Martin Streek (June 16, 1964 – July 6, 2009) was a Canadian radio DJ known for his work on CFNY-FM (102.1 the Edge) in Toronto, Ontario.
Martin and his colleagues would visit high schools, colleges and universities all over Southern Ontario as part of the CFNY Video Roadshow.
His voice was also heard nationwide on behalf of a lengthy list of notable advertising clients, including Powerade, Rogers Wireless, Oh Henry, Acura Dealers, Scotiabank, Oil of Olay and the Toronto Sun.
Until his departure in May 2009, he hosted the Thursday 30, a four-hour-long show that counted down the top 30 songs of the past week (collected via record sales and listener voting), and introduced new music (a segment called the "Groundbreakers"), with flashbacks to a previous year's countdown, as Streek recalled the top five songs of that week in a certain previous year.
Streek was a fan of Tool, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Nirvana, and Depeche Mode, in addition to The Clash.
The shows were broadcast commercial-free, and Streek would cut in between songs urging listeners to "Come out early and stay late," which became his trademark phrase.
[10] Alan Cross, the former program director at 102.1 the Edge, called Streek: "The most charming dude I ever met," and that "The guy lived to make people laugh and to entertain."
Former colleague, Todd Shapiro, called Streek an inspiration on this blog, posting: "You were wonderful, caring, passionate, positive, energetic..and man, were you humorous.
On his site, former Edge music director Kneale Mann wrote on the night of Martin's passing; "What I loved most about Streek was his sense of humor – he was hilarious!
We drove around, talked candidly about life and the radio industry, played some new music in my car, went for a great lunch and that day will always make me smile.
Before an encore at a Broken Social Scene show in Toronto on July 11, Brendan Canning dedicated a song to Streek, announcing that "This one is for a good friend of mine who recently took his life in the name of rock and roll!"
The video for Die Mannequin's Bad Medicine, released in late 2009, has a dedication to Streek at the end of the clip.