"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017. 

Here are all 19 episodes of the show that wrapped up Red's 60-year radio career. 

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at FriesenPress, Indigo, Chapters and Coles, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, Google Play and Apple Books.

We dedicate The Last Broadcast to the memory of a true radio legend: our friend Pat O'Day, who passed away August 4, 2020. For more on Pat's amazing career, you'll want to pick up his autobiography, "It Was All Just Rock'n'Roll" at Amazon - amzn.to/3pQKBVi

Dee Lippingwell photo

The Last Broadcast *COMPLETE*

Robinson, O’Day, and Allen banter as they consult their music sheets (each have selected their own songs to be played over the next several hours). At 10:25, Factora gives them the go ahead, and through the speakers an announcer introduces Robinson, followed by the first few bars of `Rebel Rouser’ by Duane Eddy. Effortlessly, Robinson chimes in;

“Hey, my favourite theme over the years: `Rebel Rouser’ with Duane Eddy, and that’s what I was: a rebel rouser. But it didn’t matter, I was doing what I loved. And here we are, the final show on this Sunday, and I have two very special guests here: Pat O’Day, who used to be the program director of KJR in Seattle, and we exchanged a lot of things over the years….”

“Had a lot of fun,” O’Day interjects. “And a lot of mutual respect.”

“That’s true, very much so.”

O’Day shoots his old friend a cocked eyebrow. “You tried to make inroads into my audience in Seattle, and I resented that, but forgave you.”

Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is available now in paperback and ebook from friesenpress.com and chaptersindigo.ca

The Last Broadcast: Episode 1

"On the hot summer morning of August 24th, 2017, 62 years and nine months after he first leaned into a radio station microphone and spoke to British Columbians as a bona fide deejay, Red Robinson is about to become unemployed – again.

But if losing Red Rock Diner, his six-year old show on CISL, weighs heavily on him, he keeps it to himself as he drives to the Richmond station one last time from his home in Vancouver, with wife Carole in the back seat and Seattle deejay Pat O’Day beside him. The glass and metal clutter of downtown recedes in his rear view mirror as he crosses the Oak Street Bridge onto Highway 99, and he keeps the conversation breezy, tells jokes, and occasionally swears at tailgaters." 

In this episode, Red and Bruce Allen reminisce about one of Elvis' favourite artists, the late Roy Hamilton.

Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is available now in paperback and ebook from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

The Last Broadcast: Episode 2

Here's another excerpt from Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"But as soon as he enters his studio and sees O’Day and Allen glance up at him, the wave of emotion settles. He’s back in his element with two old pros.

Immediately they launch into the next talk segment, on the heels of Roy Hamilton’s 'You Can Have Her' and Elvis Presley’s 'Don’t Be Cruel'. “Perfect,” Robinson intones as the last note of the Elvis song is piped through the speakers. “Bruce, I threw in Elvis because you and I and Pat worked with him. I know you booked him across the country; did you ever spend any time with him?”

In this episode, Bruce and Pat remember Elvis, the guys talk about "race music", Pat tells us about Elvis' health issues, Bruce on Colonel Parker's role in Elvis' career.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 3

Here's another excerpt from Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"Robinson’s internal clock hits zero, coinciding with the digital readout on the glass wall facing them. 'Hey, this is the Red Rock Diner, it’s the final show. My guests, Bruce Allen and Pat O’Day; I'm so happy to have them here. Coming up: Roy Orbison, after this break.'"

In this episode, Red talks about his friendship with Roy Orbison and Roy's life, Bruce salutes rock pioneer Dion DiMucci.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 4

Here's the latest from Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

As the final note of 'Fortune Teller’ wafts through the speakers, Robinson tells his listeners, "I remember that record. Bobby was known in Canada and I thought this was such a hit. It was recorded in Nashville, not here. We didn’t have the infrastructure then, did we, Bruce?"

'No.'

“And so I said, 'give me a copy of that’. And I sent one to you, and Pat, you played it and it charted in Seattle.”

“Yes, it did.”

“And I sent another copy to KPOI in Hawaii, to Ron Jacobs.  And between the two of you, Curtola got on the charts in America.”

Also in this episode, Pat recalls a great story about "Wooly Bully" and the guys reminisce about one of Bruce's favourites, a one-hit wonder by the Redwoods.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 5

Here's the latest from Robin Brunet's new book Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

O’Day suddenly asks, “Do we have time for a Sinatra story?”

“Sure.”

O’Day leans into the microphone lovingly. “Originally, KJR in Seattle was owned by Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye, but Sinatra had never been to the station. Now, the year is 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair is going on, and Frank Sinatra says he’s coming to Seattle to the fair and to visit his radio station. 

“Well, everybody panicked because the station was so outmoded. So big money was spent. Frederick & Nelson's interior decoration department came in and installed carpets and a new kitchen, and it was just glorious, and now comes the day Frank Sinatra is supposed to visit. Everyone has their coats and ties on. There are flowers on the desks. There are little sandwiches and snacks, and the staff is waiting in breathless anticipation for his 2:00 p.m. arrival.”

The Last Broadcast: Episode 6

It's the book that talks! Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

It’s 11:11 a.m., and the second hour of Robinson’s final broadcast when Wink Martindale phones in from California. Listeners don’t know the backstory of his relationship with Robinson, but that’s not important. The only thing that matters is the sharing of stories and name-dropping that, due to their sheer volume, demonstrate how exciting life can be when one follows one’s passions, no matter how unusual they are.

O’Day’s eyes light up upon hearing Martindale’s cultivated southern accent. “It’s a joy hearing your voice again,” he says. “The last time you and I were together was at a poker game at Helen Noga’s house. She was Johnny Mathis’s manager, and he was upstairs asleep. Do you remember that?”

“I certainly do, and I remember losing,” Martindale replies. “That’s what I remember the most about that poker game.”

In this episode, Wink shares a great story about Glen Campbell working with Frank Sinatra and updates us on his game show career.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 7

It's the book with its own radio show, and Wink Martindale is on the phone from Los Angeles!

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017. 

"As Robinson smiles, Martindale says, 'Someone asked me yesterday, 'Do you ever think about retiring?’ And I think about Art Linkletter’s line and reply: 'Retire from what? Hell, I'm not tired.’

What Robinson thinks about this remark is anyone’s guess, but speculation is cut short by Red stating, 'Wink, I appreciate all of this, the great stories: that’s what radio used to be all about.'

'Yes. We used to be able to get on the air and talk like that. It didn't matter whether it took five seconds, or five minutes. We would tell a story and tie it to the music, and unfortunately these good days are gone forever.'

In this episode, Wink tells the story of his 1959 million-seller 'Deck of Cards', and working with Vancouver broadcaster Wayne Cox on a couple of TV game shows.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 8

Don't touch that dial! The radio show in a book, Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

"Defining a certain era as 'the good old days' is entirely subjective, but while show producer Art Factora expects decades from now to tell his son how magical the early years of the 21st century were, he appreciates that Robinson and his contemporaries back in their time thrived on achievement rather than entitlement, and that everyone’s skins were a lot thicker, and that adversity was viewed as a necessary part of the game. 

'I envy a lot of things about their era,' he says. 'You could talk freely and express a whole range of ideas. You were responsible for your own success or failure – there was no nanny state to make excuses on your behalf. Things didn’t seem so watered down back then.'”

In this episode, Pat and Bruce recall the recording of Strangers In The Night, the guys swap stories about Jimmy Bowen, Bruce tells the story behind Elvis' biggest hit Suspicious Minds, and Red and Bruce pay tribute to the late Charlie Rich.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 9

The book you can listen to, Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

"Robinson happily includes The Beatles in his playlist for the final broadcast, and instead of recounting yet again the pandemonium at Empire Stadium 53 years and two days ago, he asks O’Day if he emceed the band in Seattle for KJR.

'Yes I did, but my story goes back before that,' O’Day replies. 'Little known, Murray the K in New York claims he was the first to play The Beatles in the U.S. Not true! The first Beatles record played on the radio in the U.S. was by KJR, and it was 'Please Please Me.'" 

In this episode, Pat recalls his part in the instant success of the record, and he shares a story about how Paul McCartney's wedding to actress Jane Asher after the Beatles' 1966 Seattle concert turned out to be an elaborate prank.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 10

You've heard the radio, now read the book! Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, is available now from friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

In this episode, the guys recall Ray Charles' roots in Seattle; Red and Pat share how they helped make Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" a multi-millon seller in 1963.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 11

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

O’Day, who is emerging as the trio’s prime storyteller and who shares Robinson’s knack for shifting gears, interrupts. “Speaking of funny Hawaiian twists, Tom Rounds was the music director of KPOI in Honolulu,” he says in his melodious manner of speaking. “I’m over there on vacation, I think it’s ’64, and we were sitting in his office opening packages of new records, and we put on this thing from MGM and listened to it. I said, 'God, that is the strangest thing. I think it’s a hit.’  

“Tom Rounds says, 'I agree.’  So, I called the station in Seattle right away. I said, 'There’s a record on MGM, you got to get it out of the envelope, get it on the air right now. I am telling you it’s a hit.’” 

O’Day gets to the punch line: “It was Sam The Sham, 'Wooly Bully’. Not one of the greatest artistic achievements of our time, but it went to number one.” Allen and Robinson laugh.

Also in this episode, Red and Bruce talk Neil Diamond; the guys remember an appearance by Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast is out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

The Last Broadcast: Episode 12

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017. Here's another excerpt from Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"Meanwhile, in the lounge, there is joking about the guest format of Robinson’s final broadcast. Someone says to program director Stu Ferguson, 'Whose broadcast is this, anyway?'

Ferguson takes the comment in stride. 'Red’s in his element when he lets others with his experience do the talking.' Although the spotlight has shone on Robinson since his teenage years, he’s part of a tightly knit community of fellow travellers and loves when the attention directed at him is disseminated to include them.

At this point in the broadcast, younger people at CISL may well have wondered why so much attention was being paid to singers who are merely recognizable names in the 21st century, nostalgia value notwithstanding. 

But in a sense, what Robinson, O’Day, and Allen are conducting is a history class. The subject may be pop culture, but as with any subject it’s impossible to fully appreciate today’s trends without understanding what led to them. 

In the case of Elvis Presley, he fused the country-western music of the South with the rhythm and blues of African Americans to form rockabilly, which became one of the key sounds in rock and roll. Without him, musical entertainment today would be entirely different."

In this episode, Pat and Red share their memories of Paul Revere and The Raiders; Bruce tells the story behind Elvis' "If I Can Dream".

The Last Broadcast: Episode 13

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com. Here's another excerpt:

"First up as their mikes go live is a discussion about how radio stations used to be advertised by jingles, complete with catchy lyrics. 'They were infectious,' Robinson tells listeners.

'We wanted them to be in block chords so everybody could sing them and have emotional impact,' says O’Day. 'We didn't do it just to identify the station, we did it as a commercial for the station. We wanted them to be love songs, if you will, about the radio station.

'With the World’s Fair coming to Seattle in 1962, our jingles at KJR were old-fashioned and we needed to do something different; so I sat in the basement and wrote a jingle, which I stole from the Los Angeles station Channel 98. That resulted in a jingle still sung by people in Seattle!'

The KJR jingles are played, and then Robinson plays jingles from C-FUN. The short segment is capped by O’Day acknowledging that the jingles may sound corny in retrospect, but they caused people to whistle the melodies in public: the best mass market advertising any station could hope for."

In this episode, a medley of classic KJR and C-FUN jingles; Red and Pat swap Jerry Lee Lewis concert stories.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 14

Here's another excerpt from Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"When Red Robinson arrived in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame induction ceremony) and the diminutive Brenda Lee approached him, he was momentarily wary. She had been charted in more music categories than any other female in the history of recorded music since her stint in Vancouver, and that was just one of her accomplishments. She had been gracious back then, but what if she was now another Bobby Darin?

The worry was obliterated when Lee hugged him and asked, 'How’s Terry Jacks doing?' 

Of all the things she could have said, this was most unlikely. Jacks was a Vancouver songwriter whose 'Seasons in the Sun’ had been premiered by the broadcaster on CKWX in 1974, leading directly to it selling over 13 million copies worldwide. 'He’s doing great,' Robinson replied, surprised that Jacks was at the forefront of Lee’s mind on this special occasion. 

Jacks had attended one of her performances at The Cave and went backstage later on to introduce himself and tell her of his ambitions. 'Even though he was just another of thousands of hopefuls Lee had encountered, something compelled her to contact Nashville producer Owen Bradley, who in turn assessed Jacks and awarded him with a recording contract.'

Robinson couldn’t shake the fact that Lee, swarmed by the press and facing an auditorium full of fans who had come to witness her induction, was thinking about a protege in the wilds of western Canada. 'I love telling stories about famous people like Lee, because sometimes the more important people become, the more they care for the wellbeing of others,' he says. 'Occasionally it goes the other way, but I’ve been fortunate enough to know more of the good people than the ones who are self-absorbed. Their behaviour is life-affirming.'” 

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017. In this episode, a tribute to Glen Campbell; the guys highlight Lloyd Price's contribution to the new rock'n'roll era.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 15

Here's another excerpt from Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

"Robinson has a reputation of being a nostalgia king, but he is also a prime example of the difference between what broadcasters were during his heyday and what too many are now. 'Back then, deejays were bigger celebrities than the bands, and they didn’t just broadcast, they talked to their audience,' he has explained on many occasions. 'I don’t mean they took calls from listeners, I mean they got behind the mike and truly spoke to them, instead of focusing exclusively on delivering all the contents of a script within certain time parameters. 

I was lucky that I entered the business as a teenager. My audience was mainly teens, so I knew their language, and I spoke to them plenty.'

Although he hasn’t said so since announcing his retirement, Robinson is frustrated that too many deejays today aren’t characters who know how to put on a great show, but puppets whose strained antics barely conceal a blind obedience to convention – which in the new millennium takes the form of political correctness so pervasive that broadcasters tend to censor themselves before regulators have a chance to do so. 'As the old joke goes, you know you’re a veteran deejay if you can remember playing practical jokes on the air without fearing lawsuits.'”

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017. In this episode: Red pays tribute to Buddy Holly, the guys discuss how the relationship between artists and DJs has changed; Elvis picks a classic for "Blue Hawaii", Bruce plays an obscure favourite.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 16

Here's another excerpt from Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

In this episode, the guys pay tribute to John Fogerty; Pat and Bruce recall a scary incident from their past.

"O’Day suspects Robinson may forget to ask him to recount how Allen almost killed him, an incident that stemmed from Allen in the 1970s allowing Concerts West to book Bachman-Turner Overdrive in the U.S. 

So he raises the topic himself on air. “That relationship turned out to be dangerous for me, because we concluded a tour in Dallas, and at the end of a tour back then you always threw a party for the group, right? With Led Zeppelin you got drugs and hookers, but Bachman–Turner Overdrive, those kids were mostly Mormons, so I had to come up with some clean activity to conclude the tour.”

O’Day’s solution was to rent a new, high-speed go kart track in Arlington for the occasion and took over the facility at midnight for an event he called The BTO 500, complete with scoreboard, checkered flags, and time trials. He also persuaded the army veteran who had built and operated the track to remove the speed governors from the karts.

The event unfolded flawlessly until four in the morning and the last lap of the last heat. “I was on the outside and Bruce was on the inside, and we were fighting for the lead,” O’Day recalls. “In the final turn, side by side, engines racing at full power, we collided, and I went through a chain link fence at 60 miles an hour.”

"The Last Broadcast" with Red's special guests Pat O'Day and Bruce Allen, aired on CISL650/Vancouver on August 27, 2017.

The Last Broadcast: Episode 17

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

In this episode, Pat salutes Ray Charles, Bruce plays a favourite by Dean and Jean, the guys pay tribute to Roy Orbison. 

The Last Broadcast podcast is taking a summer vacation! 

We'll return August 27, on the third anniversary of the Last Broadcast, with our thrilling Series Finale! Keep rockin' and stay safe!

The Last Broadcast: Episode 18

We dedicate the final episode of The Last Broadcast to the memory of a true radio legend: our friend Pat O'Day, who passed away August 4. Pat was an inspiration to everyone he met, and his passion for entertainment burned brightly right to the end. 

Here's another excerpt from the book:

"Bruce Allen glances at the faces peering at them from the adjacent studio and through the small square window of the closed door, and he suddenly realizes the end has come. He says into his mike, 'It's been a thrill for me, Red, to sit here with you guys and talk to you, because these stories... this should be eight hours. They should have given us the whole damn day.'

'Agreed, Bruce.' Pat O’Day leans into his mike, intent on making his final words count. 

'I want to say something else about Red, and his phenomenal success from the time he was in high school on through the years. The key to his success - and everybody listen to this - was his ability to use that magical word, "yes". We waste so much time saying "no", and we accomplish nothing with the word "no". But the word "yes" can open the doors to magic. Look what it's done for Red Robinson, as we celebrate his last big radio show.'

Robinson introduces Aretha Franklin, but the song that closes the final broadcast couldn’t be more appropriate: "The Time of my Life," covered by Bill Medley.

But just as they remove their headsets and stand up, producer Art Factora has a small surprise: through the speakers he plays what will be the coda to the show."

Red Robinson: The Last Broadcast, out now at friesenpress.com, chaptersindigo.ca, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnesandnoble.com, play.google.com and books.apple.com

The Last Broadcast COMPLETE

Red Robinson's Legends