Monty McFarlane

 

Monty McFarlane (1925-2003) Monty was a funny man and a great artist on radio for 46 years but he is best remembered for a long stretch as morning man at Vancouver's CJOR 600. One of the city's most entertaining radio personalities, Monty was a member of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame's Starwalk.

Monty liked jazz music, big band and frowned on the new music of the 50's 60's and 70's and somehow he survived in the radio entertainment business on the humour he generated. It was his dry wit, interplay with other radio personnel and tiny bits of old radio shows played at just the right second that made the Monty in the Morning show. He was an expert with the tight clip from a big LP. "You never loved me"! A hysterical women shrieks and Monty would try to calm her down. McFarlane said it was a giggle and titter type of show. "I would try to keep people entertained." He did it with no live audience to feed him energy.

Monty was a busy man putting together a CFUN basketball team that won a National championship in 1956, he was in four TV segments on CBC called Summer Begins and he appeared for several years as a character (Sam Lockhart) in the Vancouver TV production - The Littlest Hobo (1963-1965). He loved golf and played just about every day for four decades..if it wasn't raining.

Confined to a wheelchair with a neurological problem, Monty was quite ill for a number of years prior to his death but his humour remained. Some firefighters were whisking him away to hospital and he quipped: �You know guys; this is the third time you have taken me out of here. The fourth time you get to punch the card for a free coffee.

Monty took his last ride on December 15, 2003. He was 78.

Radio and TV stations that he worked for over the course of his 46 year career: CBW, CKY, CKPR, CJVI, CKMO, CKNW, CFUN, CKLG, CJOR, KGU, CISL, CJVB, CIMA, CBC-TV, CHAN-TV

 

 

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Monty McFarlane - CBW Winnipeg 1946; CKY Winnipeg 1946-49; CJVI Victoria; CKMO Vancouver 1949-50; CJOR Vancouver 1954; CKNW New Westminster 1954-55; CKMO/CFUN Vancouver 1955-56; CBC-TV Vancouver production (with CJOR's Vic Waters) Summer Begins 1959; Sam Lockhart in Vancouver TV production The Littlest Hobo 1963-65; CKLG Vancouver; KGU Honolulu HI 1968; CJOR late 1960s-81; morning host CISL Vancouver 1981-83; host morning big band music show CJVB Vancouver mid 1980s; CIMA Vancouver weekend mornings 1991-92; retired; member B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame Starwalk at the Orpheum. Died in North Vancouver December 15, 2003 at age 78

 

thanks to Gord Lansdell - www.vancouverbroadcasters.com

 

 

 

 

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(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2003)

 

 

Obituary of Monty McFarlane

 

VANCOUVER -- One of the great disc jockeys from the golden age of Vancouver radio, Monty McFarlane, has died. He was 78.

 

McFarlane's dulcet tones and dry wit were a staple on the local airwaves from 1949 until 1991. He was the king of morning radio, ruling the roost during a 16-year run at CJOR in the 1960s and '70s.

 

"It was a giggle-and-titter type of show," McFarlane explained in a 1997 interview.

 

"I'd try to keep people entertained, which they don't do any more. They attempt to do it, but it's so constricted."

 

McFarlane was his own man and, in the words of another legendary DJ, Red Robinson, "could not suffer fools." This often led to fallouts with station managers, which is one of the reasons McFarlane changed radio stations so often during his long career.

 

Name a local radio station, and he probably spent some time there, from CJOR to CKNW, CKMO, CFUN, CKLG, CISL and Magic 104. He also hosted variety shows on CHAN-TV (later BCTV) and CBC-TV, did a stint at a radio station in Hawaii, and even acted in the Littlest Hobo TV show in the '60s.

 

McFarlane was born and raised in Winnipeg, where he first entered radio with the CBC and CKY.

 

"The highlight of my career there was doing the hog prices, which apparently was very popular on the Prairies," he recounted. "I got fan mail from probably 20 or 30 hogs per week.

 

"But I got fired for not wearing a tie. Can you believe this? This is radio!"

 

He moved to radio jobs in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and Victoria before arriving at CKMO in 1949. He was an instant hit and his quips made him a staple in Jack Wasserman's column in the Vancouver Sun.

 

It was a different era, when DJs were local celebrities and had access to all the stars who came to town. McFarlane interviewed the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr., but the biggest star on the show was McFarlane himself.

 

"He had a perfect voice, and perfect diction, absolutely perfect diction," Robinson said. "You don't hear it any more."

 

McFarlane looked back fondly on the days when he helped launch CFUN with the slogan "the sweetest music in town"' and put together a CFUN basketball team that won the national championship in 1956.

 

Management often balked at his freewheeling style, but high ratings meant he did things his way. When radio formats became too conservative for his liking, he quit.

 

His other big love was golf.

 

"He was out of the station the minute he got off the air and headed for the golf course," said former Sun columnist Denny Boyd.

 

Unfortunately, he developed a neurological problem after he retired, and spent his last few years in a wheelchair. But he kept his sense of humour. A couple of years ago, he fell ill and was whisked off to hospital by some firefighters.

 

"They're hauling him out on a stretcher and he says in that big voice 'You know guys, this is the third time you've taken me out. One more time you get a punch on your little card and you get a free coffee,' " said Boyd. "Even under stress this guy was funny."

 

His timing also remained impeccable. Boyd recalls sitting beside McFarlane at the funeral of Vancouver jazz great Fraser McPherson. The funeral was late getting underway, and McFarlane started to fidget.

 

"Finally the minister came to the podium and said, 'I believe we'll get started now,' " said Boyd.

 

"And Monty, loud enough for everyone to hear, snapped his fingers and said 'One, two. One two three.' Is that not perfect for a jazzman's funeral?"

 

McFarlane died last Monday at Lion's Gate Hospital in North Vancouver.

 

He is survived by his wife Ailine and son Gregory, who is a broadcaster like his dad.

 

(Copyright The Vancouver Sun)

 

 

Name a local radio station, and Monty McFarlane probably worked for it. His dulcet tones and wry wit were a staple of the Vancouver airwaves from 1949, at CKMO, till he signed off in 1991, from Magic 104.

 

Today, he's retired and lives in a condo on West Vancouver's waterfront, whiling away the hours with his favorite jazz discs and vast record collection.

 

``I'm confined to a wheelchair, unfortunately,'' says McFarlane. ``This has screwed up the love of my life, golf. You want to buy some left-handed golf clubs?''

 

Making light of a serious situation is a McFarlane trademark. His irreverent humor made him the king of morning radio during16 years at CJOR in the '60s and '70s. ``It was a giggle-and-titter type of show. I'd try to keep people entertained, which they don't do any more. They attempt to do it, but it's so constricted.''

 

McFarlane, who says he is ``older than dirt,'' started his career as an announcer and actor in radio drama at the CBC in his native Winnipeg.

 

``The highlight of my career there was doing the hog prices, which apparently was very popular on the Prairies. I got fan mail from probably 20 or 30 hogs per week.

 

``{But} I got fired for not wearing a tie. Can you believe this? This is radio!''

 

After stints in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and Victoria, he signed on at CKMO. He jumped to CJOR in 1950, and also appeared on CFUN, CKLG, CISL and Magic 104, not to mention a station in Honolulu and a pair of variety shows on CHAN-TV (later BCTV) and CBC-TV.

 

He looks back fondly on the days when he helped launch CFUN with the slogan ``the sweetest music in town'' and put together a CFUN basketball team that won the national championship in 1956.

 

But it still rankles that former Sun sports editor Erwin Swangard ``was so small-minded and cheap and stupid, they airbrushed out CFUN on the jerseys and called us the Radios.''

 

Management balked at his freewheeling style, but high ratings meant he did things his way. When radio formats became too conservative for his liking, he quit.

 

``I have no interest in the radio business whatsoever. It doesn't intrigue me at all, and I have no remorse about leaving,'' he claims. ``Of course, if anybody wants to offer me a pretty good contract .