Claude Rajotte (born July 3, 1955) is a well-known
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
DJ/VJ/music critic from
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
Life
Rajotte was born in
Drummondville
Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste.
Drummondville is ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
on July 3, 1955. His career started at the local radio station CHRD, in 1974. After short stints in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
and
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, he settled in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and started to work for
CKOI-FM
:For the CKOI radio network, see ''CKOI (network)''.
CKOI-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Verdun, Quebec and serving the Greater Montreal area, airing a CHR/Top 40 radio format.
Owned and operated by Cogeco, CKOI-FM bro ...
in 1976.
While being a
DJ for
CHOM-FM
CHOM-FM is an English-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it broadcasts on 97.7 MHz from the Mount Royal candelabra tower, with an effective radiated power of 41,200 watts ( class C1) usi ...
(1982–2002), he spoke
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
with a marked
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
accent that was liked by his radio audience. In the 1980s, Rajotte was in the habit of continually switching from English to French during his broadcasts. With his unmistakable accent, francophones connected immediately, however, that did not detract anglophone listeners, leading to complaints from CHOM's main competitor at the time, the francophone radio station CKOI, Rajotte's former employer. Canada's broadcasting regulators, the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC), ruled that CHOM DJs were not allowed to speak in French on the air, despite the requirement that CHOM must broadcast a certain proportion of French language songs.
He was also a fixture for over 17 years (1987–2004) on
MusiquePlus
Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women.
It was first established in 1986 as the mus ...
(the French counterpart to
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
). He was a VJ and a much appreciated album critic. His review show called ''
Le Cimetière des CD'' (''The Cemetery of
CD''s) was on the air for ten consecutive years. Once a week during the show, Rajotte would hold a "destroy", an event during which he would physically destroy a newly released album which he particularly disliked using unorthodox methods. He was also a regular host of the channel's alternative video show, ''
Nu Musik'' during the 1980s, and ''
Rage'' during the 1990s (which was renamed ''The Claude Rajotte Show'').
From 2004 to 2011, Rajotte hosted a late-night radio show on Radio-Canada's
Espace Musique
Ici Musique (stylized as ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, al ...
. He was also a frequent contributor to
Bande à part. In the summer of 2011, he quit Radio-Canada and returned to MusiquePlus. August 2014, his TV program ''Rajotte'' moved to Musimax until December 2015. He also hosted a weekly radio show for almost two years on CIBL-FM until December 2020. His most recent mixes are all on his Mixcloud page. https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Rajotte/
Rajotte as cultural icon
Rajotte is widely considered to be a cultural icon in Quebec and is regularly referenced in art, literature, and media.
Compilations by Rajotte
*2001: ''Le Cimetière des CD'' (
Gold Jam Records)
*2007: ''L'univers de Rajotte'' (
CBC Records
CBC Records was a Canadian record label owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which distributed CBC programming, including live concert performances, in album and digital format(s)."CBC Records is the corporation's biggest h ...
)
*2008: ''L'univers de Rajotte 2'' (
CBC Records
CBC Records was a Canadian record label owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which distributed CBC programming, including live concert performances, in album and digital format(s)."CBC Records is the corporation's biggest h ...
)
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
* https://www.facebook.com/claude.rajotte1
* https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ_Rajotte/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajotte, Claude
1955 births
Mass media regulation in Canada
Canadian television hosts
CBC Radio hosts
French Quebecers
Living people
People from Drummondville
Canadian LGBT broadcasters
Gay men
21st-century LGBT people