Radio, music legend honoured as pioneer
A Niagara-on-the-Lake man who spun vinyl on CHUM and had a hand in the forerunners of The Band was recently honoured for being a pioneer in the Canadian music industry.
Duff Roman made his name in radio as well as recording and artist management.
He was a well-known on-air personality in Toronto with 1050 CHUM, where he began working in 1965, and during that time became a pioneer record-label owner and manager of musicians, including The Paupers and Grammy Award winner David Clayton-Thomas, who later went on to be part of Blood Sweat and Tears.
His label, Roman Records, also produced Little Caesar and The Consuls and the first recordings of Levon and the Hawks, forerunners of The Band (featuring Robbie Robertson), who backed Bob Dylan.
Roman was recently honoured with the Brian Chater Pioneer Award from the Canadian Music Managers Forum, for his early accomplishments as a record producer and manager of Canadian musical talent and his work as the founding president of the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records (FACTOR), which is dedicated to providing financial assistance for the growth and development of the Canadian independent recording industry.
Now, 35 years after he founded FACTOR, its budget tops $19 million for producing Canadian content.
“It triggered the involvement of radio broadcasting in funding,” he said, and led to Canadian content legislation and giving Canadian artists a more level playing field to compete against their American counterparts.
It’s not the first award for Roman, who has stayed active in the broadcasting industry. In 1986, he received the Major Market Radio Executive of the Year Award. The Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) named him broadcaster of the year in March 1996. In 2001, he was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame and in 2006 was one of the first broadcasters inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. In 2010, he received the OAB Lifetime Achievement Award.
Since forming Duff Roman Media Inc. in 2009, he has been involved in SmartGrid demand-response technology development, radio consulting services and TV documentary production.
Although he and his wife Sandra moved to Niagara-onthe-Lake from Oakville expecting “full retirement mode,” he still is not retired. They love their Weatherstone Court home, and when he’s not consulting or serving on boards, there is no shortage of opportunities for Roman to enjoy two of his favourite hobbies close to home — craft beer and golf.