Aaron Badgley (born August 29, 1964) is a Canadian

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

radio host A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

, author, and biographer. As a music critic and journalist, he has written for All-Music Guide, ''

The Fulcrum A fulcrum (: fulcra or fulcrums) is the support about which a lever pivots. Fulcrum may also refer to: Companies and organizations * Fulcrum (Anglican think tank), a Church of England think tank * Fulcrum Press, a British publisher of poetry * Fu ...

'', ''The Spill Magazine'', ''Lexicon Magazine'', ''Immersive Audio Album'', WA12Radio, the

Anderson Collegiate Vocational Institute Anderson Collegiate Vocational Institute (Anderson CVI, Anderson Collegiate, Anderson, or ACVI) is located in Whitby, Ontario within the Durham District School Board. Established in 1960, the school has students in grades 9–12 and offers a wid ...

student newspaper, and several

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fan (aficionado), fans of the popular culture subject matter that it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one h ...

s, including ''Strawberry Fields Forever'', ''Beatlefan'', and ''Good Day Sunshine Magazine''. He worked as a writer, producer, and production manager for several radio stations in Ontario's

Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...

, including CKAR-FM and CKQT-FM (both in

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

), and

CHOO-FM CHOO-FM (99.5 FM, "Boom 99.5") is a radio station in Drumheller, Alberta. Owned by Stingray Radio, it broadcasts a classic hits format. History The station was licensed by the CRTC in 2008, and officially launched at 8:00 AM MST on April 28, ...

(in

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

). His first radio show was broadcast on CKCC-FM,

Centennial College Centennial College may refer to: * Centennial College (Canada), a public college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Centennial College (Hong Kong), a private college in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong {{Disambiguation, schools ...

's campus radio station (in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

), and he later hosted another show, ''The Meltdown Pot'', on

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

's campus radio station, CFUO-FM (in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

). For CKAR, CKQT, and CHOO, he produced such shows as ''Durham Top 40'', ''The Inside Track'', ''The Rod Hunter Show'', ''The Scottish Review'', ''Continental Breakfast'', ''Canadian Sunris''e, and ''Canada Country'', and also produced commercials. Badgley's

radio program, ''Beatles Universe'', was broadcast for four years on

CKGE-FM CKGE-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 94.9 FM from Oshawa, Ontario. The station broadcasts an active rock format under the brand name ''94.9 The Rock''. History The station was launched in 1957 by Lakeland Broadcasting as CKLB-FM ...

(in Oshawa), and was later syndicated across North America. He then hosted the

online radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

show ''Backwards Traveler'' for two years on PerturbRadio. His current Canadian music-focused show, ''Here Today'', is broadcast from

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

CFRU-FM CFRU-FM, airing at 93.3 on the FM broadcasting, FM dial, is a campus radio station based at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. CFRU is a volunteer-run campus and community radio station. CFRU is a member of the National Campus ...

. Badgley has co-hosted several radio programs and podcasts with Tony Stuart, including ''The Stueytunes Show'' (RedCircle Podcast), ''The Way-Back Music Machine Podcast'' (RedCircle Podcast), ''The Way-Back Music Machine Radio Hour'' (Bombshell Radio / syndicated to CJNU-FM in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and Rideau Lakes Radio in Westport, Ontario), ''Before My Time'' ( Spotify Podcast), ''From Memphis to Merseyside'' (Bombshell Radio / syndicated to

CHBB-FM CHBB-FM, is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts a community radio format at 95.9 MHz in Norris Point, Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The ...

in Norris Point,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, CFAJ-AM in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Ontario, and Rideau Lakes Radio), and ''8 Days This Week'' (Bombshell Radio / syndicated to CJNU-FM, CFAJ-AM, and Rideau Lakes Radio). His contributions to All-Music Guide have appeared in four books co-published by

All Media Guide RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London St ...

and

Backbeat Books Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

: ''All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music'' (2001), ''All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music'' (2001), ''All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (2002), and ''All Music Guide to Country: The Definitive Guide to Country Music'' (2003); as well as in the liner notes of

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

's '' Harder to Live'' reissue on Grey Scale (2017) and

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although they have retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music inc ...

's '' Driving to Damascus'' box set reissue on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

(2023). Badgley's biography of

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

's record label

Dark Horse Records Dark Horse Records is a record label founded by former Beatle George Harrison in 1974. The label's formation coincided with the winding down of the Beatles' Apple Records and allowed Harrison to continue supporting other artists' projects whi ...

, '' Dark Horse Records: The Story of George Harrison's Post-Beatles Record Label'', was published in 2023 by Sonicbond Publishing. In promotion of this book, he was an invited guest at both 2024 events of The Fest for Beatles Fans (in New York City in March and in Chicago in August), as well as Toronto's The Word on the Street festival in September. In 2024, the book was selected for preservation into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and Archives. Badgley is currently writing a book about

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

, as well as the biography of Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu.

Books

* * * * *

References

External links

* *
Badgley's contributions
at ''The Spill Magazine'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Badgley, Aaron 1964 births 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers AllMusic people Anderson Collegiate Vocational Institute alumni Beatles historians Canadian male biographers Canadian music critics Canadian music journalists Canadian podcasters Canadian radio hosts Centennial College alumni Journalists from Toronto Living people Writers from Oshawa People from Whitby, Ontario University of Ottawa alumni University of Toronto alumni Writers from Ottawa Journalists from Ottawa Writers from Toronto