Calgary music VJ killed in crash on Sarcee Trail

Calgary’s music community is mourning the loss of Mike Bezzeg, who died following a car crash on Monday.

The 66-year-old died in hospital Tuesday following a collision between a postal truck and a Dodge minivan at Richmond Road and Sarcee Trail near his home, according to police and his family.

“Mike is a very giving individual,” said friend David Veitch, who knew him for 35 years, on Wednesday.

“He would regularly find out what people needed and he would make sure that they got it. On the day of his death, he had heard of a friend that returned from Cuba, who was self-quarantining, and he dropped off food at that person’s doorstep, then was going over to see his brother.”

Bezzeg was known for talking about music on his show “FM Moving Pictures,” which aired in Calgary on cable access 10 from 1979 to 1984, according to Veitch. In a time without MTV or MuchMusic, the show brought new bands to the local screen — ones people had never heard before.

“He really was the first VJ in Canada,” he said.

“They played music and talked about music that wasn’t being played on mainstream radio.”​

Friend Judy Cook said he was an awesome person who “knew stuff nobody else knew.”

“He was so knowledgeable in music, in the study of music and every genre. You could speak to him about anything and he was open-minded about it,” she said.

“He was a man before his time… He was very much a man who had a vision and wanted to introduce new music to Calgary and he did it.”

Veitch said that besides music, Bezzeg’s real passion was his family, adding that he leaves behind his wife and two children, ages 18 and 20.

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