.

People City. Both versions.

https://youtu.be/OpJXAavGpi4

Toronto Television

Channel 79 Cable 7

Sigh

CB

 

[unassuming]

I was only 3 in 1977 so I don't remember the murder, but have read about it a few times.

I remember in the mid 80's, would skip school to go downtown and hit up the grimey head shops thinking I was super cool because I bought a knife or a wallet with a playboy logo on it..lol. I also used to like hitting up some of the military stores like Hercules if you remember that place. There were a bunch of places like that back and they literally had guns in the window for sale. Man times have changed.

Oh yes, places like "Flash Jacks"- that would sell cool posters, custom logo-ed T shirts and pot smoking paraphernalia lol

 

[unassuming]

Pretty sad, they were protesting against police brutality, yet many were smashing windows and looting

Most of the looters were caught and arrested due to store surveillance cameras.

 

[JackBurton]

I was always impressed at Moses’ business acumen. He took a forgotten station and built it into a brand and a model where you felt like you were part of a larger community. Even if it was done on the cheap and with just one person and a camera, City TV had a real vibe to it. Made you feel connected to your city.

Nowadays, 24/7 news cycle, nothing special. No real sense of community.

Hey did you all know Les Stroud the survivorman started as a tape operator at City TV/Muchmusic? He played blues on the side and learned how to put together a show with just him and a camera. Respect.

 

[black booty lover]

This always did it for me. Before 24/7 broadcast, CITY played this at the end of their day.

Always loved the tune and the video. Really brings me back.

People City. Both versions.

https://youtu.be/OpJXAavGpi4

Toronto Television

Channel 79 Cable 7

Sigh

CB

It's amazing to think back in the 80's after about 3am, only a few channels were still on. Everything else was just those coloured lines with that tone sound. You know, the same one that was a "test of the emergency broadcast system" lol.

 

[Insidious Von]

Reiner Schwartz recently passed away. I still remember his Night Music show on Channel 19, now TVO, it was ahead of it's time and gave rise to City's The New Music and CFNY. Other channels had test patterns.

 

[Insidious Von]

In the late 70's Toronto was a hothouse of creativity. John Candy wasn't initially happy about leaving Second City Chicago to start an affiliate in Toronto. It worked out better than he could have imagined.

 

[Insidious Von]

Second City Toronto opened it's doors this month in 1973. The initial cast consisted of: Jayne Eastwood, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Harold Ramus and Joe Flaherty. SC Chicago picked Flaherty to run the company, a role he would later spoof as Guy Caballero.

 

[essguy_]

I was always impressed at Moses’ business acumen. He took a forgotten station and built it into a brand and a model where you felt like you were part of a larger community. Even if it was done on the cheap and with just one person and a camera, City TV had a real vibe to it. Made you feel connected to your city.

Nowadays, 24/7 news cycle, nothing special. No real sense of community.

Agree. Znaimer was way ahead of his time and City formats were copied all over the world. Even the way his newsroom was set up was different for the times - but adopted all over the place. And some of the shows (20 minute workout, FashionTV) were globally successful. I remember visiting my then fiancee in Singapore and she and her friends always watched "Fashion Television" which was on one of the Singapore Channels every week - they were totally unaware that Jeanne Becker and the show were based out of Toronto.

I always had the hots for Teresa Roncon. I remember catching about 10 minutes of a Much Music dance program where they were celebrating some anniversary or something and Moses Znaimer was there. Roncon asked him to dance and there was definitely a chemistry going on there. I remember thinking.... I bet he's fucking her....

Not sure if anybody remembers the movie: "Atlantic City". Znaimer had a small role as a petty criminal/ganster who gets shot by Burt Lancaster's character. So the guy had his fingers in a lot of different activities. He's now focused on the older demographic with Zoomer Media.

 

[mandrill]

Anybody remember CFNY back in the glory days when they were truly cutting edge? ...with David Marsden as the programming director (also one of the dj’s). Was available across North America via satellite in the early years and was hugely influential in forming the “alternative radio” format. First time I head U2 was on this station and that was before their first album came out and when they booked into small venues. No other Toronto station was playing eg: the Sex Pistols or anything that wasn’t mainstream. The DJ’s were given free reign to do their thing.

I was a big fan. And there was that CBC Radio late night alternative rock show "Brave New Waves" (?) or something like that. Brilliant. Forget who the host was.

 

[mandrill]

Agree. Znaimer was way ahead of his time and City formats were copied all over the world. Even the way his newsroom was set up was different for the times - but adopted all over the place. And some of the shows (20 minute workout, FashionTV) were globally successful. I remember visiting my then fiancee in Singapore and she and her friends always watched "Fashion Television" which was on one of the Singapore Channels every week - they were totally unaware that Jeanne Becker and the show were based out of Toronto.

I always had the hots for Teresa Roncon. I remember catching about 10 minutes of a Much Music dance program where they were celebrating some anniversary or something and Moses Znaimer was there. Roncon asked him to dance and there was definitely a chemistry going on there. I remember thinking.... I bet he's fucking her....

Not sure if anybody remembers the movie: "Atlantic City". Znaimer had a small role as a petty criminal/gangster who gets shot by Burt Lancaster's character. So the guy had his fingers in a lot of different activities. He's now focused on the older demographic with Zoomer Media.

I had the hots for Teresa Roncon too. It reminds me that my then gf's bestie had a serious case of the hots for Znaimer. So I bet he WAS doing a lot of the women at CITY.

 

[mandrill]

I'm trying to remember all the old rock venues. I got taken to Larry's Hideaway to see the Specials one night when they were almost unknown. My friends were cool and "downtown" and I was still going to law school in the burbs and had a stache and mullet. I was shunned by the rest of the crowd and no girls would talk to me. I was taken aside by my buddies the next day and read the riot act about my appearance!

 

[essguy_]

I was a big fan. And there was that CBC Radio late night alternative rock show "Brave New Waves" (?) or something like that. Brilliant. Forget who the host was.

Yeah forgot about "Brave New Waves" - that was a great show. Host was a woman - Augusta Le Paix. I still have some tapes of this show made with a Sony DAT recorder. Anybody remember those? Only lasted a few years before people started recording direct to CD. I still have the tapes and the recorder in a box somewhere....

 

[unassuming]

One of my co workers, worked in record store on Yonge in the 70's and 80's and knew a few of the CFNY staff, he was keen on the music scene back then, but I actually put him to shame with my music knowledge of that era, LOL!!

 

[unassuming]

The "Toronto Metro-Croatia" soccer team , with the great Eusebio, winning the NASL championship in 1976, was another fond memory.

 

[unassuming]

I had the hots for Teresa Roncon too.

+1, she was a babe!