''Vinyl Tap'' started as a Canadian
radio show hosted by
Randy Bachman
Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...
, musician alumnus of the famous Canadian
rock bands
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...
and
Bachman–Turner Overdrive
Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included five top-40 albums and six US top-40 sing ...
.
The show ran on
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
from 2005 until 2021, when it was cancelled. In February 2022, it was announced that the show would be returning to the air weekly, Sundays at 9 PM in most markets, beginning March 6, 2022, as a
syndicated programme on nearly a dozen
Corus radio stations as well as several non-Corus stations. The revived show is co-produced by syndicator
Orbyt Media and Corus Entertainment.
48 original episodes air annually, up from the 36 original shows that had been produced annually for CBC. Unlike the CBC version of the show, the Corus production will include
commercials but will otherwise have the same format and will retain its two-hour running time.
In the two-hour program, Randy Bachman plays predominantly
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...
,
pop and older
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
music and told stories behind the selections, adding from time to time short musical demonstrations played live, besides frequent personal anecdotes.
["Randy Bachman to publish Vinyl Tap book"]
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...
, February 15, 2011. Musical selections are commonly organized around a theme, sometimes of Bachman's own choosing and sometimes in response to a request submitted by a listener. The program's format somewhat resembles ''
Finkleman's 45s'', the program it replaced in June 2005 on the CBC Radio schedule, although Bachman presents a very different range of musical selections than
Danny Finkleman
Danny Finkleman (born 1942) is a Canadian journalist and radio host, best known for his work on CBC Radio. He was host of '' Finkleman's 45s'' from 1985 until 2005, when he retired from CBC. From October 12, 2013, to July 1, 2014 he hosted a we ...
did. Some of Bachman's musical stories from the program were published in book form in the fall of 2011.
[
Until 2011, when they separated, Bachman's wife Denise McCann Bachman also participated in the show, reading listener mail (typically 40 minutes into the first hour), doing fact research and commenting. His son ]Tal Bachman
Talmage Charles Robert Bachman (born August 13, 1970) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1999 hit, " She's So High", a pop rock tune from his self-titled 1999 album that led to a BMI award.
Musical career 1 ...
took over the research for the show, but did not contribute as an on-air personality.
In 2010, Bachman hosted an episode of the show live from the Glenn Gould Studio
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...
at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Titled "Guitarology 101", the episode featured Bachman, McCann, Mick Dalla-Vee and Brent Knudsen talking about various aspects of guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s, including live performances of a number of classic rock and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
songs.
When it was a CBC show, CBC Vancouver senior radio producer Tod Elvidge engineered, edited, and compiled each show for broadcast.
In 2021, the CBC announced the cancellation of the show. A farewell special aired on Canada Day, July 1, 2021.
References
{{reflist
External links
Vinyl Tap on Q107 TorontoCBC websiteRandy Bachman's ''Vinyl Tap''
CBC Radio One programs
CBC Music programs
Canadian music radio programs
Rock music radio programs
2005 radio programme debuts
Syndicated Canadian radio programs