Genre | Variety show |
---|---|
Running time | 1 hour |
Country of origin | Canada |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | CBC Radio |
Syndicates | Public Radio International |
Starring | Stuart McLean |
Produced by | Jess Milton |
Original release | 1994 – 2015 |
No. of episodes | 400+ |
Website | The Vinyl Cafe |
Podcast | Vinyl Cafe Stories |
The Vinyl Cafe was an hour-long radio variety show hosted by Stuart McLean that was broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio service and was syndicated to approximately 80 U.S. public radio stations through Public Radio International. It aired on Sunday at noon EST and Tuesday at 11:00 pm EST on CBC Radio One and Saturday at 9 am EST on CBC Radio 2. The program is also available as a podcast, although the podcasts are usually just McLean's stories for studio episodes because of copyright restrictions on recorded music. CBC Radio also currently airs a weekday afternoon program, under the title Vinyl Cafe Stories, which consists of two previously recorded Dave and Morley stories per episode.
The show was independently produced by McLean and sold to the CBC. Each season had approximately 22 new episodes. Half of those were recorded in the studio and the other half were done with live audiences in theatres across Canada and the United States. One episode was recorded onboard VIA Rail's transcontinental passenger train The Canadian from the dome observation car, complete with an audience of passengers and featured a rail travel theme. The musical guest was singer songwriter Reid Jamieson.
The Vinyl Cafe stopped touring and producing new episodes following McLean's diagnosis with melanoma in November 2015. McLean announced on December 13, 2016 that he required a second round of treatment, meaning further delay in producing new episodes, and that repeats of past shows would stop airing on CBC Radio One effective January 2017 to "make room for others to share their work on the radio." McLean died on February 15, 2017.