#239 And here’s to you, Mr. Robinson

January 25th, 2018

Red Robinson: The Last Deejay

by Robin Brunet

Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2016.

$29.95 / 9781550177695

Reviewed by Lani Russwurm

From vaudeville to punk rock, entertainment looms larger than it probably should in Vancouver’s history, considering the city’s dinky stature for most of its existence. One reason for this is the people who made show business their life and Vancouver their base. Ivan Ackery and Hugh Pickett come to mind, and, of course, Red Robinson.

Red Robinson: The Last Deejay is technically a biography, but it feels like Robinson’s memoir. To author Robin Brunet’s credit, he stays out of the way of his subject.

The book traces Robinson’s career in broadcasting, beginning in the 1950s as a teenager. Most Vancouver-raised boomers would enjoy this nostalgic romp through the rock ‘n’ roll era, but very few would relate to the life lived by the protagonist when radio personalities rivalled the music stars they promoted. Robinson rose to local fame as a radio disc jockey just as rock ‘n’ roll was bursting into the mainstream and he was still in high school.

Red Robinson with Buddy Holly

Soon he was earning more money than most adults, driving a shiny new red convertible, hanging out with stars, and fending off teenaged girls. Not bad for a kid from a Comox Valley logging family still living with his mom in East Vancouver.

Predictably, the main strength of the book is that it contains numerous anecdotes about Robinson’s celebrity encounters. Brunet goes into considerable detail on Robinson’s time with Elvis Presley in 1957 during his first and only Vancouver show, which Robinson emceed.

Even in those early days of Elvis’s career, Robinson tells us, there was already a melancholy about him over not being able to live a normal life. For Elvis to enjoy amusement park rides back home, he told Red at the PNE, meant renting the entire fair grounds and making do with the companionship of his handlers (pp. 92-3).

Robinson’s own celebrity status was obviously on a vastly smaller scale than Elvis’s, but he too was somewhat detached from his peers in the 1950s, making things like dating extra complicated. But in Robinson’s case, the benefits seem to have more than made up for the isolation.

With Johnny Cash, 1959

His talents aside, and as Red Robinson: The Last Deejay makes abundantly clear, he lucked out at being the right guy at the right time, and he had a blast.

By the late 1960s, the zeitgeist that had served him so well was leaving Red Robinson behind as rock ‘n’ roll mutated into the harder and psychedelic “rock music” that didn’t resonate with him. His subsequent forays into television, country music broadcasting, and into a second lucrative career as an advertising executive provide fascinating glimpses into the times and into the lesser-known chapters in his life.

For instance, Robinson and his colleagues at an advertising firm responded to gross mismanagement by quitting and starting their own agency. This “staff fire their boss” story was reported in the advertising industry press, and, according to Robinson, inspired an episode of the television series Mad Men (p. 171).

Brunet provides ample context and consults many of Red’s acquaintances for their points of view, including other deejays. He quotes extensively from music manager Bruce Allen (Michael Bublé, Bryan Adams, etc.), who criticizes Robinson for his modesty and lack of ambition.

Robinson’s own perspective is perhaps not always humble, but he comes across as insightful and genuine, and he isn’t stingy with giving others their due.

Red Robinson: The Last Deejay is a compelling biography of a local icon that does everything a book of this nature should.

Lani Russwurm

Lani Russwurm researches and writes about Vancouver history for his Past Tense Vancouver blog. He is the author of Vancouver Was Awesome: A Curious Pictorial History (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2013) and has contributed to numerous local publications and history projects, including Vancouver Confidential (Anvil Press, 2014).

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