[1] A native of Montreal, Quebec, he began his radio career working for CBM, the CBC Radio station in Montreal, before joining CKLC in Kingston, Ontario.
[2] He joined CHUM in 1957 when the station shifted from its original full service format to become the city's first Top 40 radio station,[2] and thus served as the most influential morning host in Canada during the dawn of rock 'n roll.
[3] With CHUM, he was also known for introducing elements of comedy that were unconventional on radio at the time, including stunts, character comedy sketches and a daily "World's Worst Joke" feature that would become widely syndicated to radio stations throughout North America, and spawned several spinoff books and a compilation album over the course of his career.
[3] With a band called The Rhythm Pals, consisting of musicians Mike Ferbey, Marc Wald and Jack Jensen, he recorded the novelty country single "The Ballad of the Dying Cowboy", which was a modest local hit in the Toronto area in 1960.
[9] In the same era, he was a cast member in the CBC Television sketch comedy series Zut!,[10] a writer for Let's Call the Whole Thing Orff,[11] and a contributor of comedic commentary segments to Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date.