If you’ve ever eaten at a Red Robbins restaurant then you may already know the legend of Red Robinson. 

Before there were music festivals, streaming services, or even local record stores that stocked rock and roll, British Columbians had Red Robinson. Most people know him as a broadcasting icon, but for those of us in the BC music scene, he was the primary gatekeeper who brought the world’s biggest stars to the West Coast. 

As an up and coming broadcaster, Red Robinson paid his dues. It started in 1954 at CJOR while he was still a student at King Edward High School. At just 16 years old, Red became the first DJ in Canada to spin rock and roll regularly, effectively smuggling the culture into Vancouver living rooms.

For every article I write, I tend to do at least 20-30 minutes of research. But with Red, it was very easy for me to fall down a rabbit hole. One of his most famous encounters happened on August 31, 1957, when the then 20-year-old Red MC’d for Elvis Presley at Empire Stadium. While waiting in the BC Lions’ dressing room, Elvis got restless and borrowed a pair of handcuffs from a Vancouver police officer. In a classic moment of rock and roll hazing, Elvis handcuffed Red to a shower rod and jokingly lost the key. Later that night, the show was so chaotic that it only lasted 22 minutes, and Elvis escaped through a secret trapdoor built into the stage while a decoy in a gold jacket led the fans away.

Seven years later, Red was back at Empire Stadium for The Beatles’ first ever Canadian show in 1964. The Beatlemania was so dangerous that manager Brian Epstein ordered Red to go onstage mid set to tell the audience to back off. John Lennon, unaware of the safety concerns, screamed at him to “get the f*** off our stage!“. You would think that a young Red would’ve given in to one of the most famous musicians of all time, but no. Red stood his ground, explaining that the show would be cancelled if the fans didn’t stop crushing the front barriers. Lennon eventually realized the severity, replied with a “Carry on, mate,” and the show continued for its brief 29 minute run.

Red Robinson’s impact was so significant that in 1994, he became the first Canadian broadcaster inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He wasn’t just playing records, he was fighting for a genre that many adults at the time called “the devil’s music.” He even received threats for playing “race records” by Black artists like Lloyd Price. Today, as we watch local artists thrive, we owe a huge debt to the kid from Burnaby who refused to turn down the volume. He remains the gold standard for every broadcaster in British Columbia.