In this week's episode, we visit with Dave Bannerman, one of the richest sources of intel on Canadian radio in the twentieth century. We talk about where he's been, some of the talent he's taught, and where he's headed now. He retired earlier this year from his role as radio-TV-journalism instructor at Nova Scotia Community College.
Dave Bannerman was the Program Manager of the station I worked at in 1989. I know, it's hard to imagine: a time when stations paid a Program Manager AND a Program Director. Bannerman was a great teacher of radio who allowed me to experiment and take risks. Take for example the very first overnight radio show I ever hosted on a little station called Magic 97 in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Spoiler alert for the podcast: it was called "The Whine Line": it was a local call-in show that began with the classic Trammps tune "Disco Inferno". It was ah-mazing and according to Dave, continues to inspire regional radio talent.
Given how much fun we were having with our adventures in late night radio, you can imagine my surprise when he made the transition to teaching radio at Nova Scotia Community College in 1995. But, as you'll learn from the episode, he's been teaching all along. Over the course of his career, he's turned out exceptional broadcasters by:
1. Stressing a focus on the listener
2. Never getting hung up on the digital technicalities
3. Doing what radio does best: Content Creation.
The amount of talent that has passed through Dave Bannerman's classroom is astounding, it's like a Pro-Bowl roster of Canadian radio:
Ruby Carr - Z95.3 (Vancouver) (Undated picture Pictured to the right at NSCC)
Christina Fitzgerald and Morgan Sheppard most recently of Indie 88 (Toronto)
(Did I forget someone from this list? Email me so I can add you to this list)
Dave announced he is moving on from the school after 22 years of service. He will continue doing radio in the form of building radio studios for LPFM's, and growing his company, MediaVoice.
Exhibit A: a picture of me from my NSCC days.
In the episode, as we stroll down memory lane, please refer to exhibit A. This was the young talent (cough, me) who appeared in a white t-shirt, flowing (and receding) hair, with jeans and a habit of bolting down the hallways to operate "The Whine Line" back in 1988.
This picture (pre-digital) was taken 6 months before I met Dave at the studios fo CKIC Radio Acadia (Acadia University).
The day this episode was released, Charles Chandler passed away. Noteworthy for this episode because Dave Bannerman cited Charles as a radio influence during this podcast when he was on air at CJCH in Halifax. Mark Summers has posted this wonderful retrospective on his YouTube Page.
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