An homage to JJAM FM: Wawa’s Eccentric, Eclectic and Exclusive (aka only) Radio Station

Words:  Cynthia ‘DJ Spinthia’ Mitchell
Illustrations:  Julia ‘DJ Lover’s Ridge’ Colley


You’re in the homestretch of 12-hour road-trip from Ottawa to Wawa and have just entered the majestic beauty of Lake Superior Provincial Park. The lake stretches on, and you think to yourself “I’ve made it. I’m in the glory land!”. You get lost in your thoughts picturing how tomorrow morning, you’ll go for a refreshing, healing dip in the soothing waters of Lake Superior, and forget about all the silly little things that really don’t matter because you’re on vacation, baby! Your mind refocuses and you suddenly realize you’re listening to Daft Punk’s ‘one more time’…one more time. Your mix CD has gone back to the first song. You turn on the radio and search for any signal. The airwaves crackle to life, and you’re greeted by the unique, nasally sounds of the one, the only… Daniel Walker from JJAM FM.

“Who IS this Daniel Walker”, you wonder out loud. Followed quickly by “does this song have ‘strong man, stroke me’ in the lyrics?”.

To make sure the quirkiness of JJAM was still alive and well, I checked out their live stream just now. This was their playlist:

• ‘Bang Bang Boom’ by The Moffatts (no joke! Canada’s version of Hanson is still getting airplay!),
  
• ‘Nothing compares 2 U’ by Sinead O’Connor (classic),
  
• ‘She’s a maniac’ by Michael Sembello (I had to google his name).

Now when’s the last time you heard THIS lineup on a radio station!? If you said ‘never’, I’d believe you. Because this is JJAM’s jam (sorry, had to).

Their tagline is Today’s Hits, Yesterday’s Favourites which pretty much gives them license to play just about anything. And it’s refreshing. No top 40 pop played ad nauseum on this station, no sir-eee.

It’s radio that doesn’t cater to certain demographics over others. It has to cater to everyone. It’s radio that still has a Friday Night hotline. Where you can send out messages to people at their camps (aka cottages but don’t call them cottages in Northern Ontario). It’s a station where you’ll bump into the radio personalities in town (though we never did meet our hero, Daniel Walker*. Alas). Where you can win $500 gift cards and find out about the latest Wawa happenings on their website. March was a busy month for Wawa ladies – a curling bonspiel AND spaghetti supper. Sweet!

A memory for me that perfectly sums up how the two are so intertwined is from this past summer. My friend and I were walking down Broadway (the main drag in town), and a woman on her motorbike comes cruising down the street, tunes blaring. She’s in her element, out for a rip around town eh. We hear the song end and the distinct sounds of the JJAM FM jingle begin. We nod our heads and smile. That woman on her motorbike is the epitome of Wawa. And JJAM FM is forever the soundtrack.

After a week of pure bliss swimming, hiking, and stargazing at LSPP, it’s sadly time to head back home. You’ve got your Young’s summer sausage ready for future snack-attacks, and your playlist cued up for after the JJAM signal cuts out. You turn on the radio for one last hurrah and hear Daniel Walker introduce Jesse McCartney’s Leavin’.

‘Fitting’, you first think. Followed by, ‘when was the last time I heard THIS song!?”