OUR RECENT return to the open-line radio wars has
generated a predictable slew of media features about the

Vancouver talk circuit.

It is a unique arena.

Other cities have all had their
open-line shows, and in isolated
markets such as Los Angeles,
some significance has been
achieved. In Washington, D.C.,
there are few stars bigger than
Larry King.

But talk in Vancouver has oc-
cupied a cultural dimension
beyond anything that exists any-
where. Premiers, Prime Ministers,
business leaders and show business
celebrities all must face the Van-
couver public in direct, on the re-
cord, telephone communication.

The return of ‘*Bannerman”’
after a three-year hiatus has been
this year’s excuse for a rash of
publicity.

In the past, Pat Burns’ con-
troversial departure for Montreal,
or Jack Webster's move from
CKNW to CJOR in 1972 brought
a similiar avalanche of clippings.

In the same era, the late Judy
La Marsh gave it a try and she
became the news of the day.

Some of my prison hostage in-
cidents, courtroom exploits and
the campaign to develop the trade
and convention centre were causes
celebres.

Another flood of press greeted
former Premier Dave Barrett's
decision to try radio and even Bill
Good Jr.'s move from the televi-
sion anchor desk to the open-line
scene.

In recent times, acclaimed
foreign correspondent Philip Till,
who has won as many Peabody
Awards as Edward R. Murrow,
has become a Vancouver regular
and a North Van resident.

There have been many other
open-liners (from Jack Wasserman
to the brazen Ed Murphy), each
of whom have been subjected to
the x-ray of media attention.

But the stories have always
missed the most significant single
individual in the evolution of
Vancouver as the talk raztio capi-
tal of the world. His name is Hal
Davis.

ees

it was Hal Davis who created
Jack Webster. (Jack and God —
two fine men — thought they did
it themselves.) Davis, at CKNW,
was impressed by the brash Van-
couver Sun desk editor during one
election night coverage. He had to
await a rift between Webster and
The Sun _ before luring him to
radio.

But the city belonged to Pat

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Burns and CJOR during the
mid-1960s and not even Webster
could deflate that aura.

As Burns’ ego inflated, propell-
ed by genuine public adulation
and frequent lunches with rival
Program director Davis, he
became more impossible to han-
dle.

Davis kept offering more and
more moncy for the bombastic
Burns to jump ship, unsure of
what he would do if Pat accepted.
Instead, he kept returning to
CJOR demanding more, and ter-
rorizing management.

Ultimately, the Bureau of
Broadcast Governors threatened
to cancel CJOR’s licence if Pat
Burns were not silenced. He was
removed from the air.

Mortreal station CKGM,
managed by Vancouverite Don
Wall — another talk show magi-
cian — was quick to recruit him.

Pat's departure from Vancouver
was spectacular: thousands rushed
to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to
say farewell. Unknown until
recently, Hal Davis of CKNW not
only paid the rent for the event,
he had made the Montreal in-
troductions.

“*We were so happy to get him
out of town,’’ he remembers.

Jack Webster was a news suc-
cess before he hit radio in a big
way. But the removal of this
obsiacle facilitated one of Cana-
dian radio's most significant
evolutions.

The newspaperman made talk
respectable. It became a place

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where important peopie would
assemble and where news happen-
ed, in addition to being reported.

When Webster left to join the
competition in 1972, it was Davis
who spotted me, also at Pacific
Press. He then began the painful
process of shaping another open-
liner.

This time, he was the first in
the industry to recognize that
modern times required greater
depth and sophistication.

As he taught broadcasting to his
precocious protege, he also added
talented support staff, and he
piloted the program into advanced
studios that became the envy of
the broadcast world. We devel-
oped to dominate the late 1970s
and 1980s.

eee

It is a bright spring morning in
1973. Hal Davis arrives at CKRNW
at 7 a.m., somewhat alarmed at
what he had just heard on the
radio. His new morning man
Brian Forst had just announced
that he was in love again. He
planned to marry a reformed
heroin addict.

**T had been through a few of
Brian's romances and t wasn’t
prepared for anather one,"* Davis
said at the titne. He had high
hopes for Forst as the replacement
for the legendary Bob Hutton.

After reading the 8 o'clock
news, he returned to his office,
only to hear Al Davidson deliver a
patented tirade on the morning
sports,

He used the word ‘‘bugger"’
several times. After the show,
Davis hit the intercom, and he
called the sports director to the
office.

Puffing on a cigar, Al waddled
into the boss’ office. Davis asked:
“Would you use the word ---- on
the air?,"’ citing the infamous
four-letter word.

“Of course not,'’ Davidson

Sunday, September 15, 1991 - North Shore News - 9

Hal Davis: the real force behind
local open-line radio’s success

replied, blowing smoke
throughout the room.

“But you used the word ‘bug-
ger.’

“What's wrong with that?”’
Exasperated, Davis said: ‘‘It's
the same thing; merely a different

entrance!”’

**Oh yeah,’’ Davidson admitted.

‘“*I won't do it again.”’ He left the
office.

Moments later, the phone rang.
It was the wife of open-line host
Ed Murphy (he hosted on CKNW
for a few months between
Webster’s departure and my
launch). She advised that Ed went
out on a party the night before
and hadn’t returned home. In
fact, the party went for several
days.

Davis phoned downtown where
two eager rookies were standing
by: yours truly and Terry Spence
(now a vice-president at CFAX,
Victoria). This was to be our big
opportunity. ‘‘Hal D,”’ as we
know him, aged visibly that morn-
ing.

A sales crisis erupted as the day
went on, but, in the evening, the
weary program director was able
to relax at a sportsmen's dinner at
the Hotel Vancouver. As he drove
home, feeling better about the
world, he turned on the radio.

Jack Cullen, and some of his
cronies, well into the sauce, were
conducting a sing-along over the
airwaves.

oe

At 8 a.m., Friday, Aug. 30, Hal
Davis read the CKNW morning
news for the last time. This ended
a tradition of almost 40 years. He
was succeeded by Bill Good on
the following Monday.

He remains, however, the most
dominant single individual in the
history of Canadian open-line
radio.

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~ MAPLEWOOD

B, the time you receive the
North Shore News you still
have time to take the family
down to the 8th Annual
Maplewood Farm Fair,
Saturday and Sunday from
10:00 a.m. ‘til 4:00 p.m.
There’s music, dancing, arts
and crafts, games, farm
demonstrations, apple pressing,
cream separating and butter
making. Fun for the whole
family.

Incidentally, The District
property adjacent to the Farm
was recently dedicated as a
Heritage Park by Mayor and
Council. The Rotary Club of
North Vancouver have
pledged their support in the
Centennial Matching Funds
Grant program, so there
should be some things
happening in the very near
future. Keep reading our
column for more information.

Chuck Davis, author of the
Centennial book “Reflections
100” will be speaking at the
Lynn Valley Library, Tuesday.
September 17 at 7:00 pm.
If you have purchased a
book, bring it along for Chuck
to autograph. Books will be
availabie for sale at the library.
Join Chuck for a chat and a
“cuppa”. Get there early,
limited seating.

Centennial Update is brought
to you courtesy of the

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