CFN – It was a blast talking with long time radio voice in Montreal Terry DiMonte. He’s back in Montreal after some years in Calgary,and back at his old stomping grounds at CHOM 97.7 FM in Montreal.
It’s refreshing and counters the trends of big radio dumping older vets and replacing them with younger (and much cheaper voices) as corporate radio tries to homogenize the industry at a regional level.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKDwxaK6x-g
Terry started at CHOM in 1984, an ominous year. We talked about some of the hits that year in the clip below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt7xPhJ7jrU
As I did some research and prep for the interview; not that much was needed as I listened to Terry for years when I lived in Montreal, it brought back a lot of memories. Terry’s love for radio and music are strong and we chatted about some long and hopefully not forgotten names like George Balcan, Ted Blackman (who helped give my my start in sports), and Ralph Lockwood .
I even remembered that sister AM station show host Tommy Schnurmacher helped a 14 year old film wannabee get to chat with Ralph Bakshi!
Montreal English radio may have seen its best days before, but it’s interesting that at least at one major company; Astral, is starting to give a nod to how important the connection to specific communities are. It sparks some hope which I’m sure listeners will respond to!
To check out Terry’s show on CHOM and the whole line up check visit their website by clicking HERE.
I really enjoyed watching that interview. Terry comes across as a truly class act. When he was talking about leaving Quebec all pissed off and disgusted, as I did, and then realizing that home is home, it sure rang my bell. I think he’s right on about the younger generation being less concerned about language issues, and if people make an effort to speak each others language, they get along just fine.
I liked Terry’s comment about Montreal being home. No matter how much you bitch and complain about the politics and current events, your home is still your home and all you can do is appreciate what you have and hope for the best. There is an election every 4 years and you can always hold your nose until then.
Yup. I haven’t lived in Montreal since ’72, and it’s still my home town.
Jamie
When did you move here from Montreal?
January 2004
Wonder if they will bring back Rocky Racoon too
terry,u hit the nail on the head this morning when u called the students actions -terrorist attack-this province is sinking slowly and why u came back is puzzling—this province or even whole of canada has a recurran theme—ANYTHING GOES–u know that song?instead of building a strong province,inside of canada,they are destroying a great province,amidst a crumbling infrastructure,with degrading insults towards english words in a store window or towards an english landmark,ROYAL VICTORIA hospital–im 61 and looking for retirement outside quebec–check the walls of the royal vic and look at the names of the people that have donated millions of dollars towards the hospital over the years and tell me how many are french—tks robb