CHEZ-FM

Coordinates: 45°22′42.3″N 75°37′32.8″W / 45.378417°N 75.625778°W / 45.378417; -75.625778 (CHEZ's broadcast location)

CHEZ-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts World Class Rock at 106.1 FM in Ottawa. The station uses the brand name CHEZ 106 ("chez" is pronounced "shay", like the French word). CHEZ's studios are located at Thurston Drive and Conroy Road in Ottawa, while its transmitter is located in Camp Fortune, Quebec.

History

CHEZ was launched at 6 PM on March 25, 1977 by CHEZ-FM Inc., a company owned and operated by Harvey Glatt. Glatt owned Treble Clef music stores, a chain of retail record stores, and was also a major local concert promoter.

The initial signal strength was 100,000 watts, and the first song was "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. The original morning show host was Mike O'Reilly, better known at the time as frontman in the rock group Bolt Upright and the Erections.

The station focused on the 18- 34-year-old demographic by playing English progressive rock music. CHEZ also ran children's programming, talk programming and even some French programming when it first launched on air. Shows like CHEZ Ottawa, The Source, Jazz 106, Medium Rare and In the City distinguished the station from others in the Ottawa market. Radio personalities developed at the station included Ken Rockburn, Brian Murphy and Darren Stevens.

Randy Bachman

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Randolph Charles "Randy" Bachman, OC OM (/ˈbækmən/; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian musician best known as lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member of the 1960s and 1970s rock bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman was also a member of Brave Belt with Chad Allan, Union and Ironhorse, and has recorded numerous solo albums.

He is also a national radio personality on CBC Radio, hosting the weekly music show, Vinyl Tap.

Early years

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Karl (Charlie) Bachman and Anne (Nancy) Dobrinsky, Bachman is of half German and half Ukrainian ancestry. At age three, he won a singing contest on CKY's King of the Saddle program and age 5 he had started studying the violin in the Royal Toronto Conservatory system. He studied violin until the age of 12 when he grew dissatisfied with the structured lessons. He found that while he couldn't read music, he could play anything if he heard it once; he referred to it as his phonographic memory.