Adam Prudhomme
Editor
MuchMusic VJ turned Global Kingston news anchor Bill Welychka will be signing copies of his memoir at Kingston’s Novel Idea on Dec. 2 and Nexus on Dec. 9, both from 12-3 p.m.
A Happy Has Been (Exciting Times and Lessons Learned by One of Canada’s Foremost Entertainment Journalists) covers Welycka’s 30 plus years in the entertianment journalism business with highlights from his tenure on MuchMusic and later MuchMoreMusic. From spending time with Madonna at her house to chatting with Mick Jagger, Oasis, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks and more, the book provides an inside look into his life in front and behind the camera.
“I didn’t start off with the intention of writing a book,” Welychka shares with the Beaver. “It was just during COVID I kept getting asked to do podcasts and talking about my life or whatever and I just started writing stories down as I was relaying them. I just started organizing them one day and this was probably towards the end of 2021 and about halfway through 2022 on the weekends banging away at my computer and then I realized, I think I’m onto something here.”
Coupled with a noted rise in nostalgia surrounding 1990s pop-culture, Welychka decided the time was right to share his story.
“My theory is you need 10 or 15 years away from something to look back fondly at it,” he said. “In the ’80s the ’70s weren’t cool at all, but in the ’90s the ’70s were really cool. I think it’s that time where people are looking back. Nostalgia is interesting in that it can bring you back to a time and a place where you felt great and it can inspire those feelings and to get in touch with those feelings again. I think that’s important and that’s what MuchMusic does for a lot of people and we haven’t had it in a long time. People would rush home to watch MuchMusic and tape it and discover new artists or see artists that they love.”
At book signings he notices a cross section between 30 somethings recalling memories of watching MuchMusic coupled with explaining to their kids that there was a time before YouTube where they could only view their favourite music videos on television-and not on demand.
Along with sharing treasured memories of mingling with music legends, the memoir also delves into heavy topics, such as his own personal struggles with depression.
“I’ve heard that from people and they’re surprised because they always see a smiling, happy, joking person and it’s hard to believe that people like that sometimes have to deal with a dark cloud that comes to visit,” Welychka said of opening up about depression. “I think the more that gets talked about, the better because there are people out there that think they’re the only ones going through it and they don’t know how to deal with it. I think the more people are open to talk about it, then it can only benefit everyone in the long run.”
Today Welychka is seen regularly on Global Kingston newscasts. Noticing the shift away from being a music station, he departed MuchMoreMusic in 2005 on his own terms, ending his run as the longest tenured VJ. From there it was a stop in Edmonton as a morning show host and then a six-year stint as a weather anchor in Ottawa before settling in Kingston.
A Happy Has-Been (Exciting Times and Lessons Learned by One of Canada’s Foremost Entertainment Journalists) is available through Indigo, at Friesen Press or on most online book retailers. For more information visit www.billwelychka.ca