Mark Elliot for ABC News, Toronto

Nothing made me prouder as a Canadian than to sign off a report with the words: “Mark Elliot for ABC News” from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, or wherever I was reporting from. Warren Cosford was Director of Special Projects for CHUM Ltd in 1980 and he’d seen a lot of reports I’d been filing and writing about music. He was impressed.

So, he got on the phone to arrange our first meeting and I flew to Toronto for a working visit. Warren wanted to “take me to the next level” his way of saying I was moving up the ranks of the company. CHUM had a true commitment to promoting Canadian talent. Musical talent of course, but also broadcasting talent. I had just moved up a notch.

It was one thing to be a local star in the CHUM galaxy and I was a big one in Ottawa on their “Golden Goose” CFRA 580. “More listeners than the next three radio stations combined” 610,000 listeners weekly in 1979 in a city of 500,000. This station was actually penalized in 1976 for making “excessive profits” and forced to give money back to advertisers: Not because of any impropriety. Never! The government said we made “Too MUCH money!”

This was nearing the end of AM radio’s dominance on music radio. FM was taking over faster everyday and it took all the fight you had in you to compete with Video as it literally “killed the radio star.”

I was the right boy at the right place at the right time!

I know what it is to be Justin Bieber because I was a “teen idol” in town. Perhaps it’s better to be extremely famous in a smaller place because at least then you can escape and be inconspicuous elsewhere, but Warren Cosford had other plans for me.

Warren wanted me to get exposure in the United States and internationally with the intention to promote Canadian music. We had a strategy. I could gain access to major international stars to gain credibility, then create a pipeline to promote Canadian artists where possible. For example, a slow news day at ABC meant I could get them interested in a Bryan Adams story I had ready.

Network management signed off on the promotion and I was now to be a pampered pet of the “CHUM Culture”. Warren Cosford was now director responsible for Mark Elliot and my life changed forever.

Warren taught me how to syndicate my work internationally.

CHUM Toronto never sent any of their work outside of the company, whereas in Ottawa I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted.

Quickly, Warren taught me how to connect with syndicators like Terry Marshall of “The Daily Insider,” an influential gossip tip sheet for rock radio based in San Francisco. Gary Bongiovanni of Pollstar Magazine had me do a weekly column and feature reports for his tip sheet which is “the bible of concert promoters”. David Farrell had me begin a weekly column in his influential Canadian trade paper “The Record.” The items I was writing began appearing in magazines like Playboy, Rolling Stone, The Georgia Straight, and many more as well as radio stations worldwide.

I was hired by ABC Radio when I offered to cover the arrival of Boy George and Culture Club in Montreal in 1984. The press were playing this like “the new Beatles” as they always did. But Boy George was also playing it for all it was worth.

The press room at the ritzy Montreal hotel was buzzing as each band member came out individually, spoke and answered some questions then introduced the next member.

This was well rehearsed and caused an electric buzz in the room with all of the reporters keyed up as finally Boy George came in to applause with all rising from their chairs.

I started singing “God Save the Queen” catching everybody off-guard, but at least they got the joke.

Boy George was a triumph and I had a new job.

Up next-More Radio: “Lolita” with a Happy Ending