A Matter of Record
A chronicle of a couple of kids meeting with a master of broadcasting to pitch a TV show and beyond.
“ I still recall so vividly, April 1969 getting home from grade 11 classes and Mom telling me-“CKPR-TV called, your meeting with Jack Masters is in one week at 4:30 PM at the station.”
My cousin & musical colleague Kevin Waara, sent me this quote, in a recent missive from Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario Canada.
His reminiscence instantly rekindled some hazy memories I had of Kevin and I meeting with Jack Masters, the Director of Programming at our local Radio/TV Station.
Planning Stages
As audacious as this sounds now, the reason that a couple of teens with dreams of stardom met with Mr. Masters back in 1969, was to pitch a Dick Clark American Bandstand-type music show that Kevin and I were going to produce & host on CKPR TV tentatively titled, “ It’s on Record” or “A Matter of Record.” (We had no experience whatsoever of actually doing what we were pitching.)
(I think the title “A Matter of Record” was my idea because it sounds more serious, scientific & geeky. However, I suspect our TV show plan was mostly Kevin’s idea. In our creative adventures, I usually played a sideman role following his lead -as we did in the bands we played in together.)
I called Kevin, on April 3/24 to pursue more details of our Masters meeting from his perspective.
My first question to Kevin was, “What sparked your idea of producing and hosting a dance party-type TV show?”
He quickly answered, “I thought Dick Clark’s American Bandstand was a great way to make a living, (hosting bands, playing music and people dancing) — Best living in the world”.
Kevin then added that he thought his parents were initially skeptical about his/our show idea but his older brother Rod thought the idea was interesting and that he knew girls who might be interested in dancing on the show.
I remember a bit of the planning stage of our dance show idea and Kevin filled in the following details:
“We went to Lakeview High School (where Kevin was a student) on a Saturday about six weeks before I contacted CKPR, to type our song lists. (for our TV dance show). The caretaker asked who we were and I told him that we had permission to use the school’s typewriters and we were just stretching our legs. I told him, I was showing my cousin the Gym”.
I told Kevin that I remember standing on the stage of the Lakeview auditorium that day and saying “Someday we’ll be on stage”. He said he also remembered that.
The First Pitch
I asked Kevin if he had sent a letter to CKPR to pitch our show.
He answered, “No, I called CKPR to arrange a meeting”.
Kevin went on to explain that he cold-called CKPR and spoke to a secretary who answered the phone. He explained our show idea to her.
According to Kevin’s recollection of the call from 55 years ago, the rest of the conversation went something like this:
- Secretary: Your show sounds intriguing.
- Kevin: Yes. We think young people will like it.
- SEC: How old are you?
- KW: I’m 16 and my cousin is 14.
- SEC: Silence
- Kevin said he could feel the seconds ticking past.
- KW: We have a business plan and sponsors.
- SEC: Oh.
- KW: Yes, my father owns the Cumberland Wash & Dry laundromat
- SEC: I know that business!
Kevin goes on to list family/friend’s businesses that could be sponsors of our show such as: His uncle Eric Peterson’s electric company/furniture store/ and our uncle Stan Cooke’s Insurance Company as well as other businesses operated by family and/or friends.
I asked Kevin if the companies he said would be sponsors had already agreed to this and he said no, except for his father who likely thought the show would never happen.
- SEC: This sounds very serious, I’ll pass on your plan to our producer of programming, Jack Masters.
The Secretary could have told Kevin that CKPR was not accepting any submissions for new shows at that time which would have terminated our farfetched project. However, she was kind and curious enough to let Kevin continue his pitch and then agree to pass on our proposal to Jack Masters.
(I suspect the corporate culture of courtesy, respect, listening, and giving the staff the freedom to make some individual decisions including taking calculated risks that may benefit the company was the result of Jack Masters’s leadership.)
The Masters Meeting
After we entered the TV station for our big meeting, I believe I told the receptionist that I had been to CKPR studios the year before in March 1968 when I did an interview there as an Easter Seals “Timmy” (now called ambassador) so I knew my way around the studio a bit.
I then proceeded to get Kevin and I lost.
Once someone helped us find the studio waiting lounge, I recall Kevin and I sitting there looking at the awards and accolades adorning the walls while waiting to meet Mr. Masters.
It wasn’t long before Mr. Masters’ secretary came into the lounge and proclaimed, “Gentlemen, “Mr. Masters will see you now”.
Once we entered Mr. Masters’ office, Kevin remembers him saying, “I understand you boys have a plan for a show”.
I don’t remember talking much during the meeting — I was so in awe of Jack- although being such a kind man, I’m sure he asked me for my opinion.
I must have looked like a real geek freak with one arm of my glasses held together with a small ball of white packing tape since I broke them a few days before.
Jack didn’t make fun of me or comment on my appearance.
According to Kevin, Jack did, however, tell us that our set list had a lot of Beatles & Supreme tunes, which were Kevin’s faves at the time. Kevin remembered that he agreed to add other artists to the music show roster.
(Kevin reminded me that he had the details of our show including our wardrobe of dark suits and skinny ties written on foolscap paper which he brought to the Masters meeting.)
Kevin also told Mr. Masters that he could put five hundred dollars of his own money to help sponsor the show. (almost all of his life savings at the time). Mr. Masters just smiled and nodded acknowledging Kevin’s offer.
When Kevin finished his pitch, he remembers Mr. Masters saying, “I really love your spirit of entrepreneurship.” He followed up by saying he’d pass on our plan to his superiors.
We were elated. We felt like somebodies, who could be “contenders” in the wonderful world of show business.
Although most people in Jack’s position of authority at a TV station wouldn’t have given us the time of day, Jack took time out of his busy schedule, treated us with respect like adult professionals and earnestly listened to us pitch ideas for our show.
In a 2022 interview with Mr. Masters by Thunder Bay writer Brian G. Spare, Jack remarked, “The best way to get along with people is to treat them with respect. They will respect you in return. Always take the time to listen to everybody and make them feel that they count”.
Our meeting with Mr. Masters was proof that he practiced what he preached.
During his lifetime Mr. Masters held several executive positions including VP & GM of CKPR TV, Liberal MP for the Thunder Bay-Nipigon riding and the Mayor of Thunder Bay.
He was also involved in many other community endeavours.
(I had the privilege to work at the City of Thunder Bay Social Services Dept. as a Social Worker & then as Program Supervisor- Gerontology when Jack was Mayor of Thunder Bay from 1985 to 1991.)
Jack Masters passed away this January 2024 at the age of 92.
The Letter
Not long after our momentous meeting with Mr. Masters, Kevin received a letter from CKPR confirming that there was no time slot available for our show but that we could apply again in the future.
(We did not reapply again, but the Masters meeting and follow-up letter encouraged us to continue our creative pursuits.)
Kevin told me that he still has a copy of that letter.
The Show Must Go On
Kevin and I continued to collaborate creatively for many years after our Masters meeting.
During the summer of ‘69, our creative confidence still bolstered from our April meeting with Mr. Masters, Kevin wrote an audio drama based on the movie “Ben Hur” which he titled “Artemis Topaz.” In my parent’s backyard, he directed and recorded kids from my neighbourhood on his portable tape recorder as they read their parts and added sound effects with sticks hitting garbage can lids mimicking sword fights. I provided additional sound support from an LP of the Ben Hur movie soundtrack which Kevin recorded on his tape recorder (we didn’t know about copyright laws then.)
After finishing and “editing” the recording, Kevin then climbed the high rickety wooden ladder to my parent’s outside attic door and loudly announced, “The world premiere of Artemis Topaz” as he played back our performances from his tape recorder which he placed in the attic doorway for anyone within earshot in the neighbourhood to hear including strangers who happened to be wandering in the back lane behind my family home.
Kevin and I also recorded “ audio shows” on his tape recorder, (at his place) which included rerecorded selections from his family’s record collection and commentary from him and I. Kevin then played these “shows” for some of his neighbours in their homes- for a nominal fee of 25 cents or so.
Perhaps we were early precursors to podcasters?
Kevin moved up from amateur/low-pay recording in 1972 when he began singing and recording songs at Thunder Bay’s DMG Sound Studio operated by famed music producer/songwriter Don Grashey who later produced recording sessions for Kevin in Nashville. Songs from those sessions charted nationally and internationally.
(In June 1972, (according to Kevin) he and I as well as friends and family cut cardboard boxes into small squares in my parent‘s’’ back yard. These were used to protect Kevin’s 45 RPM records when they were sent to radio stations.)
Kevin and I also ended up playing live on stages (as I predicted in 1969) — I played drums in some of Kevin’s bands from 1974 to 1984 and also co-wrote songs with him.
Below is a photo of singers Jerry Palmer, (who had actually performed on American Bandstand) Wayne Newton and Kevin Waara, who were all recording at Woodland Studios in Dec. 1979.
I took the photo. below of Kevin’s March 1981 recording session at Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville. From left to right: Brenda Lee (who was recording in the same bldg.) Kevin Waara and producer Don Grashey.
Memories of Elvis & an Encounter with Johnny Cash
While in Nashville, Kevin and I decided to tour the Ryman Theatre- home of the “Grand Ole Opry” radio show.
(The Ryman Theatre was not used much after March 15, 1974, when the last broadcast from there was aired which included Johnny Cash. It was not restored until 1989.)
No one but the caretaker was at the grand old theatre when Kevin and I arrived, and he let us have the run of the place.
I took the photo, below of Kevin standing on the stage of the Ryman Theatre with a backdrop from the WSM Grand Ole Opry Show.
Seeing that we were interested in the Ryman, the caretaker showed us the wooden bench where Elvis was apparently told to “Go back to Memphis and drive a truck” after his only performance at the Ryman on Oct. 2, 1954.
(Kevin and I saw Elvis perform exactly 20 years later in St. Paul Minnesota on Oct. 2, 1974.)
As of April 2024, there is a new exhibit at the Ryman Theatre commemorating the 70th anniversary of Elvis’s infamous debut there.
When we were in Nashville, we also attended a taping of a Johnny Cash TV Special.
While we were outside waiting in line to enter the Grand Ole Opry House where the show was being taped, Kevin and I started talking about Elvis.
The guy in front of us turned around and said in his Southern accent, something like, “Boys, sorry to break it to you, but Elvis is dead”. He was not smiling.
The Johnny Cash show was interesting, but as with any taping, it took its time with breaks for retakes and set changes.
After the show was over, Kevin decided to go down to the stage and line up with people waiting for an autograph.
Kevin told me that he spoke to Johnny who had asked him if he was in town as a tourist. Kevin told him that he was recording at Woodland Studios.
Johnny then turned to his wife June Carter Cash and told her that Kevin was recording in Nashville and one of them asked where Kevin was from.
When he said he was from Thunder Bay Canada, Johnny said, “Son, I don’t know where that is”. Kevin said Thunder Bay was formerly the cities of Port Arthur & Fort William. Johnny repeated the words Fort William to himself and then said he remembered playing at Fort William arena. Kevin answered, “Fort William Gardens” (the actual name) and Johnny indicated it was a great stadium. June then praised Canadian audiences. Kevin also talked briefly to Roseanne Cash who was also on stage.
Kevin got an autograph from Johnny and asked for a photo. and they agreed. However, Kevin didn’t have his camera with him so he ran up to his seat to get it but by then the Cash clan had moved on.
Also on that trip, Don Grashy wanted to see the singer Terri Gibbs who was playing at a lounge in Nashville. While there, Don had a fancy drink (which was unusual for him) and said, “For a man that don’t drink much, I sure feel good”.
Back to CKPR Studios
Kevin and I returned to CKPR studios in the spring of 1990 for Kevin to record a song I wrote entitled “Life is What You Make It” for the “Spotlight” music show hosted by Glenn & Ginny Jennings.
Below is a photo I took of Kevin & Glenn & Ginny Jennings taken at CKPR studios during that session.
Here is the video of my song that was recorded then,
A Song for Canada
In 1995, Kevin, master musician/orchestrator Ken Moore and I wrote a song entitled “Let’s All Stand” in response to the impending Quebec Referendum. It was recorded with Kevin and a children’s choir with all musical accompaniment/arrangement by Ken Moore.
I produced a video of “Let’s All Stand” which I presented at a joint Provincial Long Term Care Homes/Community Support Association (OANHSS & OCSA) Conference in Hamilton Ontario in 1999.
The HorsePlay Album
Our musical collaboration continued in 1996/1997 when Kevin recorded an album entitled “HorsePlay” at the Barn Studio in Thunder Bay. It included songs Kevin, I, Ken Moore, Paul Liima and Dennis Perron had co-written.
I took the photo. below of the album’s producer/guitarist Ken Moore and Fab. keyboardist Danny Johnson. The album also included consummate musicians: Bob Balabuck, Dino Pepe and Kris Krienke.
The HorsePlay album was released in 1998. In July of that year, our friend, photographer Gary Moskalyk took some photos. of Kevin and I at Hillcrest Park in Thunder Bay which we used to promote the album. One of those photos. is shown below.
Other photos. taken at that session were published in RPM Magazine Canada’s top national music trade magazine at the time.
Some of those photos. ended up in Archives Canada because they were published in a Canadian national magazine:
The Big Country Awards
On the strength of the Horseplay album, Kevin was nominated for Outstanding New Male Vocalist at the 25th annual National Big Country Awards in Toronto In June 2000.
My wife Linda and I attended those awards. We met the Big Country Awards creators Walt Grealis & Stan Klees who also founded the JUNO Awards (Canada’s National Music Awards). Walt Grealis also created RPM magazine (Canada’s National Music trade magazine).
Both Walt & Stan told us that they liked the “Texas Two Step” tune that was on the “HorsePlay” album and released as a single which charted nationally and internationally and stayed on the RPM National Country Charts for 22 weeks.
The photo. below is of Walt Grealis and I taken at the Big Country Awards in June 2000 taken by Linda Niemi.
That was the last Big Country Awards and the last time Kevin and I collaborated closely on a major creative project. (We are still communicating regularly & working on individual projects.)
I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on our creative collaborations and chronicle them for the record.
With all the hate and division in the world now, we need more people like the CKPR secretary who listened to a young man with big dreams and arranged for him and me to meet Mr. Masters and of course, more people and leaders like Mr. Jack Masters who treated those he encountered with respect and kindness and encouraged them to pursue their dreams.
