Laurie Brown (born 7 October 1957 in

Toronto 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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

) is a Canadian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. She grew up in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and graduated from

David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute (sometimes called David and Mary Thomson, DMT, DMTCI, Thomson CI or Thomson) is a semestered English-language high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Bendale neighbourhood of the former ...

. Her parents were originally from Nova Scotia, and when Brown was in her late teens, they and her sister Susan moved back to that province. Brown remained in Toronto, and eventually embarked on a career in television and radio broadcasting. Brown currently lives in Nova Scotia.

Broadcasting

She was a host on the

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

program ''

The NewMusic ''The NewMusic'' was a weekly music and culture television newsmagazine that aired on the Canadian television stations owned by CHUM Limited: MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, Citytv, A-Channel and CP24. Created by John Martin, and intended to combine ...

'' from 1985 to 1990. She interviewed numerous musicians for this show, including jazz performer

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

in 1988. As well, Brown worked as a VJ on the

Much Music 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, ...

channel. She also hosted '' Pepsi Power Hour'' for the music station. In 1984 Brown had a cameo in Corey Hart's video for " Sunglasses at Night". After leaving

, Brown was a reporter for the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

news show '' The Journal'', and then host of '' On the Arts'' for

CBC Newsworld CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

. She was also one of the Canadian hosts of

2000 Today ''2000 Today'' was an internationally broadcast television special to commemorate the beginning of the Year 2000. This program included New Year's Eve celebrations, musical performances, and other features from participating nations. Most inte ...

, an ambitious international

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

broadcast. Brown has also hosted '' Toronto Biographies'' for Rogers Television and '' Front Row Fridays'' for

Treasure HD Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

. From March 2007 until September 2017, Brown hosted '' The Signal'' on

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

. Originally she hosted the show from Monday to Friday, after budget cuts forced changes at CBC, Brown took over the weekend editions of the show as well. After the debut of ''

The Strombo Show ''The Strombo Show'' is a Canadian radio show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, which has aired since 2005."Stroumboulopoulos just can't stopoulopoulos; New CBC Radio Show". ''National Post'', November 7, 2009. The show originated on Standard B ...

'' on Sunday evenings, ''The Signal'' aired 6 times a week, Monday to Saturday at 10 PM until 12 midnight (ON EST), with Brown continuing as the sole host of the show. She also introduced each show's featured weekly host, a different classical artist who chooses favorites for ''This Is My Music'' Saturday mornings on

10 AM ET.

Podcasting

In January 2018 she launched a new podcast called "Pondercast", featuring original compositions by musician Joshua Van Tassel.

Writing

Brown has published one book, ''Success Without College: Days and Nights in Rock & Roll TV'', and in 2017 was working on a novel, tentatively titled ''The Night Will Always Win''.

Bibliography

* Brown, Laurie, ''Success Without College: Days and Nights in Rock & Roll TV'' (1994, Penguin) *

References

External links

Laurie Brown profile
on CBC Program Guide
CBC Radio 2: The Signal

National Arts Centre: Paul Gross and Laurie Brown - A speakers series worth celebrating! The NAC English Theatre Celebrity Speakers Series gets underway

2017 Career Overview Interview with Innerviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Laurie 1957 births Canadian television hosts CBC Radio hosts Living people Canadian women television personalities People from Toronto Canadian women radio hosts Canadian women television hosts Canadian VJs (media personalities) Much (TV channel) personalities