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David Marsden
David Charles Marsden (born in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian radio broadcaster. Initially operating under the on-air name of Dave Mickie, with much fast-talking patter, he was a notable Toronto DJ of the 1960s who attracted critical attention from Marshall McLuhan. Reinventing himself, and using his real name of David Marsden, he became a much more laid-back free-form DJ, notably at CHOM in Montreal then CHUM-FM in Toronto in the 1970s. He then became the driving force behind Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY in the 1980s, becoming an influential figure in the Canadian music industry by giving many Canadian and international alternative rock artists major Canadian radio exposure. During his stint at CFNY, his nickname (often referred to on-air) was "The Mars Bar".
Marsden currently runs the on-air streaming service nythespirit.com.
Raised in a foster family in Stratford, Ontario, Marsden took on the name "Dave Mickie" using the last name of his foster parents. Under the name Dave Mickie, he was the original manager of The Revols, a Stratford, Ontario rock band in the late 1950s whose famous members included, Richard Manuel, who would later become part of The Band; Ken Kalmusky, who played with Ian and Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird; and, John Till who formed, and played guitar in, Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band. He later became one of Canada's pioneering rock DJs on radio, joining Chatham's CFCO in 1963. Bored with the station's commercial easy listening music, he reportedly brought in some of his own records one night, breaking format and hosting in an uncharacteristically dynamic style. He was fired the next morning, but was quickly rehired after the station learned his experiment had increased the station's ratings.
He was later hired at CKEY in Toronto where he was called "the most controversial thing on Toronto radio." He parted ways with CKEY after just five months. He became host of Music Hop on CBC Television in 1965, succeeding Alex Trebek. He also started writing a column for the Toronto Star in the same year. He was the subject of a chapter in Marshall McLuhan's book Understanding Media, which lauded his unique hosting style:
That's Patty Baby and that's the girl with the dancing feet and that's Freddy Cannon there on the David Mickie Show in the night time ooohbah scuba-doo how are you booboo. Next we'll be Swinging on a Star and sssshhhwwoooo and sliding on a moonbeam. Waaaaa how about that . . . one of the goodest guys with you . . . this is lovable kissable D.M. in the p.m. at 22 minutes past nine o'clock there, aahhrightie, we're gonna have a Hitline, all you have to do is call WAlnut 5-1151, WAlnut 5-1151, tell them what number it is on the Hitline.
The Dave Mickie name and persona were phased out in the mid-to-late 1960s, and as David Marsden, he joined Montreal's CKGM in 1967. Under his own birth name, his hosting style was much less manic and more relaxed, although still informal and often somewhat unpredictable.
In 1969, he moved to CKGM's sister station, CKGM-FM, where Marsden was instrumental in switching the station's format from beautiful music to free form progressive rock. In 1973, Marsden returned to Toronto with his new, completely different on-air persona at CHUM-FM. He left the station in February 1975 to devote more time to his radio commercial production company, but mainly because of the tight playlist CHUM-FM was making their DJs follow. Marsden refused to follow a playlist and left shortly after it was instituted. He eventually returned as an on-air personality at CHIC-FM shortly before it was transformed into CFNY.
In 1973 Marsden played a major role in introducing the (at that time) largely unknown Pink Floyd to Toronto. He started a petition to persuade Toronto's Concert Productions International and promoter Michael Cohl to bring the band, who were touring to promote the as yet unreleased Dark Side of the Moon, to Maple Leaf Gardens for the first time. The resulting show sold out in 45 minutes. He also played an advance copy of Dark Side of the Moon twice, from start to finish, on his show. He found out later that Capitol Records had other plans for the album's premiere. “We preceded the world premiere by four days and, of course, CHUM-FM was only available in the Toronto area,” Marsden said. “But it was a world premiere as far as I was concerned.”
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David Marsden
David Charles Marsden (born in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian radio broadcaster. Initially operating under the on-air name of Dave Mickie, with much fast-talking patter, he was a notable Toronto DJ of the 1960s who attracted critical attention from Marshall McLuhan. Reinventing himself, and using his real name of David Marsden, he became a much more laid-back free-form DJ, notably at CHOM in Montreal then CHUM-FM in Toronto in the 1970s. He then became the driving force behind Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY in the 1980s, becoming an influential figure in the Canadian music industry by giving many Canadian and international alternative rock artists major Canadian radio exposure. During his stint at CFNY, his nickname (often referred to on-air) was "The Mars Bar".
Marsden currently runs the on-air streaming service nythespirit.com.
Raised in a foster family in Stratford, Ontario, Marsden took on the name "Dave Mickie" using the last name of his foster parents. Under the name Dave Mickie, he was the original manager of The Revols, a Stratford, Ontario rock band in the late 1950s whose famous members included, Richard Manuel, who would later become part of The Band; Ken Kalmusky, who played with Ian and Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird; and, John Till who formed, and played guitar in, Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band. He later became one of Canada's pioneering rock DJs on radio, joining Chatham's CFCO in 1963. Bored with the station's commercial easy listening music, he reportedly brought in some of his own records one night, breaking format and hosting in an uncharacteristically dynamic style. He was fired the next morning, but was quickly rehired after the station learned his experiment had increased the station's ratings.
He was later hired at CKEY in Toronto where he was called "the most controversial thing on Toronto radio." He parted ways with CKEY after just five months. He became host of Music Hop on CBC Television in 1965, succeeding Alex Trebek. He also started writing a column for the Toronto Star in the same year. He was the subject of a chapter in Marshall McLuhan's book Understanding Media, which lauded his unique hosting style:
That's Patty Baby and that's the girl with the dancing feet and that's Freddy Cannon there on the David Mickie Show in the night time ooohbah scuba-doo how are you booboo. Next we'll be Swinging on a Star and sssshhhwwoooo and sliding on a moonbeam. Waaaaa how about that . . . one of the goodest guys with you . . . this is lovable kissable D.M. in the p.m. at 22 minutes past nine o'clock there, aahhrightie, we're gonna have a Hitline, all you have to do is call WAlnut 5-1151, WAlnut 5-1151, tell them what number it is on the Hitline.
The Dave Mickie name and persona were phased out in the mid-to-late 1960s, and as David Marsden, he joined Montreal's CKGM in 1967. Under his own birth name, his hosting style was much less manic and more relaxed, although still informal and often somewhat unpredictable.
In 1969, he moved to CKGM's sister station, CKGM-FM, where Marsden was instrumental in switching the station's format from beautiful music to free form progressive rock. In 1973, Marsden returned to Toronto with his new, completely different on-air persona at CHUM-FM. He left the station in February 1975 to devote more time to his radio commercial production company, but mainly because of the tight playlist CHUM-FM was making their DJs follow. Marsden refused to follow a playlist and left shortly after it was instituted. He eventually returned as an on-air personality at CHIC-FM shortly before it was transformed into CFNY.
In 1973 Marsden played a major role in introducing the (at that time) largely unknown Pink Floyd to Toronto. He started a petition to persuade Toronto's Concert Productions International and promoter Michael Cohl to bring the band, who were touring to promote the as yet unreleased Dark Side of the Moon, to Maple Leaf Gardens for the first time. The resulting show sold out in 45 minutes. He also played an advance copy of Dark Side of the Moon twice, from start to finish, on his show. He found out later that Capitol Records had other plans for the album's premiere. “We preceded the world premiere by four days and, of course, CHUM-FM was only available in the Toronto area,” Marsden said. “But it was a world premiere as far as I was concerned.”