Claude Rajotte (born July 3, 1955) is a well-known

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

DJ/VJ/music critic from

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Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Life

Rajotte was born in

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

on July 3, 1955. His career started at the local radio station CHRD, in 1974. After short stints in

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and

, he settled in

and started to work for

CKOI-FM :For the CKOI radio network, see '' CKOI (network)''. CKOI-FM (96.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It airs a French-language contemporary hit radio format and is owned and operated by Cogeco. The studios are in Pl ...

in 1976. While being a DJ for

CHOM-FM CHOM-FM (97.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format. The studios are in the Bell Media Building at 1717 ...

(1982–2002), he spoke

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with a marked

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accent that was liked by his radio audience. In the 1980s, Rajotte was in the habit of continually switching from English to French during his broadcasts. With his unmistakable accent, francophones connected immediately, however, that did not detract anglophone listeners, leading to complaints from CHOM's main competitor at the time, the francophone radio station CKOI, Rajotte's former employer. Canada's broadcasting regulators, 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), ruled that CHOM DJs were not allowed to speak in French on the air, despite the requirement that CHOM must broadcast a certain proportion of French language songs. He was also a fixture for over 17 years (1987–2004) on MusiquePlus (the French counterpart to

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 ...

). He was a VJ and a much appreciated album critic. His review show called '' Le Cimetière des CD'' (''The Cemetery of CD''s) was on the air for ten consecutive years. Once a week during the show, Rajotte would hold a "destroy", an event during which he would physically destroy a newly released album which he particularly disliked using unorthodox methods. He was also a regular host of the channel's alternative video show, '' Nu Musik'' during the 1980s, and ''

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'' during the 1990s (which was renamed ''The Claude Rajotte Show''). From 2004 to 2011, Rajotte hosted a late-night radio show on Radio-Canada's

Espace Musique Ici Musique (stylized ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, alt ...

. He was also a frequent contributor to Bande à part. In the summer of 2011, he quits Radio-Canada and returns to MusiquePlus. August 2014, his TV program ''Rajotte'' moves to Musimax until December 2015. He also hosted a weekly radio show for almost two years on CIBL-FM until December 2020. His most recent mixes are all on his Mixcloud page. https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Rajotte/

Rajotte as cultural icon

Rajotte is widely considered to be a cultural icon in Quebec and is regularly referenced in art, literature, and media.

Compilations by Rajotte

*2001: ''Le Cimetière des CD'' (Gold Jam Records) *2007: ''L'univers de Rajotte'' (

CBC Records CBC Records was a Canadian record label owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which distributed CBC programming, including live concert performances, in album and digital format(s)."CBC Records is the corporation's biggest ...

) *2008: ''L'univers de Rajotte 2'' (

)

References

External links

* https://www.facebook.com/claude.rajotte1 * https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Rajotte/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajotte, Claude 1955 births Mass media regulation in Canada Canadian television hosts Canadian radio hosts Living people People from Drummondville LGBTQ DJs Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Canadian gay musicians 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people

Life

Rajotte as cultural icon

Compilations by Rajotte

References

Further reading

External links