sounds and recordings: marsden christmas eve

Every Christmas Eve, David Marsden would air a commercial-free program of media, music, recollections, all pulled together in a brilliant montage, the likes of which had never been heard on radio before.

Thanks to David, we now have six excerpts of these shows online, hand selected by him. They are somewhat larger than some of the other air checks online, as they have been encoded at a higher data rate to preserve the integrity of the audio.

David writes:

These are production pieces that I gathered together over the many years of doing the Christmas Eve Show. This all started at CHUM-FM during my first year there. I was the 'single' guy who didn't have to go home for the holidays. Bob Laine (CHUM-FM PD) and I agreed that it would be in the spirit of the holiday for me to work that night. I decided to make it a special show. From there I continued to do the Christmas Eve Show for about 20 years...including CHUM-FM, CFNY and syndication during my time on the West Coast. The show was always presented as a non-commercial Christmas.

Behind the scenes there was a lot of work being done on behalf of this event. Credit must go to Bob Lehman who helped produce some of the special moments - such as The Night Before Christmas, James Ufton who was always available to play the part of Patches...who reported on Santa's arrival over Canada. Also Don Berns was always there to offer his voice talents to some of the bits - in fact I think he 'sat-in' on about half the shows and a he makes a great audience.

What you have are the only known elements available from all those years of Christmas Eves. I do hope these bring some joy and positive emotions to those who listen.

My sign-off on each Christmas Eve show always spoke to the season and it's meaning. No matter what your background may be, no matter what your religion may be or whether you honour a particular religion, no matter whether you are with family or sitting alone - this special night of the year presents an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate each other and our life on this little planet.

The Happiest of Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you.

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