SPILL FILM REVIEW: CFNY: THE SPIRIT OF RADIO

CFNY: THE SPIRIT OF RADIO

TVO

JANUARY 6, 2026

Innovative, groundbreaking, revolutionary. These words at one point back in 1977 were ideal descriptors for a radio station at 102.1hz on the FM dial. The station broadcast from a “tiny yellow house” located in Brampton, ON. I’m certain as a kid my family drove by this building, and I had no idea what was happening inside. If I did, I would definitely want to knock on the door and say hi and go in for a visit.

A new documentary covering the “Spirit” years of the station is now available to stream on TVO. The Spirit of Radio is a phrase coined by David Marsden, who became the station’s second programming director, which he thought of while driving back to the station from a downtown Toronto meeting. “The Spirit” encapsulates love, caring about music and having the freedom to be who you are is how Marsden describes it. The phrase also inspired the late Neil Peart to write “The Spirit Of Radio.”

The documentary covers the period from 1977 to 1988. The station had become known for breaking bands in Canada, including OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark), who ended up playing three sold-out shows in the area (Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener) and New Order, who played to almost 30,000 people, their biggest show to that point.  These are just two of the many bands presented in the documentary who credit their worldwide success to the station.

Not only did the station champion international acts, including many UK bands, along with US and Australian, they were also there to support the local and Canadian talent.  The Barenaked Ladies, Spoons, Bruce Cockburn, Teenage Head, amongst many others, received their first radio exposure thanks to the on air talent who were free to play whatever they wanted as long as it was not totally mainstream. Where else would you hear a set consisting of Kate Bush, Faith No More and Stompin’ Tom Connors?

I remember coming across the station in 1983, and it took me a while to get used to the format. I had never heard of most of these bands. It took a while for me to get used to the sounds, but then one day in 1984 it hit me and I didn’t feel the urgency to flip the dial. Hearing bands like R.E.M., Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, and Simple Minds was like a revelation. This definitely paled in comparison to what I had been listening to as a younger kid. I remember hearing the world premiere of Tears For Fears Songs From The Big Chair. They played a track every hour so that you had to have the radio on all day so you wouldn’t miss a song.

The documentary goes through the struggles the station had applying to the CRTC to obtain a stronger signal, how the early station supporters were doing creative things with coat hangers to pull in the signal. It wasn’t until they were able to place a transmitter at the CN Tower that they developed overnight the growth of a much larger audience who could now listen without signals coming and going, depending upon the weather or the direction they happened to be travelling.

As the documentary continues, besides hearing more accolades from the musicians, you find out about the on-air personalities and station history. There were a number of people who were involved in the success. The station did have its growing pains, and this is a key part of the whole story. Ownership changes over the years factored prominently in the format over this time. The station slowly lost its original vision and many of the original players involved left the station to pursue other ventures.

There was a late push to save the station, fueled by the fans, from what was termed “the mistake of 88,” where the new ownership wanted to include songs from the Billboard charts every week. Trying to make the station a hybrid of alternative/top 40. The management’s goal was solely to make money, and this led to Marsden making a plea on the air to sign a petition to save the format of the station. This did succeed for a short time, however at the end resulted in many of the station’s personnel leaving to pursue other ventures.

To this day, there has been nothing like this station in this city. Yes, some imitators are there, but nothing will or can come close to this on the FM dial. Wish I was a bit older so I could have attended more shows and listened to the station earlier. Good to hear that the Spirit lives on. Thanks again to David Marsden and his nythespirit.com, and the latest addition, Music Milestones YYZ, hosted by CFNY alumni Ivar Hamilton and Scot Turner.

It is worth an hour of your time to check this documentary out. It displays perseverance and inspiration and is a very good illustration of how far us music lovers will go to support what we love.

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