''Night Lines'' was a Canadian radio series, which aired on
CBC Stereo from 1984 to 1997.
[Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ]ECW Press
ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canada, Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholar ...
. . The show, which aired on Friday and Saturday nights, profiled
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
and
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...
music.
It was a weekend companion to the network's weekday overnight show ''
Brave New Waves'',
["Radio with a difference". '']Windsor Star
The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays.
History
The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...
'', November 7, 1986. and aspired to revive the
freeform style and creative experimentation associated with rock radio stations in the 1960s and 1970s.
[
The show's original host was Ron Robinson.]["CBC's Night Lines: a renaissance for rock radio". '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', September 27, 1986. Ralph Benmergui succeeded him, and was in turn followed by David Wisdom, who hosted the program from 1987 until the end of its run.
During the early years with hosts Robinson and Benmergui the show was produced from CBC Winnipeg by Ross Porter.[ When David Wisdom took over the hosting duties in 1987, the show moved to CBC Vancouver and was produced by Susan Englebert.
]
Features
Regular features of the show during Wisdom's tenure included:
* Ten Singles in Alphabetical Order. After host David Wisdom alphabetized his mammoth 7" vinyl 45 rpm singles collection by artist, he set aside time each weekend to play one single each by ten consecutive alphabetized artists, starting at "A" and continuing until he reached the end of his collection in the "Z"s (approximately nine years later).
* Listener requests via answering machine. Night Lines listeners could call up an answering machine in CBC's Vancouver studios and, after answering a "skill-testing question" (by rule, something open-ended and usually bordering on philosophical, such as "What do you want to be when you grow up?"), request a song for Wisdom to play during the following weekend's shows. Regular callers to the request line became part of the show's fabric. Some consistent callers included Vicki from Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
(who later moved and became Vicki from Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
), Gilbert from Transcona
Transcona is a ward and suburb of Winnipeg, Manitoba, located about east of the downtown area.
Until 1972, it was a separate municipality, having been incorporated first as the Town of Transcona on 6 April 1912 and then as the City of Transc ...
(who used a mock-Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, best-known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York dialect, his squint, and his edgy, often-controversial, sense of humor. Hi ...
voice on the answering machine), Norm from Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, Rocky from Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
, Milton the Cabbie, Joanna from Hamilton
Hamilton may refer to:
* Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
* ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
, Sonya from Port Lambton, Ontario, Sean from Brandon, Manitoba, and Lori from Southfield, Michigan (USA).
* Soundbite Sensation Contests. Once each year, Wisdom would create a 6-to-8 minute audio collage
Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
containing bits of 50-100 different songs, and challenge listeners to identify the songs found within, with prizes (usually Night Lines T-shirts) going to the top entries. The collages usually had a unifying theme, among them guitar riffs, beginnings of songs, and celebrity names sung in song lyrics.
* The Hour of Power, in which control of the airwaves was turned over to an audience member for one hour each weekend. When this feature started, listeners would send in scripts containing text for Wisdom to read on-air and lists of songs to play in-between the spoken text. As time went on, more and more Hours of Power were performed live in-studio by listeners, musicians, friends of David Wisdom's, etc.
Grant Lawrence, now one of the hosts on CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music.
The service, which la ...
, began his association with the CBC as a contributor to ''Night Lines'', calling the show to share stories about life on tour with his band The Smugglers
''The Smugglers'' is the completely missing first serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966.
In this serial, ...
.
Cancellation
''Night Lines'' ended on August 31, 1997. The show's final episode featured an in-studio performance by Rheostatics
Rheostatics are a Canadian indie rock band. They were formed in 1978, and actively performed from 1980 until disbanding in 2007. After a number of reunion performances at special events, Rheostatics reformed in late 2016, introducing new songs a ...
. Rheostatics subsequently released that performance on CD as '' The Nightlines Sessions''. Wisdom went on to cohost the new series '' RadioSonic'' with Leora Kornfeld. ''RadioSonic'' eventually evolved into today's CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music.
The service, which la ...
.
Some individual tracks from ''Night Lines'' sessions by other bands, including Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
, cub, Huevos Rancheros
''Huevos rancheros'' (, 'ranch-style eggs') is a breakfast egg dish served in the style of the traditional large mid-morning fare on rural Mexican farms. History
The label “ranchero”, refers to the rancheros or vaqueros (cowherds or cowboys ...
and The Smugglers
''The Smugglers'' is the completely missing first serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966.
In this serial, ...
, were released in 2006 on the compilation album '' Mint Records Presents the CBC Radio 3 Sessions''.
References
{{reflist
CBC Music programs
Canadian music radio programs
Rock music radio programs
1984 radio programme debuts
1997 radio programme endings
1980s Canadian radio programs
1990s Canadian radio programs