Juno Awards of 1982

The original plan for the 1982 ceremonies was to have David Steinberg in Toronto, while Burton Cummings would co-host the broadcast live from the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, British Columbia. Juno organisers CARAS cancelled that plan on 15 February citing fears of "fragmentation" of the ceremonies with a dual city hosting approach. This resulted in some talk of hosting the Junos in Vancouver for 1983 but this would not be accomplished until 1991.

CARAS scheduled a music industry conference with guest speakers author Alvin Toffler and producer Bob Ezrin prior to the Juno awards event in an attempt to expand on the occasion. This was cancelled due to lack of advance registrations but this situation did not affect plans for the Juno ceremonies themselves.

Tickets to the ceremonies were priced at $115 for people who were not members of Juno organisers CARAS, and $85 for members. All tickets to the ceremonies were reportedly sold.

Performers during the show included Rough Trade, Liona Boyd, Ronnie Hawkins and B.B. Gabor. The comedic duo of Bob and Doug McKenzie presented the awards for "Most Promising Male Vocalist", "Most Promising Female Vocalist" and "Group of the Year".[2]

When Eddie Schwartz went to the podium to give his acceptance speech for the "Most Promising Male Vocalist" award he took a big drink of beer on live TV. Afterwards two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers approached Schwartz and reprimanded him, telling him that was illegal before finally releasing him back into the show.[2]

A clean cut Neil Young dressed in a tuxedo accepted his "Canadian Music Hall of Fame" award with a very short speech acknowledging his family and that he was "proud to be a Canadian". He would expand on his thoughts on the award and the current state of the Canadian music scene in a post-Juno Awards show broadcast on CBC following the main ceremonies.[3]

The Juno Awards television broadcast on CBC set a new record with an estimated 2,170,000 viewers.[3]

Most nominations were announced 28 February 1982, with certain nominations in classical, jazz and album graphics categories announced 12 March 1982.

Performers Raffi and Sharon, Lois & Bram did not enter their albums for the Juno children's category, as they felt the Junos were about popularity rather than artistry.

Anne Murray continued her streak of absence despite winning two prime awards again this year.[4]

A tie was issued this year for the "Recording Engineer of the Year" award, and Rush was nominated twice in the "Best Album Graphics" category for two of their albums.

• "Briefly: Co-hosts named for Juno awards". The Globe and Mail. 29 January 1982. p. 15.
• "Briefly: Juno show only in Toronto". The Globe and Mail. 16 February 1982. p. 15.
• Lacey, Liam (2 March 1982). "McKenzies vs. Rush for best album Juno". The Globe and Mail. p. 15.
• "Briefly: Recording artists opposed to Junos". The Globe and Mail. 11 March 1982. pp. E5.
• "Backstage: Final nominees for Juno awards". The Globe and Mail. 13 March 1982. pp. E9.
• "Backstage: Slow ticket sales torpedo conference". The Globe and Mail. 27 March 1982. pp. E7.
• Cherry, Zena (14 April 1982). "Junos to top off good year for recording artists". The Globe and Mail. p. 13.
• Lacey, Liam (15 April 1982). "Anne Murray, Bruce Cockburn top vocalists / Loverboy sweeps major Junos". The Globe and Mail. pp. E5.

• Krewen, Nick. (2010). Music from far and wide: Celebrating 40 years of the Juno Awards. Key Porter Books Limited, Toronto. ISBN 978-1-55470-339-5

• Juno Awards site