Jul 7

Martin Streek is Dead: Remembering a Time when CFNY / 102.1 wasn’t Lame

Written By Allison, Everything ,Comments (17)

So the news is official. Former CFNY / 102.1 DJ Martin Streek has committed suicide, and as noted on both torontomike and torontoist this is presumedly largely the result of his being fired back in late May.

 

By now, anyone who didn’t grow up in Toronto must be wondering what in the hades I’m talking about. For the rest of us, love him or hate him, this is just another cold nail in the Toronto Radio coffin.

Allow me to elaborate.

Back in the early 1990′s those of us in the pushing-30 category would’ve fallen into one of two major cliques in elementary and high school: the Top 40 crowd and the Alternative slash College Radio crowd. You can guess where I fit in, or at least tried to. By the time I hit 7th Grade I had discovered City Limits on MuchMusic, community radio featuring stoned college students, and CFNY. Yes children, there was a time when CFNY wasn’t a generic bowl of bland and blander major label “alternative” offerings (I’m looking at you, Coldplay) with squeaky voiced girls babbling incessantly about their mundane weekends spent Barbecuing in parks or going to friends’ weddings.

Kids today won’t quite understand the power that “alternative” leaning towards mainstream media like CFNY had in shaping Torontonians on the cusp of Generation X. Back then media outlets like CFNY and Muchmusic weren’t owned by insipid conglomerates, but they were still gentle and cuddly enough to have mass appeal. DJ Martin Streek was part of that appeal with his familiar drunken talking over songs, his obsession with the Clash, and his club nights in general. Maybe part of the reason I didn’t feel the need to take on the Toronto Club Scene as an underaged rodent is because I felt like Streek’s booming smooth stylings were good enough for me. Back in the early years of high school my sister and I felt like we were there, in the club, drinking, only we were in our parents’ basement on a Sunday night, drinking, listening to the radio. It was a bonding experience over Retro Sundays at Whiskey Saigon and a lot of my fondest memories of our relationship involve my sharing this music with her, something that didn’t happen very often. Alan Cross’s the History of New Music show was something we’d also share together and if he ever passes, I would imagine a huge part of our music history together will die. What will we talk about in the car, now?

Toronto had a love/hate thing going on with Martin. I have a friend that couldn’t stand him. This friend was always complaining about the way M would shorten songs by cutting them off with his introductions. My theory is, dude just couldn’t help himself. He loved the Chameleons UK, he adored Joe Strummer, I could easily picture him in cardiac arrest introducing his favourite song. The heart palpitations as a result of his overexcitement were audible over the mic and gave us some insight into his personality. What I’m saying is, he actually had a personality. He had a genuine love and enthusiasm for music that is whitewashed today by a hipster movement requiring people stand around and look bored even when they are getting moist from stimulation. Well Martin, your masculine overzealous voice gave Toronto a hard-on in the 90′s. You will be missed.

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  • Sara

    I couldn’t have put it better – growing up listening to CFNY shaped my life – my musical landscape. I would spend my evenings listening to Martin on the radio while cruising around Mississauga in my car with or without friends. He was the soundtrack to my youth & without him, the station has almost zero creditability. The only reason I tune in now is the listen to Alan Cross. RIP Brother – may we all meet in Rock’N Roll Heaven. I’ll miss you.

  • http://ikdk.blogspot.com/ Josh

    I have a different take on CFNY/EDGE/102.1 or whatever you want to call it though. It was “force fed commercial radio singles fed to the station by the 6 major record companys and played 4-5 times a day just like every other commercial radio station”.

    There were 1000′s and 1000′s of indie, alternative, punk, ska, and new wave outfits that got zero play from radio because we needed to hear EMF 9 times a day.

    And as for Alan Cross, the only thing he knows about (at least from what he spews) is the “force fed commercial radio singles fed to the station by the 6 major record companys and played 4-5 times a day just like every other commercial radio station”. The internet has easily proven how his Ongoing History of New Music was nothing more than the free promo cds the record companies gave him and probably still gives him to this day.

    The real ongoing history of music is easily found on the internet these days through sites such as youtube, Discogs.com, and even Ebay.

    Of course, not to downplay a suicide which is definately tragic.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Ricky

    haha why am i not surprise at joshs comment

  • bluegazoo

    Josh…WTF?!
    Everything comes to an end and maybe the spirit did end a while ago, but Alan Cross has a nack of walking a tite rope between big commerical radio station and …. now guess what comes next? Do you think i’m going say “small radio station”? “public radio”? “people’s radio”? No…

    Next comes Music. that’s what Alan Cross did and does; is he perfect, no. But he doesn’t deserve your comments.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Allison

    For anyone who would’ve reached adolescence / early teen years in the early 90′s (particularly in a Toronto ‘burb) CFNY *would’ve* seemed cutting edge while still being mainstream accessible. All of my cohorts were bopping to 103.5 or Kiss 98.5 from (ugh) BUFFALO! Compared to that, the History of New Music would’ve seemed like high-brow Shakespeare in the Park. Hey, I was in 9th grade. I have sweet, cherished memories of those club night broadcasts.

    Actually I think a lot of my appreciation for late 70′s/early 80′s music comes from Streek’s live broadcast Retro Night and older cousins. So the fact that I’m familiar with Love and Rockets / Bauhaus / Tones on Tail is largely due to CFNY’s retro night…

  • http://ikdk.blogspot.com/ Josh

    I forgot to raise my favourite point. 102.1 was never good. If I hear one more comment about how CFNY use to be good I will throw up, Not to say they didn’t play some good music. Its just they played it 9 times a day and it was all music provided as promos by major record labels. No risks.

    “Cross has a nack of walking a tite rope between big commerical radio station and …. now guess what comes next?”

    Let me guess…more commercial radio? U2, Alice and Chains, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Wilco.

    Want the ongoing history of music?

    Try this

    http://takethepills.blogspot.com/
    or this
    http://marvik.blogspot.com/

    or any other blogs linked to these blogs.

    Neverending source of amazing alternative music from the eighties and nineties which was never played on CFNY or talked about in Alan’s ongoing history of the Smiths. You could surf forever.

    Tones On Tail…great band….lots of good music. CFNY’s playlist for the band, one track “Go”.

    Don’t get me wrong. I was young once too….and did listen to CFNY. but by the time I was 17 I had found Brave New Waves on CBC after Midnight. Good thing about CBC. They played things once and then moved on and their playlist wasn’t restricted to what the 6 big Canadian Record Companies were providing them.

    Sorry to burst the CFNY bubble.

  • http://www.liarandathief.com Jordan

    whoever wrote this clearly knows what he’s talking about. Reading it rushed back tons of memories from my childhood growing up in Toronto. Where did the music go? Why do Torontonians stand around and look bored even when they love the music? I cant understand it … i hope Martin’s passing wakes everyone up…i hope it stands for something…i hope its a landmark, where things will take a turn for the better.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Ricky

    josh, you were never young

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Allison

    Josh, I get what you’re saying but for a 12-14 year old hearing Joy Division’s “Transmission” on the radio, even if it was played a bajillion trillion times (and that was the only song they ever played), opened the floodgates to a world of music that most 9th grade friends wouldn’t have any clue about. CFNY and City Limits changed a lot of people in my age group’s lives, profoundly shaping their music tastes because it gave them an introduction into the “alternative” beyond major label offerings.

    Look, I’m not saying they weren’t a commercial station. They were guilty of bludgeoning us over the head with NIN, Jane’s Addiction and other mainstream alternative fare; even their 80′s night was limited to (as you said) one-two familiar hits. The point is, that that pryed open Generation Y’s curiousities and prompted them to buy a lot more music and to explore on their own. Club nights are always repetitive anyway…people want to dance to music they know, unless they’ve taken a few hits of Ketamine in which case they’d probably jig to 98 Degrees.

    Jordan: I am a woman but it’s nice to know I have a man’s voice even in written text. I think a personality sex-change is in order.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Mark

    Allison you certainly know how to write posts that get people talking and arguing. I need to start including more inflammatory stuff in my posts.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Ricky

    i like turtles

  • samm

    Another death by corporations – way to go CORAL.
    RIP Martin!

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Allison

    Thanks Mark. I have a knack for offending large groups of people with one curt sentence. Call me the person who goes into the middle of the room to fart (starts arguments); and Ricky as the person who tries to diffuse the situation by spraying some air freshener.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Allison

    samm, I think you mean Corus Entertainment(?) This all has a kind of “Broadcast News” quality to it now that I think about it. Longtime veteran of a station getting canned – only Streek actually went through with his suicide.

  • http://www.panicmanual.com Allison

    I meant to say “Network”. I always get those two mixed-up.

  • Mchohmann

    Not sure how I got to this page … oh … that’s right … I was looking for archives of the Brave New Waves from the 80′s … anyway, I just wanted to say that in the mid eighties CFNY … excuse me for yelling … CFNY WOULD PAY YOU $102.00 IF YOU CAUGHT THEM PLAYING THE SAME SONG MORE THAN ONCE IN A DAY.
    Whoever said said-station has always been crap simply wasn’t listening to it then (or perhaps they were but they were too young to remember this).
    Because CFNY had everyone’s attention the other local stations broadened their formats and put CFNY out of business (bankrupt), then they closed there formats down again … and don’t get me started on the new country bullshit that ALL Topronto radio stations fell for.
    Just my two … er … three and a half cents.

  • Mchohmann

    I still to this day believe that the Cotton Ginny trademark “GRUNGE” was the crown of the “New Country” movement.