Village Squire, 1979-07, Page 271
1
i
MUSIC
Barn Dance Gang
headed
for the last
roundup
The revival of a Western Ontario legend
will come to an end this summer. The last
reunion of the CKNX Barn Dance Gang will
be held August 4 as part of the Wingham
Centennial celebrations. The reunions
began in 1975 when Listowel was
celebrating its centennial and asked
Johnny Brent. long-time host of the famous
show if he could get the old gang together
for one more show. He decided to try it and
it was so successful and the entertainers
enjoyed it so much that it's been going on
ever since. In 1976 it was in Ayton, 1977 in
Mount Forest, and 1978 there were two
reunions, at Harriston and in Brussels in
honour of the International Plowing
Match.
This year, however will be the last, Mr.
Brent says. Many of the old timers who
once made the show a necessary part of
Saturday night in Western Ontario have
passed on or aren't able to perform any
more and it's becoming too hard to fill the
whole show with veterans of the old Barn
Dance. It hasn't been hard to fill the halls
for the shows however as tickets are
usually grabbed up quickly after they go on
sale for the reunions.
It's hard for people who don't remember
the old barn dance to understand the
important place the CKNX Travelling Barn
Dance used to have. At eight o'clock on a
Saturday night the voice of Johnny Brent
would come through the airwaves and into
the home with the familiar introduction:
"From coast to coast people like old time
music most" and then go on to say where
the barn dance was appearing that week.
The barn dance didn't start out to travel
at all. John Cruickshank. brother of
CKNX's legendary founder "Doc" Cruick
shank recalls it was the need for music on
the radio that brought about the initiation
of the Barn Dance. Doc, he recalls used to
listen to U.S. stations such as WLS and
WMS and used to hear the Grand Old Opry
from Nashville. He was interested in
country music himself and did some
fiddling. The use of recorded music in
radio was non existent in the early days of
radio John recalls. It was 1930 before it was
even discovered how to get music from a
record into the air. Live music was the king
of early radio.
In 1937 Doc decided to make use of local
talent to put on the first CKNX Barn
Dance. It wasn't a travelling show at that
time. The show was performed live at the
old station on Wingham's main street. It
was five years later in 1942 with the arrival
of an energetic young man Johnny Brent
that the show went on the road. From then
on the popularity of the show grew and so
did the legend.
Most of the musicians who worked on
the Barn Dance were employees of the
radio station. At one time the Stations had
three resident bands, Wally Scott, Golden
Prairies Cowboys and The Ranch Boys
which played around the country during
the week, played at the station and then on
Saturday nights played on the Barn Dance.
MARSHALLS
¢5T M RYS
150- 152. QUEEN ST.
fllIRRSHfILL'S of Si. IINRYS
"WHERE THE UNUSUAL IS USUAL"
GIFT SHOP LADIES WEAR CARD SHOP
150 QUEEN ST.
The Grand Central Hotel built in
1843. was for decades a welcom-
ing place to spend the night.
Today it is a group of three
connecting shops. What was once
the lane for horses & buggies to
reach the stable at the back is now
a charming CARD & CANDLE
SHOP. The original bar is now the
LADIES WEAR with its handcraft
section. Browse on into the GIFT
SHOP, once the dining room,
where full use has been made of
the charm of this old building.
Many of the original antiques are
used to display imports from
around the world.
"DO COME VISIT US SOON"
284-3070
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July 1979, Village Squire 25