Flashback: Rock history revealed
An elevator's long-held secret is uncovered in Halifax
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Radio days
Earlier this month, the CBC’s Commotion discussed CFNY: The Spirit of Radio, a documentary that explores the origins and cultural impact of the southern Ontario station in the 1970s and ’80s (you can watch it on YouTube).
Guest Liisa Ladoucer told listeners why CFNY was important and singled out its program director, Dave Marsden (who himself appears in the doc). Marsden began in radio years earlier using a different name, she noted.
That name was David Mickie, a popular DJ who joined host Alex Trebek on an episode of the CBC’s after-school program Music Hop in 1963. That’s where Mickie met a young singer named Gordon Lightfoot, who was a guest.
Dog tired
The Yukon Quest, an annual multi-day dogsled race, will not take place in 2026, CBC News said this month. A former volunteer cited “burnout” as a reason, and reporter Tori Fitzpatrick said the race route has also been beset by issues related to climate change.
Back in 1987, experienced musher Loreena Mitchell was more concerned about hypothermia. But she told the CBC’s Bob Sudeyko she had a colleague who would listen to her worries.
“I talked about it with my lead dog,” she said. “We both like to sleep a lot when it’s dark, so we’re going to do most of our moving by day and most of our camping by night.”
Fatigue decision
To modernize and address a staffing shortage, the Canadian military is overhauling its combat clothing, CBC News reported last month. For the first time, there will be gendered cuts for uniforms and body armour.
Canada’s army, navy and air force also got a new look in the ’80s, the CBC’s Terry Milewski reported for The National. Since the Liberal government amalgamated all three branches in the ’60s, they’d worn the same uniform, he said. But the newly elected Conservatives were reversing that.
The move wasn’t universally popular, however. Some veterans thought Canada needed tanks and guns, not "pretty new uniforms,” Milewski said.
Smoked out
Smoking is making a pop-culture comeback, CBC Life recently observed. Cigarettes may be having a resurgence, but vending machines for buying them will likely stay in the past: in 1988, CBC News reported that they were already on the decline.
Remains of back in the day
Renovations at a Halifax arena uncovered a “really cool piece of rock history” — singer Steve Tyler’s autograph, CBC News recently reported. Starting in the late ’80s, many artists signed their name in one of Scotiabank Centre’s elevators, meaning Iron Maiden’s 1984 concert there is only a memory.
Room to grow
Last week, The Canadian Press reported that WestJet will go back to seats with more legroom on some planes. Fewer seats? The airline also didn’t have as many when it started flying in 1996, but that was because there were only three planes in its fleet.
Spread dread
Health Canada is now requiring milk and margarine producers to add twice as much vitamin D to their products, CBC News reported last week. In 1961, the CBC showed how an additive to margarine — the colour yellow — was a source of great irritation to those who had to mix it in manually.
