Week of August 29th, 1966 25CENTS Jon& Lee &The Checkmates Featured on National TVer Toronto: Sunday August 21st. was a big night for the Jon and Lee and The Checkmates fans who were holding their trauma meeting at The Avenue Road Club in The Village. This was the night the 'giant CBC corporation had set aside 30 minutes to spotlight one of Toronto's hottest rock and blues music groups, J L&C Ltd. The management of the club arranged for a giant TV screen and closed down the dancing activity so as to allow patrons to view their idols as stars of "Compass'. The production was a typical CBC arty effort and raw enough to be highly interesting. Glenn Sarty, CBC producer, used the candid camera technique to obtain his seemingly off the cuff situations. Jon and Lee as lead singers set the audience up for Jon's devastating evangelical solo blow that weekly usually results in the rest of The Checkmates carrying their disciple off the stage leaving many of the "got to" pilgrims, talking to themselves. Jon and Lee and The Checkmates Ltd. have attained international recognition the hard way. Volume 6, No. 1 Unlike many of the local groups who flip out poor quality records just to get a sound on wax, JL&C have been biding their time and looking the situation over carefully. They realize that their stage presentation would be difficult to reproduce on a disc and they would therefore suffer the rather ex- ROBERT J. STONE ASSOCIATES pensive experience of being hot sellers to a very restricted buying public. Their only salvation would STEPS UP INDIE ACTIVITY be for an American record company to put up the loot and gamble on this white soul wringing sound, thatis becoming so popular in the U.S. With a group like Jon and Lee and The Checkmates, the Oshawa:Bob Stone, prexy of Robert J. Stone gamble would be more like an investment. Associates, has been experiencing favourable European and Australian reaction to his newly BIGLAND SPLITS formed Stone label.First of his releases is zi Toronto: Ron Scribner, president of The Bigland waxing of "Somebody Help Me" by the English agency,announces sweeping changesinhis chart busters, The Spencer Davis Group. Other organization.Partners, Tom Wilson and Fred artists secured for the label include Roy "C", White will leave The BiglandAgency to organize who recently made "Shotgun Wedding" number their own operations. White,as head ofhis one in England and The Continent, Millie Small, ownrecordlabel,Yorktown, willset up his of -My Boy Lillipop" fame,and Canadians Joey Promotion and Publicity officesintheBloor Hollingsworth and Tom Northcott. Releases of and Yonge area. Wilson is rumoured to beset- Northcott's "Going Down" and Hollingsworth's ting up his own booking agency. I I Love You Like Do" will be "That's Why Scribner advises that he will retain the carried only in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Bigland banner but will work on a much smaller Sweden. Stone releases will be carried by the scale and will concentrate on building the image in England and Jamaica and W&G Islandlabel of only a dozen top flight units rather than at- in Australia. tempt to retain many of the groups who came in- Stone feels he has a great deal of pot- toprominence through the effortsof Bigland. entialin aVictoriaB.C. group name of The Bigland became a giant throughout the FiveCanadians andisreleasing their single country through the dogged determination and "Writing On The Wall'inEngland, Belgium, country -widetravellingofitspresident,Ron Germany and Sweden as a proving ground before Scribner.It was Scribner's honest and friendly attempting a Canadian release. meetingswithbookers, promoters, artists and radio personnel from coast to coast that made JonandLee and The Checkmates, oneof W.F.GALGAY the image of Bigland as great as itis. Canada'sfastest rising rock and blues groups. DIR. CBC NFLD. With the breaking down of the operating St.John's Nfld: One of the pioneers of com- power of Bigland, the mar ket is now wide open. RPM 100 TO GO NATIONAL Many new agencies have apparently applied for munications on the continent and the man who The RPM 100 has gained immenselyinpop- booking licences and itis reported that several was the major developer of radio and television ularity with both record buyers and record deal- monied, and efficient promotion and publicity in the province of Newfoundland, W.F. Galgay, ers. This week's issue has the largest circula- firms have already moved into or are contempla- died Aug 15 at his home here. tionto date with further increases anticipated. ting a move into this very lucrative market. Bornin Cambridge Mass.in1906, Mr. Record companies have given the chart their Galgay came to Newfoundland with his parents supervised theinstallationofequipmentin wholehearted support and presently three long in 1912 where he attended school at the Christian theatresin Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland. term contracts have been signed assuring the Brothers School in St. John's and followed this In 1939hebecame generalmanagerofthe chart continuing success. with furtherstudy at St. Mary's College in NYC. Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland and A number of radio stations are currently 1925 he was co -constructor of radio station In thenin 1949 when the BCN was absorbed into negotiating with RPM to obtain exclusive rights VOMC, where he served as chief announcer and the CBC he became its first regional director, to use the RPM 100 for programming and dis- program director. In 1929 he joined the Northern a position he held until his death. tributionfortheir listening area. With the in- Electric Company as installation and service Mr. Galgay is survived by his wife, his creased cost of formulating and printing a week- engineer intheir sound picture division and mother and a sister. ly chart such an idea is economically feasible. CAG! rp41:4c * 72395 THE ACTION'S STARTED! SUPPORTCANADIAN TALENT SUPPORT CANADIAN TALENT BIG La 0 SCOOP z by elvira capreese BS V -I The CBC-TV's "Show of the Week" (Mondays IT IS FINE TO PHILOSOPHIZE BUT there 1.7) 9 PM EDT) will, this season, showcase many are more important things in this businesslike of Canada's outstanding young performers. The gossip!!!!You can't depend on just facts to first show, Sept 12 will starCanada's inter- 0 maintain your position as top dog columnist in nationally known folk singers and composers the Canadian music field. You must generate Ian Tyson and Gordon Lightfoot and will also ( ON hysteria and excitement. Someone must dig up featurePatrician -Anne, Shawne Jackson, Pat these items and that's what I do. FIRST ITEM: Hervey, The Willows, Mark Pompe, a group of 1!0 There are rumours of dissension in the ranks of stars from CBC-TV's "Music Hop", including (004,15 a certain radio station as an ego-proned indivi- Robert Demontigny, Ray St. Germain, Gillian .SUPPORTCANADIAN TALENT SUPPORT CANADIAN TALENTS dualstarts tolive the part.His fellow staff Russell and Rob McConnell's 17 piece band. members would like someone to bring him back The production will be directed by Allan Angus. to earth and recent changes may just bring this "Nightcap", the best thing that ever happened tobe. SECOND ITEM: A letter from someone to CBLT (Channel 6)will finally have a chance WHAT'S YOUR who wouldn't signtheir name has blatantly to be appreciated by a network audience. "The poison -pennedElvira Capreese. We get crank Best of Nightcap" will be one of the "Shows of letters all the time, but this one took on me, the Week" and will starBilly Van, Al Hamel, the magazine and a few old ladies that happened JuneSampson,BonnieBrooks,withGuido to be walking by our office that day.I think Basso'sorchestra.Producer IS beef Terry Kyne what caused the letter was something I wrote writer is Chris Beard. If you got a beef, here's the place to get it aired about a certain record company not having an Formereditorsof the "9" Line, thu If you would rather remain anonymous, just say image. Well there goes another advertiser. We CFTO-TV newsletter that keeps tab on station the word. The following letters are from three don't often get REALLY BAD crank letters but activities, Claudia Sullivan and Jill Macfarlane, Western Canadian radio personalities. once in awhile. Most of them come from Vancouver. have moved from the promotion department. Jill "This is by no means the first time but, there JUST IN PASSING during my brief absence re- now takes over the writing for the new CTV is a record on the market by Tommy James that cently from RPM, the demands for my column to morning show "Bright and Early" which .will was released by a Canadian about four months reappear where fantastic (Ed: True!! True!!) and ago, 'What I Am' by Stu Mitchell.Who played I was brought back at great cost to the manage- 9 from 7:30 to 8:30. Claudia's new duties will Even Stu's hometown didn't give the disc very ment. THIRD ITEM: BIGLAND BREAKS UP. be that of production assistant for "Bright and much exposure. An American artist comes along The Bigland Agency splits three ways.It has Early". and changes the tune title slightly and every- beenreported to E.C. that the three Bigland The first CBC produced TV series to be body charts it. Why? One listens to both ver- partners have agreed to disagree and start their shown in colour on the CBC television network sions and it's quite clear who's is best, but own three separate companies.