Editing David Marsden (section)

==Early career==

Raised in a foster family in Stratford, Ontario, Marsden took on the name "Dave Mickie" using the last name of his foster parents.  Under the name Dave Mickie, he was the original manager of [[The Revols]], a [[Stratford, Ontario]] rock band in the late 1950s whose famous members included, [[Richard Manuel]], who would later become part of [[The Band]]; Ken Kalmusky, who played with Ian and Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird; and, John Till who formed, and played guitar in, Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band. He later became one of Canada's pioneering [[rock music|rock]] DJs on radio, joining [[Chatham, Ontario|Chatham]]'s [[CFCO (AM)|CFCO]] in 1963. Bored with the station's commercial [[easy listening]] music, he reportedly brought in some of his own records one night, breaking format and hosting in an uncharacteristically dynamic style. He was fired the next morning, but was quickly rehired after the station learned his experiment had increased the station's ratings.<ref>[http://www.spiritofradio.ca/Articles/Essay.asp History of CFNY-FM]</ref>

He was later hired at [[CHKT (AM)|CKEY]] in [[Toronto]] where he was called "the most controversial thing on Toronto radio."<ref>"Dave Mickie is back, may go on TV," ''[[Toronto Star]]'', September 20, 1963</ref> He parted ways with CKEY after just five months. He became host of ''[[Music Hop]]'' on [[CBC Television]] in 1965, succeeding [[Alex Trebek]]. He also started writing a column for the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' in the same year. He was the subject of a chapter in [[Marshall McLuhan]]'s book ''[[Understanding Media]]'', which lauded his unique hosting style:

{{blockquote|That's Patty Baby and that's the girl with the dancing feet and that's Freddy Cannon there on the David Mickie Show in the night time ooohbah scuba-doo how are you booboo. Next we'll be Swinging on a Star and sssshhhwwoooo and sliding on a moonbeam. Waaaaa how about that . . . one of the goodest guys with you . . . this is lovable kissable D.M. in the p.m. at 22 minutes past nine o'clock there, aahhrightie, we're gonna have a Hitline, all you have to do is call WAlnut 5-1151, WAlnut 5-1151, tell them what number it is on the Hitline.<ref>[[Marshall McLuhan]], ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man''.</ref>}}

The Dave Mickie name and persona were phased out in the mid-to-late 1960s, and as David Marsden, he joined Montreal's [[CKGM]] in 1967.  Under his own birth name, his hosting style was much less manic and more relaxed, although still informal and often somewhat unpredictable.

In 1969, he moved to CKGM's sister station, [[CHOM-FM|CKGM-FM]], where Marsden was instrumental in switching the station's format from beautiful music to free form progressive rock. In 1973, Marsden returned to Toronto with his new, completely different on-air persona at [[CHUM-FM]]. He left the station in February 1975 to devote more time to his radio commercial production company, but mainly because of the tight playlist CHUM-FM was making their DJs follow. Marsden refused to follow a playlist and left shortly after it was instituted. He eventually returned as an on-air personality at CHIC-FM shortly before it was transformed into [[CFNY-FM|CFNY]].