Christopher William Ward (born 28 July 1949) is a Canadian songwriter and broadcaster, known as a former long-standing on-air personality at
MuchMusic
Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
, Canada's music video network, where he and
J. D. Roberts were among the first
video jockey
A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, Much (TV channel), MuchMusic and Channel V.
Origins
The term " ...
s in 1984. Ward was a judge on ''
The Next Star'' which was a Canadian reality television show on
YTV.
Early career
Born in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Ward began his music career in the early 1970s while attending
Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...
in
Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...
, where he was a member of the school's campus radio station.
Broadcasting
Some of Ward's early television appearances began in 1978 on the
CBC CBC may refer to:
Media
* Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico
* Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster
** CBC Television
** CBC Radio One
** CBC Music
** ...
children's series ''
Catch Up'', as leader of the show's band.
He also played a minor role as a musician in an episode of ''
The Kids of Degrassi Street
''The Kids of Degrassi Street'' is a Canadian children's television series created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. The first entry in the ''Degrassi'' franchise and the only one to focus on children instead of teenagers, it follows the lives of a ...
'' alongside
Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles (née Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song " Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada and a number one hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...
in 1984.
Before MuchMusic launched, Ward hosted a weekend, all-night video program called ''
City Limits
City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...
'' on
CITY-TV
CITY-DT (channel 57), branded as Citytv Toronto or simply Citytv, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alo ...
in Toronto.
On Friday and Saturdays, from midnight to 6 a.m., Ward broke ground as Canada's first "
veejay".
[Interview of Chris Ward by Donald Fraser, ''The Trent Talks'' on Trent University Radio, broadcast 6 July 2015.] The show was broadcast from CITY-TV's old Queen Street East studios and apart from playing the latest music videos, hosted guests. Bands such as
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
and actors like
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
—playing his ''Wayne's World'' character
long before
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
made it famous—added to the prototype of what
MuchMusic
Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
would become.
The show also had "video clip" contest segments which gave winners prizes to special events like movie debuts. Broadcast only in the Toronto region, it was a major way music videos were introduced to the Southern Ontario public. (
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
, the American television network, was not broadcast in Canada due to regulatory laws protecting
Canadian content
Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...
until 2006.) When the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...
(CRTC) granted a broadcast licence for an all-music channel to begin in 1984, CHUM-CITY won the lucrative rights. The application process to the Commission included Ward's current show as evidence of experience in broadcasting music video entertainment.
During five years on MuchMusic, Ward interviewed artists like
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
,
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...
,
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
,
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
, and
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
. While with the network, he hosted another show titled ''
City Limits
City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...
'' that spotlighted alternative music. Even after his departure from MuchMusic in the late 1980s, he was still involved in the channel off-and-on, most notably as Charles de Camembert, host of the annual ''
Fromage'' specials.
In 2008, Ward became a judge on
YTV's ''
The Next Star'' for its first four seasons until 2011.
Songwriting
Ward has written many songs for artists such as
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...
,
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
,
Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...
,
Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Ellen Judd, known simply as Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964), is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country musicians in history. She has had 19 No. 1 s ...
,
Amanda Marshall
Amanda Meta Marshall (born August 29, 1972) is a Canadian Juno award winning pop-rock singer and songwriter. She has released four studio albums; the first was certified diamond in Canada, with the second and third certified 3× platinum and p ...
,
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
,
Peter Cetera
Peter Paul Cetera Jr. ( ; born September 13, 1944) is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist ...
,
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...
and
Meredith Brooks.
His best-known song is the
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
number one single "
Black Velvet",
recorded by
Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles (née Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song " Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada and a number one hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...
. "Black Velvet" was named the No. 49 song in Bob Mersereau's book ''The Top 100 Canadian Singles''.
Ward has released several of his own recordings, including the singles "Once in a Longtime" (1977) and "Maybe Your Heart" (1978) (both co-written with his longtime friend
Stephen Stohn
John Stephen Stohn, (born May 8, 1948) is an American-born Canadian entertainment lawyer and television producer. He is best known for his involvement with the '' Degrassi'' teen drama franchise, particularly as an executive producer on '' Degra ...
, executive producer of ''
Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and ''
Instant Star'') and "Boys and Girls" (1987). The music video for "Boys and Girls" featured Alannah Myles, and Mike Myers in an early version of his "Wayne Campbell" character.
The promotional tour for ''Time Stands Still'' (released on House of Lords Records/distributed by WEA) included David Wipper on guitar and Billy Idol bassist Steven Webster, and featured pianist
Antonio Salci on keyboards.
Starting in 1997, Ward became a member of
Ming Tea, the tongue-in-cheek celebrity rock band assembled by fellow Canadian
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
for the first and third ''
Austin Powers
''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...
'' films. Group members included
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. With Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson, she founded the Bangles in 1981. Their debut album, ''All Over the Place (The Bangles album), All Over ...
and
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
and performed the faux-sixties songs "BBC" and "Daddy Wasn't There".
Recent work (much of it in collaboration with
Rob Wells
Rob Wells (born 1971/1972) is a Canadian producer and songwriter, and is one half of music production team "The Fourth Floor" with award-winning singer/songwriter/recording artist Shobha.
Artists that Wells has worked with includes Ariana ...
Luke McMaster, Greg Johnston and
Fred St-Gelais) includes songs for
Alexz Johnson
Alexzandra Spencer Johnson (born November 4, 1986) is a Canadian musician and actress. Known for her distinctive sound since her debut in 2010, her first album, ''Voodoo'', was independently released with her brother, Brendan Johnson. Over the ...
in the TV series ''
Instant Star'', with soundtrack albums for the four seasons of the show. Along with Rob Wells and Fred St-Gelais, he has worked with
Lindsay Robins
Lindsay Robins (born December 18, 1986, in Montreal, Quebec) is a singer-songwriter who wrote and performed the theme song "What Would You Do" for the '' VJ Search'' reality series on MuchMusic, which went on to be the 2007 recipient of The North ...
. Ward songs were featured on two ''Degrassi – The Next Generation'' projects, ''Degrassi Takes Manhattan'' and ''Degrassi Goes Hollywood''. His songs were featured in Cirque du Soleil's tribute to Vaudeville, 'Banana Shpeel'.
Bibliography
* ''Mac in the City of Lights'' (
Dundurn Press
Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...
, 2013)
* ''Dead Brilliant'' (
Dundurn Press
Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...
, 2014).
Discography
Albums
Singles
See also
*
List of Canadian musicians
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
References
External links
Official Christopher Ward website*
*
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'': Alannah Myles(reference to Christopher Ward)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Christopher
1949 births
Living people
Canadian country songwriters
Canadian pop singers
Canadian male songwriters
Singers from Toronto
Writers from Toronto
Much (TV channel) personalities
Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year winners
Canadian video jockeys
Ming Tea members