October 1, 1961: Canada's CTV Goes On the Air

October 1, 1961: CTV goes on the air in Canada. It was the 1st, and remains the only, true English-language competitor to the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Global Television Network trails them.)

In 1958, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, thinking that CBC wasn't being fair to his Progressive Conservative Party government, passed the Broadcasting Act, establishing the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), taking over the CBC's role as the arbiter of radio and television broadcasting in the country. This broke the CBC's monopoly, and the new CTV accepted offers for licenses from new stations. The originals were, from East to West:

* CJCH-Channel 5, Halifax.

* CFTM-Channel 10, Montreal, in French.

* CFCF-Channel 12, Montreal, in English.

* CJOH-Channel 13, Ottawa.

* CFTO-Channel 9, Toronto.

* CJAY-Channel 7, Winnipeg.

* CBXT-Channel 5, Edmonton.

* CFCN-Channel 4, Calgary.

* CHAN-Channel 8, Vancouver.

They broadcast some Canadian programming, from situation comedies to game shows; but also some American shows, like The Rifleman and The Andy Griffith Show; the British police drama Maigret; and Whiplash, borrowed from the Australian network Seven, kind of a "Down Under" version of a Western.

Quincy Jones' 1962 composition "Soul Bossa Nova" became the network's theme song, which explains how it also became the theme song to the Austin Powers films, created by, directed by, and starring Toronto native Mike Myers.

Since 2000, CTV has been owned by BCE, Bell Canada Enterprises -- in other words, their phone company.

*

October 1, 1961 was a Sunday. These games were played on the final day of baseball's regular season:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at Yankee Stadium. The only run of the game came in the 4th inning, when Roger Maris hit his record-breaking 61st home run of the season, off Tracy Stallard. Bill Stafford (3 hits over 6 innings), Hal Reniff (a perfect 7th) and Luis Arroyo (1 hit over 2) combined on a 4-hit shutout. I have a separate entry for this game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shoutout. Stan Musial appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente did not play. Frank Robinson went 0-for-2 with a walk. Despite this game, the Reds had dethroned the Pirates as National League Pennant winners, and would face the Yankees in the World Series. The Yankees won in 5 games.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Duke Snider drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.

* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The San Francisco Giants won the opener, 8-2. The Milwaukee Braves won the nightcap, 3-2. Al Spangler singled Hank Aaron home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Over the 2 games, Aaron went 4-for-9, and Willie Mays went 3-for-7 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Norm Cash hit a home run, and Al Kaline had an RBI double as a pinch-hitter. This was the Tigers' 101st win of the year, but the Yankees won 109 to take the American League Pennant.

For the Twins, completing their 1st season after being "the old Washington Senators," Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk, and relief pitcher Pedro Ramos hit a home run, 1 of 3 he hit on the season, and 1 of 15 he hit in a surprisingly powerful career for a pitcher who was mainly a reliever.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat "the new Washington Senators," 3-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* After providing a venue for the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels from 1925 through 1957, and the major league expansion team with the same name this season, the West Coast version of Wrigley Field hosts its last professional baseball game. The Halos are defeated by the Cleveland Indians, 8-5 in front of 9,868 fans. Wrigley West will be torn down in 5 years, to make room for an eventual public playground and senior center.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox completed their seasons the day before, against each other, with the O's winning, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 24-21 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. This was the 1st event at what would be renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969. I have a separate entry for that event. (The opener, not the renaming.)

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 30-27 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-33 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Dallas Cowboys, 25-7 at Cleveland Municipal Staidum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions, 49-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 24-0 at Green Bay City Stadium (later renamed Lambeau Field).

* And the Los Angeles Rams beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

And in the American Football League:

* The New York Titans beat the Boston Patriots, 37-30 at the Polo Grounds. The Titans became the Jets in 1963, and the Patriots became the New England Patriots in 1971.

* The Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 26-21 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, and the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 33-19 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Raiders wouldn't actually play a game in Oakland until 1962, moved to Los Angeles in 1982, moved back to Oakland in 1995, and moved to Las Vegas in 2020.

* And, the day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 19-11 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. This was the Chargers' 1st game as a San Diego team, after spending the AFL's founding year of 1960 in Los Angeles. They returned to Los Angeles in 2017. 

January 28, 1985: "We Are the World" Is Recorded

January 28, 1985: "We Are the World" is recorded in Los Angeles. It is the American response to the British recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and its fundraising for relief for the famine in the African nation of Ethiopia.

It was produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian. It was the idea of singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, after he'd heard the British single.

Officially, the name of the "performer" on the Columbia Records single release was "USA for Africa." The song was listed as having been written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, at Havenhurst, the Jackson family home in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino, California. One particular note is the changing of an original lyric: "There's a chance we're taking, we're taking our own lives." Jackson wasn't satisfied with that, and Jones suggested, "There's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives."

The first tracks for recording were laid down on January 22, 1985, at Lion Share Recording Studio in Los Angeles, owned by country superstar Kenny Rogers. The main session was on January 28, at A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood.

A sign taped to the studio door read: "Check your ego at the door." Stevie Wonder greeted the musicians as they entered, and said that if the recording was not completed in one take, he and Ray Charles, two blind men, would drive everybody home. They began at 10:30 PM, Pacific Time (1:30 AM, January 29, Eastern Time). The singers were as follows:

* First verse: Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner and Billy Joel.

* First chorus: Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.

* Second verse: Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson and Al Jarreau.

* Second chorus: Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry of Journey, and Daryl Hall.

* Bridge: Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper and Kim Carnes.

* Third, fourth and fifth choruses: Everybody, with Bob Dylan coming in for the second half on the fourth and fifth chorus.

* Sixth chorus: Ray Charles.

* Seventh chorus: Stevie and Bruce.

* Eighth chorus: Everybody... and so on.

* Backing vocalists, in alphabetical order: Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Sheila E., Bob Geldof (it seemed natural to invite him, as the starter of it all), music producer Bill Gibson; Jackie, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Tito Jackson; Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, Daryl Hall's usual singing partner John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne; Anita, June and Ruth Pointer; Smokey Robinson; and, from Huey Lewis' band, The News, Mario Cipollina, Johnny Colla, Chris Hayes and Sean Hopper.

Louis Johnson of The Brothers Johnson played bass guitar. From the band Toto, David Paich and Steve Porcaro played synthesizers. In addition, keyboards were played by Omartian, John Barnes, Michael Boddicker, Ian Underwood from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention; and Greg Phillinganes, who was then Michael Jackson's musical director, and had also worked with Stevie Wonder and Toto. John Robinson played drums, as he had previously for Jackson on the albums Off the Wall and Thriller, both with Quincy Jones producing. Brazilian musician Paulinho da Costa played percussion.

The session is as interesting for who didn't participate as for who did. There was no lead guitarist. Paul Simon was there, but not his former singing partner Art Garfunkel. Lindsay Buckingham was invited, but none of his former Fleetwood Mac bandmates were. No acts identified primarily with disco were involved.

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson had worked together many times, and, later in 1985, would form The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson; however, despite their own previous (and later) charity work, neither Cash nor Kristofferson was involved on this occasion. Nor was any other act usually considered "country," including Dolly Parton.

Despite the heavy Motown Records presence, there were no members of the Temptations or the Four Tops; and, sadly, Marvin Gaye had been killed the year before. Bonnie Pointer had left The Pointer Sisters in 1977, and did not participate. Given Jackson's affinity for Elvis Presley, it has to be considered that, had Elvis lived, he would have been invited.

Aside from the courtesy to Geldof, it was all American acts, so there were no Canadian singers like Neil Young or Geddy Lee of Rush. Nor were Young's occasional singing partners David Crosby (American), Stephen Stills (Canadian) and Graham Nash (British), nor Nash's former girlfriend Joni Mitchell (Canadian).

Madonna, probably then too new a star, was not invited. Nor was any member of Van Halen, despite Eddie Van Halen having played on Jackson's "Beat It." Nor was any other act considered to be "heavy metal," or any act considered to be "punk" or "New Wave." Prince was invited, but the reason he didn't participate is disputed, from his ego getting in the way to his being miffed that Geldof had once called him "a creep."

Eddie Murphy was then the biggest comic actor in the world, and was close with both Michael and Stevie, but he turned it down because he was working on something else, and later said, "After I realized what it was, I felt like an idiot."

John Denver, whose charitable bona fides had long been established, asked to participate, and was turned down, because his style was considered too light for a "pop-rock anthem." He said, "It broke my heart not to be included."

It's often forgotten that there was an entire album, titled We Are the World, which Columbia released on April 1. Side One: "We Are the World"; "If Only for the Moment, Girl," by Perry; "Just a Little Closer," by The Pointer Sisters; "Trapped," Springsteen's cover of a Jimmy Cliff song; and "Tears Are Not Enough," by Northern Lights.

Side Two: "4 the Tears in Your Eyes," Prince; "Good for Nothing," Chicago, with lyrics by Richard Marx; "Total Control," Tina Turner; "A Little More Love," Kenny Rogers; and "Trouble in Paradise," by Huey Lewis.

"We Are the World" was released as a single on March 7, just 38 days after being recorded, and sold over 20 million copies, winning 4 Grammy Awards. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" sold 12 million. In spite of the fundraising of both songs, much of the money was converted not into food for the starving, but into guns and other amenities for the ruling party. In the end, Ethiopia, which had 40 million people before the famine started, lost 1.2 million people to death by starvation, and 400,000 people fled the country. The Communist regime collapsed in 1991, but the country has been in civil war on and off ever since.

Aretha Franklin, enjoying something of a comeback in 1985, was not involved in recording the song, although she led a performance of the song, along with Jackson, Jones, Ross and Rogers, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, as part of the ceremonies honoring the Inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993.

A&M Studios is now part of Jim Henson Studios. The building is still standing, at 1416 North La Brea Avenue, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

Waylon Jennings died in 2002, Ray Charles in 2004, June Pointer in 2006, Michael Jackson in 2009, Louis Johnson in 2015, Al Jarreau in 2017, James Ingram in 2019, Kenny Rogers in 2020. As of January 28, 2022, the rest are still alive.

UPDATE: Anita Pointer died in 2022. Harry Belafonte and Tina Turner died in 2023. Tito Jackson and Quincy Jones died in 2024.

*

January 28, 1985 was a Monday. Jermaine Lamarr Cole, the rapper known as J. Cole, was born.

Baseball was out of season. Football season had ended 8 days earlier, when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 117-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Houston Rockets, 97-93 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena is now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 111-109 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Mark Aguirre scored 49 points for the Mavs.

* And the Denver Nuggets beat their arch-rivals, the Utah Jazz, 104-100 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

And there was 1 game in the NHL: In "the Battle of Alberta," the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. The Flames led, 3-2, but Paul Coffey scored with 1:20 left in regulation, and Mike Krushelnyski scored with 2 seconds left.