1980 EDITION
This was the year I was first introduced to the Big 500. I remember the weekend this aired in March 1980 because my brother and I went to the R.O.M. (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto with my parents that Saturday. (Later we shopped, and I got Blondie’s Eat To The Beat album). Of course, I missed a bit of the countdown during this excursion but, this being my first experience with the Big 500, I was not familiar with about half of the songs, and I mostly listened for the recent hits that I had heard on the Top 100 of 1979. This was the first time I can remember hearing what would become one of my favorite oldies—Sugar Shack. Just before it aired, my Mom told me I would like this song—and she was right! Another life-long favorite of mine--Jive Talkin’—was first heard here. Hamilton’s reputation as being a rock-and-roll city was certainly exemplified here with songs by Queen, Styx, Boston and Kansas and the like all figuring prominently. The 1980 Big 500 Pop Poster was the “Beatles Tribute Edition”, with their photo on the front. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1980 BIG 500

1981 EDITION
My second Big 500 was a similar experience to the first. I was listening mostly to hear the songs from 1980 and a few of the “oldies” I had heard and fell in love with the previous year. This is where I first heard Richard Harris’ version of MacArthur Park, the Crystals rendition of Da Doo Ron Ron, as well as my favorite Beatles song, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. During the initial March broadcast, I again missed a chunk of the countdown—this time on the Sunday afternoon because my Mom and Grandma took my brother and I to see the film 9 To 5. This countdown was a memorable, enjoyable experience for me in both its initial spring and encore fall broadcasts. There were a record 29 Beatles songs on the Big 500 this year. The 1981 Big 500 Pop Poster was dedicated to John Lennon, in honor of his then-recent passing. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1981 BIG 500

1982 EDITION
A turning point as this was the year I began writing down all the songs. I also discovered I was able to memorize the whole thing in a remarkably short time! In the fall I also won my first Big 500 Pop Poster when I called into the station during one of their contests. I didn’t win the cash but was just as happy with my “consolation prize”. Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes premieres at #10, the highest Big 500 ranking ever for a female solo artist. A handful of my all-time favorite rockers—I Can See For Miles, Sunshine Of Your Love and Touch Me, were first heard here. Many of the songs from 1980 that had premiered last year made impressive jumps this year. For all the above reasons, this to me was probably the “definitive” Big 500. This year’s Big 500 Pop Poster paid tribute to the Rolling Stones. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1982 BIG 500

1983 EDITION
This edition was special because not only was I able to track how each and every song had done since the previous year (because of my memorization of the whole darn thing), but because this was the first year I actually voted. This year’s countdown seemed to have more “new” re-entries than previous years—mostly songs from the early ‘60s by artists such as Connie Francis, the Everly Brothers, The Drifters, The Shirelles, Lesley Gore, Sam Cooke and others. As this ‘60s renaissance was taking off, many of the ‘70s hits either dropped off the Big 500 or took huge nosedives this year. Abba’s Waterloo was the biggest “loser” tumbling to #483 from #185. Other Abba hits as well as songs by Paul McCartney & Wings and Stevie Wonder were quickly losing popularity on the 500, signaling the fact that the ‘70s were definitely passe. The 1983 Big 500 Pop Poster was the Beach Boys tribute edition. This time, however, their photo and a discography appeared on the back, replacing the usual illustrations of the CKOC dee-jays. Several lesser-known Beach Boys hits such as When I Grow Up To Be A Man, Sloop John B. and Dance, Dance, Dance premiered this year. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1983 BIG 500

1984 EDITION
I found this edition a little odd in that there were some re-entries but they were all over the map as far as coming from any particular genre or era. Songs like I Was Made To Love Her, Be True to Your School and David Bowie's Fame. On top of that, many of the songs that plunged down the list last year slightly recovered this year. This was never one of my favorite editions, despite the fact that two of my "new" favorites did well. I’m Livin’ In Shame made an impressive re-entry at #69 and My Boyfriend’s Back which had re-entered last year at #380 skyrocketed up to #48. Michael Jackson, here at the height of his popularity, was honored on the back of the 1984 Big 500 Pop Poster with a photo and discography. Many of his pre-Thriller hits like She’s Out of My Life and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough re-entered as did some early ‘70s Jackson Five hits. The station received such an overwhelming audience response for this countdown that the weekend after it originally ran, they aired an encore presentation of the Top 100 songs from it. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1984 BIG 500

1985 EDITION
This edition aired a little later than usual (at the end of April) and like the 1983 version, had MANY re-entries. The difference being that most all of them were early ‘80s hits that had been on a year or two, dropped off, and now reappeared. The ‘70s hits were few and far between as that decade was now almost forgotten, so the majority of hits were from the 1980’s and the ‘60’s (which was enjoying a huge renaissance at this point in time). This edition was special to me because this was the year that many of my all-time faves (Like a Virgin, It’s My Party, Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In) actually cracked the Top 100. Johnny Angel made an impressive leap to #44 from #449. This 405-point jump was the biggest ever until Billy Joel topped it in 1991. The Big 500 Pop Posters took on a new look this year. They were larger in size, and printed on glossy paper. Instead of paying tribute to a single artist, photos of then-current and popular artists such as Platinum Blonde, Bryan Adams and Duran Duran appeared. The distinctive and sometimes eerie background music that was played in between songs while the announcers gave a little backstory to each of the Big 500 hits was discontinued this year. This was a shame really, because it actually gave Big 500 listeners a sense of familiarity and added a lot of atmosphere to the whole listening experience. It would still appear sparingly between a few songs here and there in the next few years, but it wasn't the same. Soon the magic would be gone. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1985 BIG 500

1986 EDITION
In my opinion, this was the last hurrah of the Big 500. Like the previous year, there were mostly hits from the ‘80s and ‘60s with very few re-entries (but most all re-entries were mid-‘60s hits). Also, a lot of the ‘80s hits that had re-entered or debuted on the 1985 edition dropped down the list. Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA made an impressive entry at #32, despite the fact it never appeared the previous year even though it was released in 1984 and never made the CKOC All Hit 40. This was also the last year that some of the better announcers such as Dale Parker and Scott Harris appeared before leaving the station. This year’s Big 500 Pop Poster was the same format at last year’s except it contained photos of Corey Hart, Simple Minds, Dire Straits and the Rolling Stones. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1986 BIG 500

1987 EDITION
It is at this point I believe the Big 500 changed—and not for the better. The most disconcerting factor was that the songs seemed to either drop or climb in such an organized way that one could not help notice that the whole thing seemed to be compiled by the station rather than by tabulating listener votes. Also, a HUGE amount of ‘60s hits disappeared this year and were replaced by early-to-mid ‘70s hits, with mellow rock songs such as Seasons In The Sun, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Saturday In The Park and the like being extremely popular. Some ‘70s rockers such as Lola, We’re An American Band and You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet also returned after being absent for a few years. Elvis Presley's All Shook Up takes the biggest tumble of any song on the Big 500 since 1980, plunging from #63 to #483, a HUGE 420-point drop. From this point forward, the Big 500 was never as enjoyable an experience as it had been previously. The promos that introduced every 3rd or 4th song were the same ones that had been used during the 1985 Edition. There were also several new announcers without much experience hosting this countdown who had trouble pronouncing some of the artists’ names (such as Shelley Fabares and Zager & Evans) on the vintage hits. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1987 BIG 500

1988 EDITION
The trend of the previous year (with the countdown coming across as rather scripted) continues. However, many of the ‘70s hits that re-entered last year took big drops this year. The re-entries were mostly late ‘60s fare such as Sugar Sugar, Love Child, Groovin’ and Hello I Love You. I actually enjoyed this edition better than the 1987 Big 500, despite the fact that the station developed a practice of playing three or four songs in succession then recapping instead of announcing each hit separately. The little blurbs that used to accompany each song have by this point become a distant memory, which caused the countdown to lack the “special event” status it used to wear proudly. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1988 BIG 500

1989 EDITION
Yawn. This countdown was a disappointment. The whole thing came across as the most scripted affair to date. Not many re-entries this year either. This would probably rank as my least favorite of all the Big 500 countdowns CKOC aired. The only positive things I can say are that one of my all-time faves, Hush by Deep Purple, re-entered after a three-year hiatus and Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) made an impressive debut at #48 despite the fact it was only #30 on the Top 100 of 1988. The magic was definitely gone, and ultimately, the end was near. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1989 BIG 500

1990 EDITION
A slight improvement over the previous year, though the whole thing again seemed to be compiled by the station’s employees. They were still soliciting votes, though the whole practice seemed pointless by this point. I was listening more out of habit than anything else, hoping in vain the countdown would return to its former glory days. There were very few re-entries this year. Also, many of the debut songs (here, from 1989) were crammed into the 400-500 range—with one popping up every 2nd or 3rd song—instead of appearing randomly throughout the countdown as in previous years. This countdown aired in April 1990 when CKOC was relocating its offices from its long-time home at 73 Garfield Ave S. to its new location at 883 Upper Wentworth. As a result, there were a few understandable technical glitches that occurred during the weekend. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1990 BIG 500

1991 EDITION
This was one strange countdown! There were no votes collected this year. Many of the songs I thought would be on here forever—Sherry, To Sir With Love, Bette Davis Eyes—disappeared. What was even more jarring was the fact that they were all replaced by a slew of songs that had never before been heard on CKOC’s airwaves. Hard-rock fare by artists such as AC/DC, Tragically Hip, Aerosmith, Red Rider, and the Alarm popped up all over the place. Almost half the countdown this year resembled a Q-107 playlist. This became even more bizarre because in between all the wailing guitars were the leftover veteran Big 500 hits like Stop! In The Name of Love, All I Have To Do Is Dream, and The Wanderer. Something was definitely going on at the station, but listeners wouldn’t found out exactly what until nearly a year later. Of note, Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire claimed the distinction of making the largest leap ever on the Big 500. It catapulted to #34 from #446 last year. This 412-point leap was never equaled. Madonna placed eight songs on this year’s countdown—a record for a female solo artist. This would be the final Big 500 that ran on CKOC in its familiar format, ending a long-running radio-listening tradition for Southern Ontarians. In February 1992 they switched to an all-oldies format that continues today. VIEW THE COMPLETE 1991 BIG 500