Dave McCormick

Big Daddy, as he was affectionately known on the air, was born David McCormick in MacGregor, Manitoba on June 6th 1936. Dave's radio career began on his 14th birthday at CHML in Hamilton, Ontario, where he developed a deep appreciation for and knowledge of music as a gopher for the on-air guys.

He would memorize all the names and even the back-up musicians noted on the LP covers. By the time he and his family moved to Vancouver, his love and enthusiasm for radio was well entrenched.

After attending North Van High and University of British Columbia, where he joined the Radio Club Radsoc, he was hired by C-FUN Radio as the all-night record man back when they didn't play rock and roll. In 1959, Dave turned that around, and along with friends Brian Lord, Brian Forst, and Al Jordan, transitioned that station into Vancouver's first full-time Top 40 Rock operation.

They were the "swinging men at 1410", and later the "C-FUN Good Guys". It turned into a fun radio station. "We taught the city how to rock" he would say. Dave and the others drew 100,000 members into the station's Coca-Cola Hi-Fi Fan Club. It was during his five years at C-FUN that Dave acquired the nickname Big Daddy.

In 1959 he had introduced and hosted a weekday afternoon program of popular tunes called the "House of Hits". Additionally Dave hosted the Vancouver chapter of the nightly "Hi-Fi Club" sponsored by Coca-Cola. Dave also began producing his own weekly surveys, reportedly using the one-finger method on his home typewriter. The survey was called the "HI-FI FORTY".

Dave's Hi-Fi Forty for the week of December 5th to 11th 1959
For the first few weeks the surveys were not publicly distributed, but soon a limited number were printed out on a Ditto copier, typos and all, and with Dave's hand-drawn C-FUN logo at the top.

They were then issued to a limited number of Vancouver record stores. Then he moved from DJ to Music Director and then Co-Program Director. Dave was creative and went up against established CKWX and won the ratings battle. He was inventive, promotion minded and saw the future. He knew what the kids wanted and delivered with great deejays and music.

Dave hired Frosty Forst, Jerry Landa, Brian Lord, Andy Laughland and Al Jordan and called them The Good Guys; the first in North America to use this phrase.

CFUN with Red Robinson c.1962
His career took him next to KYNO Fresno California, then to KOL in Seattle where he was Program Director from 1966-67, and then PD and Music Director at KMEN in San Bernardino from 1967-’71.

In 1972, Dave and his family moved back to Vancouver, and over the next 14 years, he worked at CKNW in the early evening time slot. His creativity knew no bounds. Dave developed, crafted and hosted "Discumentary", an award-winning daily one-hour music history anthology of rock and roll on sister station CFMI from 1971-86, which was syndicated across North America and Australia.

In 1986, Dave rekindled his love affair with country music when he was the first to be hired by the brand new JR Country (CJJR) station. He was a one-man band, interviewing all the major country acts of the day for "Countrymentary" and writing and editing all the material. His intelligent, well-researched and good-natured interview style earned him accolades from everyone he met.

He was able to obtain interviews with hundreds of music celebrities locally and in Nashville. Many of these interviews turned into long-time friendships. At Christmas, there would be cards from Garth Brooks, Reba McIntyre and the Judds, among many others. Dave hosted p.m. drive at CJJR from 1986 to ’98, and then middays at its sister station CKBD from 1998-2008.

He was named BC Broadcaster of the Year, BC Country Music Association On Air Personality of the Year (four times), Inductee to the BC Country Music Association Hall of Fame, and BC Entertainment Hall of Fame (Star Walk). He developed an amazing reputation and an infinite expertise, yet he remained humble and was widely regarded as one of the 'nice guys' in radio.

Dave and Red Robinson in 2013

In 1996, Dave was promoted to host mid-days on sister station AM600, working until Pattison Co. turned the frequency in for an FM license (2008) and Dave lost his job. Out of work for less than two weeks, Dave was hired as a music consultant and on-air broadcaster in the coveted 10-2 slot weekdays at C-ISL, where he turned their moldy-oldies into a more contemporary listening format. He handled middays and special events at C-ISL from 2008 to 2010.

As a sideline, Dave hosted several cruises and vacations with avid fans. It was on one such hosted trip to Cuba that he met his love, Lynda. Together they had numerous worldwide travel adventures, and developed a regular series of travel tips for C-ISL called Travel Curios.

Dave passed away in Vancouver, BC Canada on March 29, 2017.