CHOM vet Renaud to succeed Tootall
Broadcaster looks forward to new role
It was no small task picking a successor to the legendary Tootall, who wraps up his remarkable 40-year run at CHOM-FM on Friday. But the station has come up with the best of replacements, Randy Renaud, a veteran CHOM broadcaster whose knowledge of and passion for music — from Canadian indies to classic rockers to the blues masters of yore — matches that of even his predecessor.
Renaud, who begins his new 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekday shift on Monday, started at CHOM 30 years ago and has been hosting weekend afternoons for the last 15 years. He has also programmed and hosted such shows as Blue Monday, The Black Cat Alley and Classic Vinyl Sunday.
“Listeners will find the transition from Tootall to Randy to be an easy one,” said Picard, CHOM’s assistant program director and music director. “He’s curious, informative, passionate about music and able to link the musical evolution
He’s curious, informative, passionate about music and able to link the musical evolution of CHOM from its past to our present.
of CHOM from its past to our present. Randy is the perfect fit for middays on CHOM.”
Renaud is up for the gig. “I am honoured and exhilarated by this opportunity,” he told the Montreal Gazette. “I joined CHOM exactly 30 years ago this summer, and it was already a legendary station on the Canadian radio landscape. It has been a long, strange trip these past 30 years. But the best stage is about to commence.
“It is a tall order — if you’ll pardon the pun — to step into Tootall’s Size 13 shoes, as he has always represented, to me, the gold standard of rock radio hosting. But it is also a comfortable fit because, like T.T. — as I call him — I am a geek of rock lore, fascinated by the legendary stories that make up the annals of rock. And nothing gives me greater pleasure than having the chance, daily, to share those stories with my fellow Montrealers.”
To mark Tootall’s contributions to CHOM, the station is presenting A Tribute to Tootall, Friday evening at Club Soda. The show, which sold out within hours of being announced, will feature some of Tootall’s favourite acts — the Box, Sam Roberts, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Damn Truth, among others he has promoted over the years.