Rusted From the Rain

In the late 80s and early 90s, I lived in New York and make frequent trips to Ottawa and Montreal. In the latter, there was a radio station called CKMF in Montreal that played mostly French-language pop/rock. There is nothing quite like being bundled in a parka tooling along the icy 417 headed from Montreal to Ottawa (Mrs. H's hometown), aiming between the snow drifts in a little Ford Escort, listening to the curious blend of 98% rapidly-spoken French with perfectly articulated English words thrown in. And there is a good bit of music that is largely unheard in the States, by both English- and French-speaking Canadians. CKMF always came in loud and clear, and had quite a mix of music.

In those days, the CKMF radio announcer would frequently identify the call sign of the station in a high-energy, loud, gravelly, manly voice (not unlike the stereotypical American promoter of "monster trucks"): "Quatre-vingt-quatorze, virgule trois, C-K-M-F, Montréal!" The station's frequency is 94,3 (with the comma replacing the period in our convention).

The announcer would really emphasize the first syllable of "virgule" (comma), "VIR-gule!"

I can just imagine the coaching that went on in the studio to get the right sound. If the "VIR-gule!" guy from CKMF is a Fr. H. reader (and my actually winning a million British pounds is more likely), I would like an exclusive interview...

Anyway, thanks to the Interwebs, we don't have to be in a Ford Escort in Québec to listen to CKMF 94,3. You can go to their site here and click on the little arrow and stream it in. They even have a little graphic of the particular music that is playing now. They don't seem to have the same announcement of the station, and in fact, they are pushing their corporate persona more than their call letters these days (NRJ, which means "énergie").

While listening to a little of the countdown yesterday, I ran across the above video of the tune Rusted From the Rain by the Canadian band Billy Talent.

It's pop music. It's nothing of an eternal or deeply profound nature, but I enjoyed the performance and the musicality of it. I thought the video was interesting, and (I might be wrong about this) I suspect that this band is much better known in Canada than in the U.S. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't - but you can watch for free right here.

And if you're a student of the French language, a Canada-phile, or just looking for something a little different to listen to musically, keep CKMF in mind. And again, if you are the VIR-gule guy, shoot me an e-mail and let me know how things are going in La Belle Province.