Whether it’s rock stars passing through on a whirlwind tour, or local up-and-coming performers who had yet to make it big, Global News has had a front-row seat for B.C.’s biggest entertainment stories of the past 60 years.
Here is a look back at some of Global BC’s biggest brushes with fame.
The Beatles
Johnny Cash
Not long after The Man in Black recorded his legendary 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison, he visited Vancouver where he was interviewed by CHAN’s Chuck Davis.
His dark-coloured jacket blending into the black background, Cash told CHAN that he had long enjoyed playing for audiences in prison.
Davis asked Cash if part of the inspiration for At Folsom Prison came from the fact he had spent time in jail.
“Well, not for long,” interrupted Cash.
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Davis noted that some popular country musicians of the era, such as Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, grew to dislike being referred to as “country” artists.
Cash didn’t seem too worried about labels.
“Call me the way you see me,” he said.
Monty Python
Comedy troupe Monty Python made an appearance on Global News, then known as BCTV, back in June 1973 before a live show at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The troupe took part in a series of improvised “man on the street” interviews, in which John Cleese implores Prince Philip to “come clean about his toupee.”
BCTV weatherman Norm Grohmann then conducts an interview with Monty Python that quickly deteriorates into bedlam.
Tom Jones
Back in 1981, singer Tom Jones and a group of friends spent a weekend partying at a B.C. ranch with a crew from BCTV in tow.
The Welsh Wonder, along with a group that included Vancouver restauranteur Umberto Menghi and socialite Jacqui Cohen, flew by helicopter to 108 Mile Ranch for a weekend of eating, drinking, merriment and a few games of snooker.
BCTV reporter John Daly was invited to chronicle it all.
“These were crazy party animals,” Daly recalled. “They were skeet shooting, horseback riding, and everything. I was there to document it, but I was loath to partake in too much of it.”
Bryan Adams
On Sept. 2, 1985, Bryan Adams capped his worldwide tour in support of his best-selling album Reckless with a sold-out crowd at Pacific Coliseum. BCTV sat down with Adams, and looked back at his humble beginnings in North Vancouver, where he worked as a dishwasher at The Tomahawk Restaurant.
Echoing the name of his 1991 album Waking Up the Neighbours, one former neighbour remembered Adams as the nice but loud boy who grew up next door.
“His whole life was music,” Adams’ former neighbour Sheila Strachan said. “He would live, eat, and breathe it.”
“I can remember my husband rapping on the door and saying, “Bryan, you’ve kept us awake all night. Can you please just shut it down?”
Michael Bublé
Long before he became an international recording star, Burnaby’s Michael Bublé was a Sinatra-loving 20-something who crooned the night away at Vancouver’s long-departed BaBalu Lounge.
In a 1997 interview with Global BC’s Zack Spencer, Bublé explained how he developed a love of music through his grandfather, who would play Sinatra, The Platters, and The Four Aces on his record player.
Bublé was sporting a pompadour and sideburns during the interview as he was also performing in a local production of Red Rock Diner, a musical based on the life of local broadcaster Red Robinson, where he played what he called an “Elvis-like” character.
k.d. lang
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