There were stock market ‘crashes’ before ‘the big one’ of 1929, and there have been several since then – in the cyclical nature of such things. “What goes up … ”  But the ‘big one’ of  October 1929 – 90 years ago this week – was unlike all the others.  The dark days between ‘Black Thursday’ and ‘Black Tuesday’ (Oct.24-29, 1929) … brought the New York Stock Exchange and millions of over-stretched investors, big and small – to their knees. Some jumped to their death !  By the time the long slide in stock values ended in 1932, the market had lost 89% of its overall value – with the Dow Jones closing at 41.22 on July 8th, 1932 – it’s lowest level of the 20th century.  The ‘crash of ’29’ brought on ‘The Great Depression’ of the ‘Dirty Thirties’.

Such a monumental societal event inspired many songs about ‘hard times’ – and I’ll feature a few of them in this special edition of ‘Vintage Favourites’. This is also ‘Halloween Week’, so I’ll play another sort of ‘scary song’ … including annual favourites and some lesser-known ‘surprises’ as well. My on-going spotlight on ‘the greatest groups of our time – in alphabetical order’ features that great 70s soul group – The Stylistics. And I’ll also salute this year’s 4 inductees to Canada’s Music Hall of Fame: the late Bobby Curtola, Andy Kim, Chilliwack and The Cowboy Junkies.

It’s going to be a packed, fast-paced, show, and I hope you’ll tune in this Sunday (27th) from 2:00 to 4:30pm.