Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - 12:36: Toronto Mike'd #846

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

Mike chats with Marc Weisblott of 12:36 about the current state of media in Canada and what you oughta know.

Welcome to episode 846 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees

from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pill pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majewski, or as I call him, Mimico Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week for his April 2021 recap is 1236's Mark Weisblot. Welcome back, Mark. Back in the backyard. I wonder if we're going to make it through this episode. Last time around, it got a little bit dramatic

because I was here on that day right after the Easter weekend where, remember, there was one day in April where all the kids went back to school. There was hope in the air of reopening again. And then by the end of that day, complete chaos, all kinds of announcements of new things being shut down all across the province of Ontario. I would say in the history of the pandemic, it was definitely one of the top five most chaotic days on which to record. Number five. You, with the kids here at the time, and my laptop ran out of juice, no battery in my phone.

I had all this preparation for the obituary segment. I had to sort of wing it. I think I've waited. No one noticed. No, I think I've waited five weeks. We have to do a few corrections, including somebody that was really incensed on Twitter because I mispronounced the place in Ontario

where the late actor Yafit Kato lived. Do you remember what it was called? We got it wrong. And it was just like a... Momacy. What was it? I can't remember. I it was just like a... Momacy. What was it? I can't remember. I can't remember.

I'm pressing all these buttons. Hey, while you look up your corrections, let's just paint a picture for the people because there's no cameras on us. But do you think these storm clouds are going to dump rain on us or do you think they're going to blow... Well, stay tuned to the next, what,

two and a half, three hours to find out. Because it doesn't look good. But yeah, it's going to be a while. I did not put up, I was going to put up the tarp, and I don't know why I didn't, but it looks sunny on my bike ride, and I thought this might blow over. Like, there's patches of blue, but without a doubt, this big bad boy to the west of us, that big dark cloud,

I don't know what direction it's going, but it doesn't look good. But hang in there. I got my umbrella at the ready, and you've got a big new umbrella over you. I hope that is waterproof. I know it worked for Cam Woolley when he was back here. I think he was last back here at episode. He's a bigger guy than I.

Marmora, Ontario was the one that we couldn't figure out how to pronounce. So we got that wrong. I got the storyline of G. Gordon Liddy, who made it to the open hearings. The Watergate guy. Yeah, I had him down as the Attorney General of California, where he showed up in that Steely Dan song, My Old School. No, that was G. Gordon Liddy's son who was in California, got into some trouble there.

My Old School by Steely Dan is set at Bard College, which is in the Catskills in New York State. And George Siegel, who we talked about. Oh, we got the wrong show. And I should have caught that. Because you know what? Those shows, I get them confused all the time. Yeah, but what kind of Jewish sitcom connoisseur am I when I couldn't remember that George Segal is in the current show, The Goldbergs.

So I think I said Fresh Off the Boat. Fresh Off the Boat. Fresh Off the Boat. And you didn't catch that, and it was actually the Goldbergs. Right, right. They're similar in that they're like homages to the 80s, or I don't even know, Fresh Off the Boat might be the 90s. I'm not even certain right now. Why am I wasting this time making these corrections?

Because I feel by the end of the episode, what? Last time we were close to three hours, I'm out of my mind. There's wind blowing all over the place. You've got chaos with the kids who've just been kicked out of school. And you left things hanging. Well, we'll

get to the recap of who died in the past month as usual later in the episode. Look, it's good to see you. You're like I said, you're the first outdoor, you're the first in-person episode since Cam Woolley dropped by. And then I think the person before that was you.

And then maybe the person before that was you. So you've had like three of the last four, although tomorrow, Jay Brody from the 102.1 Morning Show and Roddy Comer are going to be in this backyard kicking out their favorite grunge jam. So there will be another backyard episode tomorrow. But, dude, I just want to say good to see you. It's good to see anybody at this point.

You're wearing your hoodie from what's this group? Sunshine and Broccoli. You've got a hoodie that says it's cruel to be kind. It is cool. Close enough. The sentiment is a little bit. Okay, it's cool to be kind? It is cool. Close enough. The sentiment is a little different. It's cool to be kind. I'll be dusting off an old Nick Lowe concert t-shirt

to contradict yours. Let me just say, it might be the most comfortable hoodie I've ever worn. It is so soft. I actually have not washed this yet. I'm afraid I'll ruin the softness. But it's so comfortable.

Maybe I'll never wash it. What are we listening to here? Oh, I queued up this song by the New Pornographers, which came out in late 2019. And for some reason, I went down a YouTube rabbit hole of the New P pornographers from Vancouver performing this song at multiple American public, non-profit, non-commercial radio stations. And it looked like they were really trying to sell this thing.

Like, they hinged a lot of hope on the idea of this being a big anthem of 2020, that this would be the payoff for the new pornographers. Like, you know, a huge mainstream hit that could show up in TV commercials and movie soundtracks. These folks are creeping into middle age. I feel that they wanted to write a song to retire with, something that could pay dividends till the end of their days. And as I was on YouTube watching performance after performance of this song, thinking about the fact that in March 2020, they were rudely interrupted, and they didn't get the chance to ride this tune to the top.

It's Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile. It's not quite Use It or, you know, from, was it Mass Romantic? Yeah, that was the other one, Mass Romantic. But let's hear a little bit of it. And there's some milestones we're celebrating as you visit my backyard for the April 2021 recap. Has it really been five years since we started doing these 1236 recap episodes of Toronto Mic'd? You're better keeping track of these things than I am.

I think it was. Wow. It was May 2016 when after having known each other online for, I don't know, at least a dozen years, I came face to face-face with Toronto Mike. And the whole premise was I was going to sit down for one of those deep dives. I didn't prepare a thing. And we were just going to make it up as we went along. Now, I don't think this show was at the level of sophistication the people associate with today.

There wasn't the whole universe of FOTMs. I mean, at that point in time, the number of celebrities you had over to your house was still sparse. I think it was Mocha and Roz. Never Jeff Merrick had been here and George Strombolopoulos. We never dreamed of the day when Gino Vannelli

would be wandering into your basement with a guitar in hand and all the moments that have followed. You still were holding on to the rule. I mean, this is before. Was Zoom invented five years ago? There was no, I mean, you weren't into the concept of doing remote virtual episodes. The rule was that you had to slap out here to Lakeshore and Eglinton around the corner from the Rogue Byway. Yeah, yeah, not Eglinton, but you don't need to get more specific.

Come face to face with Toronto Mike. No, you got to come to, if you want to be on Toronto Mike, and why wouldn't you want, you have to come to New Toronto. This is where it all happens. And then the pandemic changed everything. And I was thinking of like all the appearances of Mark Weisblot on Toronto Mike. It took a pandemic for someone to appear more often.

Like we literally, I think we've done 61 weeks of Pandemic Friday. It took that weekly appearances by Stu Stone and Cam Gordon to come close to your record. Like that's what it took. At this point, I've been completely eclipsed. But the idea of having repeat guests and creating this world of FOTMs and people who drop by over and over and over again, you've got down pat by now. I think it got to the point where when you would have a first timer

who wasn't familiar with the podcast, for those who were listening from time to time, it would turn out to be a more awkward experience. If they didn't know what they were walking into. Right. At times, you'd even need to break out future mike to interrupt the episode with a disclaimer how you know there's a common denominator might be a little bit uncomfortable there is a common denominator to the future mike episodes uh and he'll come up shortly actually so

we'll get to him shortly uh and i have a cameo from him that i'm going to play that uh tyler shared with me but six years ago is when you started your newsletter, 1236. Yeah, six years of 1236, courtesy of St. Joseph Communications Media Group. We've talked about it here over so many months. It's evolved as a company. It's now like the premier magazine publisher in Canada. They took over the titles that didn't work anymore for

Rogers Media. They didn't want to be in magazines. So I'm working as part of a different thing from where I started and I don't know where it's going to go, but 1236 newsletter coming out every day at 1236 or as close

as I can get. And as we've seen newsletters play a bigger role in the media ecosystem, so there was some sort of prescience there, much like podcasting. I think it was worth the investment and still standing by to see what else we can do with it. But look, it was my big dream to be the one writer in town

who would have this kind of column and with writing the back of Toronto Life magazine and the president of that division there, Ken Hunter, I made it happen. I made it possible because, you know, here we're going back thinking 30 years ago, 30 years ago this fall, the beginning of I Weekly put out by the Toronto Star, Torstar Corporation. put out by the the toronto star tour star corporation uh and an opportunity there to be a young freelance writer is what put me on this road made it all happen uh back then in the early 90s could could have never dreamed of of being able to leverage this much technology and do it on my own. It's like everything in media. Look at the layers that were required to get a product out there

and make things happen. At the same time, if you were 20 years old and wanted to be a writer, get your name in print, byline in a free magazine, maybe they'd pay you 50 or 100 bucks. There was a certain kind of opportunity in the air,

and I was reflecting upon that because it has now been 10 years, a decade since Torstar closed down iWeekly and replaced it with something called The Grid. Right. Another free weekly, which lasted three years, three and a bit. Was draining a lot of money. They made all sorts of excuses about why it didn't work. If you get snarky with the folks that were involved with that paper,

they'll get really defensive. Because when you're on the inside of an operation like that, you think whatever you're doing is turned to gold. And there was a certain amount of enthusiasm for the aesthetics of that newspaper, but it was 10 years ago, the end of iWeekly. enthusiasm for the aesthetics of that newspaper, but it was 10 years ago, the end of iWeekly. I think I marked the end of an era of alternative weeklies in Toronto, and that's why I have spent five years coming on the Toronto Mic'd podcast

here as a guest speaking on behalf of 1236. I think what started is the idea that you would interview me as a local yokel. Well, your first visit was the typical deep dive. Yeah, I asked about it. Better Living Center. I don't know if it was a format that I was comfortable with. I would rather talk about what everybody else was doing. Well, we changed it up for you.

Changed it up along the way. Also, early on, we did, I thought, because once again, Toronto Mic'd was not the juggernaut it is today. And I felt like what was the point of coming over if there wasn't some sort of context? You didn't have guests just come over to talk about nothing. We needed a topic, a focus, an agenda. And it was, at the time, I think the 20th anniversary of the end of the Chum Chart.

So that's now 25 years ago. Right. And I thought, well, you don't want me alone back again that fast. You mean Retro Ontario? You mean Retro Ontario? And that was a chance to connect with Ed Conroy. Well, Ed Conroy, our dear friend, told me he's not doing remotes during the pandemic, but he's

in my calendar to be in the backyard in a week. Like, we'll see if he cancels. But it's been a long time because he skipped his Christmas crackers in December. Like, it's been way too long because he skipped his Christmas crackers in December. Like it's been way too long. I think his last appearance was December, 2019. So he's scheduled to appear.

I mentioned that there's a common denominator, uh, when we talk about like future Mike appearing on this program. And that is, uh, a guy I've grown to quite like, and we talk often because he actually hooked me up with miles Goodwin who was on last week.

And I enjoyed that. But, uh, actually hooked me up with Miles Goodwin, who was on last week, and I enjoyed that. But Eric Alper. So Eric Alper hooked me up with Gino Vanelli. Did Future Mike appear then? No. But Eric Alper hooked me up with Molly Johnson, and most definitely Future Mike was all over that episode.

There was no Future Mike with Gino Vanelli, but there was a follow-up to Gino Vanelli where but there was a follow-up to Gino Vanelli where you and Elvis recapped the episode with Gino Vanelli. Right. Right. But Gino Vanelli, sorry, not Gino Vanelli, Eric Alper also hooked me up with Carol Pope,

and Future Mike showed up for that episode. And you got some good Eric Alper content for me before I play the cameo here? Well, Eric Alper was on the CNN website, CNN.com. I don't know what quality filter is involved here, what it takes to get an article written about you on CNN, but let's face it, it looks impressive. Sure.

The most trusted name in news running a headline. Meet the man behind some of the best questions on Twitter. This enigma who tweets under the handle that Eric Alper. Now, Eric Alper spent a long time as a music publicist working for companies that morphed into the music division of E1, Entertainment One. Peppa Pig, the Peppa Pig company. Peppa Pig, the company sold to Hasbro for what, a billion or two dollars? Yeah, some nice cake, yeah, for sure. And E1 had managed to snap up all these record labels, mostly artists who were past their prime,

who were working on self-financed independent music. And if you wanted someone to pound the pavement on your behalf, on self-financed independent music. And if you wanted someone to pound the pavement on your behalf, the gig would go to Eric Alper. And that's how he ended up talking about being like publicist for Ringo Starr and the All-Star Band. Death Row Records and the gangster rap legacy of Suge Knight ended up being owned by E1. And that's where

you saw all those jokey headlines about the fact that all of a sudden Hasbro had bought Death Row. And suddenly Mr. Potato Head and Snoop Dogg were working for the same boss it was part of 3.8 billion us acquisition of this canadian-based company entertainment one and that's where eric

alper uh spent a lot of years and i think perfected this Twitter style, not only asking people questions about music and pop culture, but to the particular chagrin of people who will never be happy about anything, repeating the same questions

on the same day, the anniversary of a time that he tweeted the question a year before. I don't know if anyone, this CNN article didn't tell me. What's Eric Alper's secret? Does he keep some kind of calendar to remind him? No, he's definitely scheduling tweets. Does he have 365 questions a year?

On what rotation is he repeating these things? So Eric Alper, the last little while, has been an independent publicist. That's where he's bringing you different guests who have been around the Canadian music industry for a while, right? These are like veteran artists. Yeah, like Colin James, for example, was driven to my home by Eric Alper, and then Eric kind of hung out while we did our thing.

There's been a bunch of those kind of guests. Like I mentioned, I wanted to do the Miles Goodwin April Wine Deep Dive, and although we had it scheduled for Zoom, and Miles apparently at the last minute realized he doesn't do Zoom, we still made it happen via phone, and that was an Eric Alper contact. So, yeah, let me know. You just let me know when you want me to play the Eric Alper cameo

that VP of Sales paid for. Well, Hasbro sold off all of its music assets. Mr. Potato Head and Snoop Dogg, no longer have the same boss. It was a music company called Blackstone which bought it. It's $385 million for all the records that E1 had the rights to. the records that E1 had the rights to, I wonder if that Death Row catalog pays those dividends alone, like that you could make that $385 million back in a pretty short period of time just by licensing songs from the Dr. Dre album, The Chronic.

from the Dr. Dre album, The Chronic, with $385 million. I don't know if Eric Alper played a role in the transaction. If he had any stake in this company that he built up with his relentless promotional skills. Oh, did you? I might have put you up then to ask him. He's been over twice for Toronto Mike appearances.

But he won't stick around. He wants to only be a guest for like the length of a tweet. Right. He wants to ask you a question and get out of the way. Although he did kick out the jams. I just can't remember

if we got through them all. But yeah, you know, I will say this about Eric because he does take a lot of flack for the scheduled tweets and the predictability. And it's a little bit like insane, except I will just say that my experience of Eric

and I've been you know I talk to him regularly we literally were just chatting like yesterday because I want Miles Goodwin on Humble and Fred because Humble's a big April Wine freak but Eric's a very nice man I'll just say that Eric is a very nice man keep in mind he's been around journalists

and journalism doing this for a while i mean he's he's familiar with the idea of snark and sarcasm sure he can take being dunked on right is what i'm trying to say right i'm sure these music legends who he shepherded around town not not going to name any names, might have given him a bit of attitude where he would have had to have nerves of steel. I feel that Eric Alper makes for a great target for people on Twitter to make fun of

because he appreciates that kind of ridicule. It's nothing personal. It's part of the bargain of being famous enough to have an article written about you on CNN. So here is a good time for me to play again. VP of Sales asked Eric to do this, but Eric, of course, told me he would have happily done this for free

because VP of Sales paid a whole five bucks for this. But Eric said it was all true and he would have done it for free. So let me see. Yeah, but it must have been more fun. More fun to get the email from Cameo directly. It was a thrill. So here it is.

It's Eric Alper, or better known as that guy that spams you each and every day, seven days a week. That's true. I really can't believe that you've got 800 shows under your belt. A, I'm jealous. B, I'm jealous of not only the number, but I've got to be honest with you, I love what you have done with your show.

And I think it's admirable to everybody of what you're able to do with the show. Not only are you knowledgeable, I remember the first time that I think I got an interview request from you and you wanted an hour and a half with somebody and I was like, there's no way that this person

can keep a conversation going for an hour and a half. Nobody wants to hear anybody for an hour and a half, but yet it was amazing. And so here you are, 800 shows under your belt an absolute legend not only in the Toronto music scene but of all of Canada when it comes to radio and podcasting you're it you were the first you're one of the best and you will be here long after everybody else um so if I you know kind of known for asking silly questions on Twitter, so I have one for you.

What cover song traumatized you the most as a child? What a dumb question. I'm going to kill this now. Thank you, Eric. I'm dying to hear what the answer is. Congratulations, Mike. We'll talk soon. Did you ever give an answer?

Well, first of all, is that something that happens? Cover songs traumatize people? Look, I told you he gets it. That's Eric Alper doing a parody of Eric Alper. Now, since he brings it up, I'll just say it did take a long time for me to kind of, I don't know, work him in, like work in Eric to understand

because Eric's like, oh, do like 10 minutes with this person. And I'm like, Eric, I'm not going to do 10 minutes with, I don't know if I do 10 minutes with anyone, although I would probably, if it was like Obama or something, I might do 10 minutes. But I don't know if I'd do 10 minutes with anyone, although I would probably, if it was like Obama or something, I might do 10 minutes. But I'm not doing, I need, the 90 minutes is a true story. I think often we compromise and I take 60.

But I won't take less than 60 with any of these cats at Eric's pedaling. So I think at this point he gets it. Although most of these future Mike appearances are because he's not communicating to someone like a Carol Pope that I'm going to do more than seven minutes. That's where all the problems start.

Or maybe he enjoys a train wreck experience himself. Listen to how flattering he was in that cameo. And like you said, he would have done it for free. There's a hipster journalist named Luke Winkie, a newsletter on posting.substack.com. And he attempted to write like a meta analysis of Eric Alper, Eric Alper, the ur poster. And I think he came to the conclusion that it's like, look, whatever, whatever methods there are to Eric Alper's madness, whatever he's trying to prove on Twitter,

why are people getting so emotional? Why do you care? Just don't follow him. This guy that just wants to ask some questions. Although there was an amusing parody that someone else did on Twitter. using a parody that someone else did on Twitter. It was a comic of Eric Alper delivering a eulogy. Did you see this one? Dearly beloved, we are here today to mourn the loss of our sweet friend. And at times like these, I must ask the question,

like these, I must ask the question, what was the first album you ever bought with your own money? He's got a shtick, and he catches your attention, whether you love it or hate it. At least he gets a reaction out of you. Shout out to Eric Alper. I think one of the people we could not ignore making 1236 somehow in in april 2021 sometimes i just can't take it sometimes i just can't take it and it isn't all right

i'm not gonna to make it. And I think my shoes are tight. I'm like a broken record. I'm like a broken record. And I'm not playing right. Just going to go back and me. Till you tell me I'm a heavenly fool. So go tight.

Come on. Come on. Oh, come on, come on, oh, oh, oh, oh Come on, come on, don't let go Hold tight, hold tight, oh, oh, oh, oh It's alright, it's alright, she said I got my hands up shaking just to let you know That you've got a higher power Got me singing every second Did you notice the clouds have parted and the sun is out?

This day that looked like it was going to storm, this is turning into a beautiful sunny afternoon in the backyard. Coldplay sounds like this now. It's been a while, I'll admit, but I guess you have to sound like this to get on the radio these days. But Coldplay sounds like this now? It's been a while, I'll admit, but I guess you have to sound like this to get on the radio these days. But Coldplay, higher power. And I think as aging

Gen Xers here, Mike, we can appreciate what they're trying to do. They're trying to be like the middle-aged men of Top 40 radio by getting a song produced with Max Martin. And remember Bon Jovi once enlisted Max Martin.

They gave him a try, but either way to bring in that Swedish common sense to try and get back on the pop charts. And I first noticed there was a new Coldplay record because it was Chris Martin doing a Zoom interview with Darren Jones. Who's also like in his mid-40s. And he's also a guy who has avoided me for nine years. Still hanging around that

Kiss 92.5 radio station. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's like now with Rogers more syndicated across the country. Started out there with Mad Dog, Morning morning show sidekick. I know he did other stuff there, but like Roz and Mocha, who you mentioned before, early FOTMs.

These guys are putting in decades going for that Roger Ashby record of 50 years at the same radio station. The problem was they were rudely interrupted when they changed format for a while. So when I see Darren Jones interviewing Chris Martin, it's like, okay, this is very strategic that they're lining him up here on the local pop radio station

to do an interview and try and sell this song, Higher Power. Talk about how Coldplay are looking to reduce their carbon footprint. Very pleased to do Zoom interviews rather than risk contributing

to a global warmth or whatever. I guess if they're going to do a concert, they'll be taking a ship across oceans rather than flying in a plane. But also on this Coldplay promotional tour, we had Alan Cross stepping up to the plate. You got to give CFNY a little airtime. The original market, the audience for Coldplay, and I guess also like Alan Cross.

He's a national radio figure. Why not zoom in with Alan Cross for eight minutes? And there Alan tells a story about how Coldplay came to the 102.1, the Edge Studios Studios in 2005. A storefront studio at the time, still at the Eaton Center, before it moved near the lake, Sugar Beach. Yeah, Chorus Key.

Chorus Key. This would have been downtown Toronto, you know, young and Dundas. So after Bathurst and Bloor, before theorus Key, they were at near the insane. And this was at a time when you could say that a celebrity rock band was coming to town and you could cause a riot. And that's exactly what happened. I mean, by 2005 Coldplay were quite established.

Was they still married to Gwyneth Paltrow before they consciously uncoupled? Still married to Gwyneth Paltrow before they consciously uncoupled. And so Alan on the interview pointing out the fact that he got pulled into a back room at 52 Division to ask him some questions. Where it was like, what did you do without checking with us first? Without hiring some paid duty officers? Get your security under control? Here in like afternoon drive afternoon drive, rush hour, here you are shutting down Young and Dundas at random just because of this mob that's come out to see Gwyneth Paltrow's husband.

And what Alan Cross didn't do was acknowledge the guy who did the interview with Coldplay, who's in the videos at the time. That is, that's my friend, the late Dave Bookman, Bookie. And I thought it might have been nice for Alan to give a shout-out and mention that Bookie was a central figure to the circus when he was a program director. And Coldplay came back, and there's videos of them again a few years later, also with Bookie.

A little bit of an omission. I know Alan Cross has been on Toronto Mic'd in 2021. But he's also been the subject of some derision from his ex-colleague, brother Bill, Neil Morrison, when he said, Alan, did you say you weren't going to talk this way about him anymore? Yeah, we stopped doing the reference That Alan Cross wasn't there. But then again, the man behind the ongoing history of music has a habit of rewriting history to include himself. And I figured, where else could I air this grievance? But on Toronto Mic'd, I didn't like the fact that he didn't mention

Bookman when he was talking to Coldplay. That's all. Is that alright? Can I make that complaint? That's totally fair. So that's totally fair to feel that way, especially we know your relationship with Bookie. We did a wonderful memorial here

for Dave Bookman. I want to hear what this famous rock star would have said about the guy if he was asked about him, if he remembered his name. How could he forget? No, this is where you come when you want to air

these grievances, and I think that's fair. I do say in Alan's defense on the whole wasn't there. You can be a World War II expert and not have been in World War II. So. expert and not have been in World War II. For it was I who chose to start I see no need to take me home

I'm old enough to face the dawn Just call me angel A morning angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby Just call me angel, a morning angel Then slowly turn away from me Mike, I'm betting based on everything I know about your mother, which is what?

Talking to you on the phone about Kenny Rogers on the day that he died for 15 minutes. Right. One of the great all-time unnumbered episodes of Toronto Mike. Steve Paikin's favorite episode of Toronto Mike is an unnumbered episode. She Must Remember This Song by Juice Newton. First of all, I remember this song. I remember this song.

40 years ago, 1981. Yeah, I had some kind of compilation piece of vinyl that had the hits of the day. I can't remember what it was called. But this was on that. So I heard it quite a bit as a young man. For sure. I mean, a lot of people hear this now. Like my wife would hear this

and think of Shaggy, right? Like this is like, but no, Juice Newton, Angel of the Morning, Big Fucking Jam. Which was itself like a cover version. Right. This is a song written by Chip Taylor,

brother of John Voight, the guy that also wrote Wild Thing. Love those fun facts. Angelina Jolie's uncle. 40 years ago, mid-May 1981. Wow. Number one on the 1050 Chum chart. We don't do that remember the time feature anymore.

Shout out to Milan. I got into remembering last month remember the time feature anymore. Shout out to Milan. I got into remembering last month in the obituaries. I was getting sentimental about Dick Smythe and Brian Henderson, Tom Rivers, all gone now. I think

of anything that I listen to. It's a child, my biggest first inspiration as far as listening to the radio, tuning in every day. And here, 40 years later, I like

to be the last person standing who looks up the Chum chart, which they still do on Chum FM 104.5. It's 40 years later, and a country singer is now number one on Chum FM, and he's even older than Coldplay.

And that's Keith Urban. Wait, Keith Urban's number one on Chum FM right now? Or Chum, whatever they're calling it, 104.5? Yeah, I mean, if you want to find the song, it's called One Too Many. It's a duet with Pink. Okay, that explains it. Also, it isn't getting any younger, but... Well, but she's of their

ilk. Yeah, I guess it's that Nashville sound crossed with some hip-hop beats and 40 years, exactly, after crossed with some hip-hop beats, and 40 years, exactly, after Juice Newton's Angel of the Morning.

There's Keith Urban at the top of the chum chart, and I think Coldplay contemplating where radio is going to turn after the pandemic. Like that weekend song. We had that playing under here how many minutes ago? Save Your Tears, the duet with Ariana Grande. Right. Added to your list on torontomic.com of Canadians who hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Done. You know, there was a time when that was rare, and that time is not now. Well, it was a year ago that the weekend after he was on Saturday Night Live with Daniel Craig, now, like, a famous introduction

that somebody made a meme of, where, you know, ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. that somebody made a meme of. Ladies and gentlemen, The Weeknd. That Blinding Lights song spent so long in the Billboard Top 10 that statistically speaking, it seems on track to be considered on the Billboard Hot 100 as the top song since the beginning of time, like the whole rock era. And it's a record that the twist by Chubby Checker has held for all these years because that was number one twice.

Like it had two runs up the chart, 1960, 1962. So it's like no one's ever going to topple the twist. But that's bananas, right? No song is ever going to stick around long enough to become that big a hit on two different shifts. But with the pandemic, and I think these radio playlists in a state of static, not as much new music being released, and I think when it comes to radio not being sure what audiences wanted to hear, you know, they wanted to be comforted by hearing the same songs over and over again. It wasn't like a time in history to bring new tunes into the mix.

And then you've got Spotify, other forms to claim the biggest Billboard hit of all time. It's a catchy song. To the point where it wouldn't go away. And then there was a follow-up, another song, In Your Eyes. There was a remix there with Kenny G. Did you catch that one? No, missed it completely. That didn't do as well because his blinding lights wouldn't go away.

And now, Save Your Tears, it had some momentum. And Ariana Grande, a duet here for the Zoom era. Kind of compare it to when Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand both did versions of the song You Don't Bring Me Flowers. Right. And a DJ cut the two together. I'm sure a stewstone favorite,

I'm pretty certain. He loves his Streisand. Same sort of thing then with Ariana Grande on the weekend. Number one in America? Who knows? Might be number one hit up there in the top ten

for the rest of the year. That's how slow things are moving in pop culture. We're all just standing by, waiting for these restrictions to go away and things can start happening again. You notice in Toronto, concert announcements are starting to trickle in for September, October, November. It's like a little bit of hope. What do you think, Mike?

Would you bet on the idea that it'll be safe to gather again, see a Dinosaur Jr. concert at the Danforth Music Hall in early September? Now, look, by the time I parted with you on April 6th, you speculated we might be vaccinated by that point in time. And I thought, yeah, maybe, maybe not. And it was a matter of days until we were in line to get that shot. I know you registered right away. I registered right away.

My 19-year-old son has got his first vaccination. So we're way ahead of the schedule I had in my mind. No one can see it. I just want to let the listenership know is that I bought this new umbrella. And I guess it's really windy. Do you want me to take down the umbrella? Unless it's distracting. It's not add to the effect for everyone who listens to the podcast.

No one can tell because no one can see. But see, it's weighted down probably as best I could with the old weight there. What's the worst that could happen? All I've got to say is I think that Ridley Funeral Home umbrella was what you should have stuck with. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I see you got the sanitizer in front of you, but there will be a Ridley Funeral Home memorial section coming up shortly. But I did,

those are chilled, so there's some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. I want to ask you then about vaccinations. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, bud. I mean, because last time I was here, after we were done. You've got to do that closer to the mic. Now, what are we going to do? Okay, so Mark Weisblatt has cracked open a lake effect

by Great Lakes beer, and he's enjoyed his first sip. Please continue. From here on in, everything I say will be in a state of inebriation. I'm not drinking as much as I used to, I think, because we've done these outdoor episodes in the cold. Right. That's a big, you're right.

It takes away from the incentive to get into Great Lakes. Vera, I was going to say, your kids came out after we're done recording. I don't care. They can interrupt us at any point in time. It's good for the show. You were very nervous about your kids coming close to me. No, no. I didn't take that personally.

I shouldn't take it personally. But it's kind of like I might have COVID. Yeah, but I treat everyone like they might have COVID. I haven't been around this level of paranoia is what I'm trying to say. Okay, so just so you know, my rule is six feet apart outdoors. So the kids can be around you outdoors or around, it's not just you, anyone who doesn't live with us. You can be, you have to stay six feet away. That's all. You were just, it's not just you, anyone who doesn't live with us. You can be, you have to stay six feet away. That's all.

You were just being disciplinarian. You weren't suspecting me of carrying these germs just because I had to ride public transit. Same rule for my brother. No, no, please. No, no, no. It's just a black and white rule and I'm trying to make sure they recall

because we weren't raised with this. This is such a new thing. But for the five-year-old and seven-year-old, they need to know they have to stay six feet away from people they don't live with. That's basically it in a nutshell. At this point, would you be willing to go to a Megadeth concert at the Ontario Place,

Budweiser Stage, on September 30th. Is that something that you would place a bet on happening? I will tell you, you won't believe this, but this is my mentality on this. If I could be six feet away from everyone else, I would go to that concert tonight because it's outdoors. Have you ever heard me, did I complain about the Trinity Bellwoods people or the protesters or the people who, I don't know, playing pickleball like my buddy Hebsey, even though I don't complain about anything outdoors. I think everything should move outdoors. I think all outdoor recreational activity should be permitted. I think it's ludicrous that you can't play pickleball or tennis or golf or soccer. I think that's insane. Everything outdoors.

And if you don't live with the person, stay six feet away until we get more vaccinations in the book here. That's where I'm at with this thing. So I would go tonight if I could stay six feet away from people I don't live with. Let's see what happens. Stay tuned to the monthly 1236 recap. Let's see if anything is open. I mean, at this point, we thought we were going to be liberated before Victoria Day, right?

That patios would be allowed open again. Which they should be open. You know, regular retail shopping with your masks on. School was supposed to return at one point before the end of May. Right now, we're looking at June 2nd at the earliest. A lot of parents writing off the idea of a return to school. Where are you

at with that? Do you think it's going to come back? As you know, with this administration, all bets are off. But I would be surprised if my kids are back in school before September. Will we be in a state of normalcy by July or August? I'll define normalcy in a state of normalcy by July or August? I'll define normalcy.

No, not normalcy. Just like you and me would both go to a Megadeth concert tonight. It's not something we would have gone to before the pandemic. But I think we're starving for a chance to be in a crowd for something like that. Are you like me? There's bands or acts that you would pay to see, and then there's a whole category of bands that you would go

to with a free ticket. If you were comped, you would go and enjoy. And then there's that category where if you got a free ticket, you'd still take a pass. Yeah, for something like Megadeth and Lamb of God, you go to watch the audience. They're the main attraction. With a free ticket, I would

absolutely see those acts, but I wouldn't pay to see those acts. By the way, people are dying to know. I need to ask the big question. Did you receive your first vaccination shot yet? Oh, yeah. Wasn't that implied? Right there. As soon as they opened it up to the Gen Xers. As soon as it was

40 plus, I got on the list. A local pharmacy. Yeah, we got the controversial AstraZeneca. I wouldn't have it any other way. Something that resembled a coma for an entire day afterward. So I can relate to that. I shared my-

Two or three more days to recover. Is that two or three? Okay, well, I was 1.5 days where I was kind of fucked up. But I feel like I served my duty in the war. Like I suffered enough. And now I can be relatively confident that I'm not going to catch this thing. It also assured me that had I actually caught it in the past year, that it would have been rough.

Like I don't think I was asymptomatic at any point in time with this stuff. I don't think, you know, when I was feeling a little groggy or out of sync just from being stuck at home for all this time, that was not the coronavirus running through my veins. So you're feeling good now. I think it struck me when I got that vaccination. And I'm just standing by him, waiting out. What is it? Whatever. Four months? 16 weeks?

I think I read, and I can't remember if it was eligible people or all of Toronto. I don't know. Maybe you know. But I heard half the city's been vaccinated now. With one shot, I'm talking here. Not the full vaccinations. Very few people have been lucky. And if you're going to be like an emergency ER physician like Dana Levinson's husband

or you're going to be in a long-term care facility or something. Or you just like sneak across the border. If you can get away with that one. Well, sneak. Well, Wilner did a like a, Wilner flew to Ohio. Oh no. Yes. He flew to Ohio to get his vaccination,

even though it turned out he probably, if he had waited like another 48 hours, he could have got it here, but not both shots. Just one. That is such a Mike Wilner thing to do. I can say that for how long I've known him. Right. Yes, you've known him the longest. Stu Stone, of course, got his shots in LA

because he was working on that Vice Wrestling thing, which I should check out because Stu does good work. But listen, I mean, we're getting there, man. Like, more shots in arms, and as more people are vaccinated, we should see numbers come down. All things outdoors should be open

I think June 2nd or whatever enough is enough the indoor stuff is always going to be a little hairy until we get those vaccination numbers way up but I feel it's opening up like I don't know I'm I'm going to Megadeth tonight I don't know I'm going to see you there I have this fantasy that here we're recording

this afternoon May 11th, in your backyard, and that we'll get busted by the cops. Hey, is this legal? Is it legal? Yeah, that you can break out the press badge and explain that we are engaged in media production.

Because there's a media exemption, right? And therefore, me here sitting with you is perfectly legal. Because I'm doing it again tomorrow. You mentioned Edge 102, and you're talking about Alan Cross. Well, the current morning show host, Jay Brody, is back here tomorrow. And I'm going to have cameras on that, like live. It would be awesome if the cops kind of busted it up. That would be totally awesome.

You know who these guys are? They wrote a bunch of Ronnie the Limo Driver parody songs for the Howard Sturgeon. Which they won't play. I keep saying, send me Driver parody songs for the Howard Stern show. They won't play. I keep saying, send me the parody songs so we can play them. And they're like, we signed an agreement that we won't share. Howard Stern won't play them anymore. You're reading some of these articles, even National Enquirer.

He doesn't have enough people listening. I'm out of the Howard Stern loop. Yeah, just observations. I don't know. Nothing else to write about right now in pop culture. People have been complaining online for years. The Howard Stern show isn't what it used to be. Well, that is true. I've made the assertion here that Toronto Mic'd is a better program

than the current version of the Howard Stern show. Blessings. Blessings. I've listened enough to make that verifiable assertion. And so you'll have to ask Jay and Roddy on the next episode about, yeah, what do they think of the fact that Howard Stern's cleaned up his act, this new sanitized version?

I mean, it's been progressively evolving to that point. Well, America's Got Talent was a big part of that. Right now, there's this home-based basement version of the Howard Stern show, where he's sitting in a compound in Florida and lying to his

audience about where he's broadcasting from. Oh, is that right? Doing the laziest job possible. I'm not even sure if the show is coming out live, that it's an actual morning show anymore, if it's pre-recorded. A lot of deception.

A lot of people are being angry. Ask these guys what they think of Howard Stern. Speaking of Florida, we should get around to talking about the biggest Canadian media controversy of the month. Oh, you want to do that now? Okay. Right after this. Because I'm playing some Crownlands right way back.

Let's play a little of this, do this, and then I'll do that. As I skip that one, you notice, because that one bores me to tears. But I'm going to do it for you because that's how much I like you. But here's some Crown Lens. My soul cried out when you were gone If you could see how far we've come Along, yeah Mountains worth a dark green sky I feel it through the night So this is a tribute to Rush.

Right way back. Yeah, this is a duo called Crownlands, who worked with legendary Rush producer Terry Brown. They first had this two-man band thing, kind of like, I guess, White Stripes kind of sound. Or Black Keys.

Black Keys, that's it. The drummer and the front man. Black Keys had a great sound. I haven't heard much from them very recently, but I did dig their sound. And White Stripes, too. I mean, that was a fucking great act. One of the guys from this group,

Kevin Como, Strombo, had him on as a guest on the Apple Music Radio show, and I thought a nice little social media post from Strombo. Here this guy showed up to the Strombo hour on the

CBC, took a picture with him on the red chairs, said I'm going to be famous. You're going to interview me one day. There you go. And over a decade later it happened. Crownlands were discussed with

Strombo here for channeling Rush in this new sound. And speaking of Rush, Geddy Lee's daughter is in a movie. Yeah, it's called, what

is it, The Marijuana Conspiracy? Is that what it was? That's it. A Canadian film which got terrible reviews. It was based on a study that was done in Toronto to see if they took a bunch of young women and they got them stoned for 98 days straight. bunch of young women, and they got them stoned for 98 days straight. They compared their reactions to everything against a group of women who weren't high,

what would happen. And that was Geddy Lee showing off the fact that his daughter is one of the stars of this movie at the same time that Geddy Lee and his mother are in a documentary series put together by Dave Grohl about rock stars and their maternal units. And I thought that was a nice thing that Geddy Lee able to show off his connection with his mother and his daughter. And here this duo called Crownlands channeling the spirit of Rush on that song, which I think was an interesting sound, a good try. And if Rush aren't coming back after the death of Neil Peart. We need a new Rush. Absolutely. Remember that name.

Crownlands. Okay. Now, here's the deal. I know you want to cover this story, so let me just ask you some questions about it. Okay, so who's in charge of Rogers right now? Edward III? Which Edward Rogers?

Is it the third? Where are we at in the Rogers? Edward, notice I'm now onto my backup computer. Which Edward Rogers? Is it the third? Where are we at in the Rogers? Edward, notice I'm now onto my backup computer. Oh, my goodness. We're not going to have the meltdown of last time. Do the fact that, what can you do, Mike? We're so close to Lake Ontario that I can't keep any technology charged. Right, that's it.

For long enough over the course of an episode. So you're going to burn through this story, and then I want to get to the memorial section. There's some significant deaths I want to honor, and we have some great jams we're going to play. Only if you tell me your Wi-Fi password. Oh, okay. Or you can do that privately.

Okay, well, next time I start a song, I'll mute us and I'll yell it at you. Can you make it? Okay, listen. Sometimes I wonder if a Zoom episode might have been the way to go. No, no, no, no. You sound so good in that microphone. Like, I wouldn't trade this. Okay, we're talking about the pandemic.

We're talking about hiding out in Florida where you can get all the vaccinations you want. You can go into CVS and get, like, a needle every day if you want at this point in time. And it's like Pfizer or Moderna or Johnson and Johnson, not this inferior. Which is a one shot. That's the way to go. AstraZeneca. Yeah, one shot with the J&J. I thought it would be on your radar that Suzanne Rogers married to Edward Rogers III.

Mm-hmm. Did they call him Ted? I don't think so. He inherited the company that his father built on the back of the company that his father built. Rogers, yes. I think I've heard of them. They make sugar, right? Rogers Communications.

Yes. They own the Toronto Blue Jays. Right. And half of the Leafs and the Raptors. The Sportsnet broadcasting they do comes up a lot on this show. Shout out to Matt Layden. People send Rogers money in the mail every month

in order to pay for the cell phone service that they can't live without. As long as their technology doesn't break down because of... Okay, look, I know I'm being very rude here. Rogers, what?

You're being rude to me? First of all, of course I'm aware of the story. I was, of course, I know this story. Or am I being rude to you by making you discuss it? Well, Helen, so Suzanne Rogers and her family, this guy, Edward III, they run Rogers. They run this big telecom company that have media properties that we all watch, whatever. So they're in Florida, and I guess they go to Mar-a-Lago,

and they take a selfie with former president Donald J. Trump. I mean, like the most famous guy in the world. And here then we have a moral dilemma. If Donald Trump walked into your backyard, Yes. The wind would fuck up his hair. Would you not ask for a picture with him? Oh yeah, maybe. Maybe take him out to the front, make him pose by the tree

like all the other Toronto Mike's guests. At this point in time, stay six feet apart because you're extra cautious in this house. Well, don't you stay six feet apart everyone in mar-a-lago has been fully vaccinated i didn't see i didn't see donald trump standing away right from the rogers family i don't think they could have gotten any closer right than they did right in that photo so can i just ask the question this is why i skipped it and we're coming back because you called for it. But the reason I skipped it

because who the fuck cares? Like, like, like how do I even muster up the energy to care that these guys in charge of this massive- It's not that you care

or don't care. It's that other people lost their minds. But they're looking to lose- Like, I fucking hate Trump. But, and I think it's kind of gross

that they're proud of this meeting at Mar-a-Lago. But I actually like, that's their like, that's like their right man. I hadn't seen this kind of backlash on Twitter since the last time Eric Alper asked a question. Okay, so the mic is yours. What's the backlash? Like, how can she pretend to be so woke when she's, posing with this ass hat. Well, it was a fact that she had positioned herself in the last few years

of being a big patron of Canadian fashion. Even to the point of having her name Rogers attached to the fashion school at Ryerson University. Shout out to Alive Fumka. And a lot of designers

look in this very woke world, doing their best to decolonize the fashion industry, put a different face on what it's traditionally been associated with. The last thing you want is the woman that's been waving all of her money at you for all these years and making dreams come true. Right. Making fashion happen. Right.

To be seen as adjacent. Right. To the policies of president. Right. You're still the president. If you're ever in the White House, you're the president forever. President Donald J. Trump. And also the fact that Suzanne Rogers

is not someone associated with sarcasm and irony. And when she's got a picture of herself and the whole family, couple of sons there, Ted Rogers III puts a caption on her Instagram, a special way to end

the night. You get the sense she's being sincere. Yes, I would say so. And the impression that she left was maybe they were hanging out, having dinner with this guy who, you know, like just until a few weeks ago was the president. Right. We're trying to forget all that.

Happens to be the most famous person they've ever met, although the Rogers family is richer than him. I mean, that's a given. Right. Like, Suzanne Rogers, her husband, her kids, like, they have more money in their bank accounts than Donald Trump does. Of course. By any measure. If anything, it should have been Trump sucking up to them. Right.

If anything, it should have been Trump sucking up to them. Right. But given the impression that was left by this Instagram story that showed up and circulated around, everybody got in taking the screenshots, you know the drill. Yes. Goldsby making noise about it in the old Canada land empire, of course. Jesse Brown gave me credit on the podcast for finding the photo,

and I had to say it wasn't me. He's giving me more credit than it's due. Oh, he likes you. What is he taking me for? He figures I'm the one who's creeping on the Suzanne Rogers Instagram looking for evidence of her wrongdoing. She had to explain that, in fact, she'd never met Donald Trump before. And what you saw in that picture was just like an encounter for a few seconds.

Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, why wouldn't he, at the end of the night after dinner, like walk around the room, shake everyone's hand? You can do that down there, right? If O.J. Simpson walked into our backyard right now, would we go to the tree and take a selfie with him? The man murdered a couple of people. What if you were dining in a restaurant that O.J. owned? Like, just the fact that they were even patronizing Mar-a-Lago

would have been seen as worthy of cancellation. Forget the fact that they were hanging out with the guy that owned the place. Even if it was just for a photo op. So are we supposed to cancel Rogers because they went to Mar-a-Lago? Is that the deal? Did you talk about that with Hebsey? People were legitimately replying that way on Twitter. Wow.

I'm canceling. Oh, yeah, because we were supposed to cancel the World Series. That's right. That's what we talked about. I'm canceling it all. Right. I want nothing to do with Rogers anymore just because of this photo. And that was the deal with Suzanne Rogers.

And looking around online uh curious about uh what what suzanne rogers sounds like now what what kind of impression has this rich woman left uh that nobody would figure that she has a sense of humor uh that if it was if it was you and me posing in a picture with Donald Trump, at least we could make the excuse that our caption was being a little bit sarcastic. And how could Suzanne Rogers be seen as someone who is completely deprived of a sense of humor. But you see her making the rounds on Rogers Media with Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham, and they were discussing a charity initiative they were doing in Toronto, some sort of fashion show.

I don't know, Mike, I figure you didn't even bother to listen to the clip of Posh, Spice, and Suzanne Rogers, just to get a sense of, I guess, Suzanne Rogers and the images she projects. I'm very on point with how that needs to be represented. Yeah, perfect description. Now, you're both super tight with your kids. We see that with you on Instagram. You bring your boys here all the time when you come here, Suzanne.

And part of what you're both doing right now is raising a huge amount of money for children's charities. And I just want to talk a little bit about the importance of instilling that philanthropy in our kids. You've talked about the fact that your kids are privileged, and you try and remind them of that and tell them that they have a responsibility. How do you sort of trickle down that responsibility to your kids? Well, I think it's just lead by example. Yeah. So honestly, my husband and I have been very much involved in this country and philanthropy

and it will hopefully carry on to my children and leading by example I think is the best way to do this. Well that's the legend. Oh, big applause. So Victoria! Oh I think and then P then uh spice chimes in talk about how great you would love to collaborate with or work with and that could be in any part of the creative world i'm open to ideas but collaborating here in toronto um the two of us has been such an honor for me something that i have been honored to do um I felt very humbled through

the whole process. And what Suzanne is doing is remarkable. The money that she is raising and yesterday was so much fun and so heartfelt and so honest and so kind and sweet and meaningful. And to feel part of that was huge for me. And that's why I jumped at the opportunity to actually be here and feel part of such an incredible event and raise money and do such a good thing, but also have fun. There were lots of women and men in that room.

You could feel the love. You could feel how much everybody wanted to do their part. This might be the most amount of talking that Posh Spice has done in public for her entire career. There's a taste of Suzanne Rogers and the public image that she was working so hard to cultivate, and it seemed like it was at risk of being wiped away, cultivate and it seemed like it was at risk of being wiped away all because she posted a photo with trump on on instagram well they still have my uh cell phone contract if that's any

consolation now i will tell the listenership everyone else is half the country during that uh bit you were doing there about the Rogers family. The umbrella started falling, so I leapt up to catch it, and I ripped my headphone jack. So it ripped out. Now it's broken. I need a new pair of headphones. I ran downstairs and got a backup pair,

but now I need to invest in a new pair of headphones. I just want to share that. I feel like you better talk about the partners. You make the real talk happen. Oh my goodness. That way you can afford replacing everything that gets damaged in this latest backyard episode. How is your Great Lakes beer? Is it delicious? I'm doing all right.

The weather, it's a little bit moody, but it's holding on. I'm impressed. It's not raining. From heavy winds to a little bit of sunshine trying to creep through. I think I'll leave here with anticipation of how I'll come back in June. We'll be closer to summertime. I'll have a chance to drink my GLB down by the lake. But unlike a false start of a month ago, I think we're doing all right for the opening day do-over.

And the cops haven't busted us up yet. That's good news right there. I do want to give some love to Mimico Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. So if you, Mark, want to move closer to the TMDS studio, I recommend where all the cool kids are going. Mimico, his motto is in the know in Mimico, and he certainly is. You can learn more at realestatelove.ca. And I'm still like when I bike around town, I look for the 1236 stickers everywhere because I think there should be like

a whole bunch of 1236 stickers like plastering the city. StickerU.com is where you go when you want to get those stickers. Quality stickers, man. The Toronto Mike stickers are just, they just kick ass. If anybody out there wants me to bike a Toronto Mike sticker to them, just DM me on Twitter or write me Mike at TorontoMike.com. But you can get your decals and your temporary tattoos. Get a whole whack of cool stuff like that at StickerU.com. And here we are now, Ridley Funeral Home. They present the memorial section of the Mark Weisblot episodes of Toronto Mike. And you can pay tribute without paying a fortune at Ridley Funeral Home.

Go to RidleyFuneralHome.com to learn more. guitar solo Charlie was feeling Falling for this romance Life's all around us Won't you take a chance Now out of sight Is out of mind Waiting for a second chance

A second time Don't walk on paths Don't walk on paths Don't walk on paths Don't break this heart When we ended our March recap episode at the beginning of April, kind of cliffhanger,

where you told me that there was a Canadian musician of note. You were informed that he passed away, but you couldn't tell. You weren't allowed to reveal the details. Right. Which was a matter of some curiosity. And then by the time I got home, it was out there that Paul Humphrey,

the frontman for Blue Peter, died at age 61 after a long battle with multiple system atrophy. And definitely brought out nostalgia for a certain time in Canadian music. Where here was Blue Peter, a Toronto band that I think could have ranked up there with the greatest goth synthesized musical units coming out of England, late 70s, early 80s. If you listen to CFNY, you would have been familiar with their music at the time and then eventually had even more of a breakthrough because they got a video on much music.

Right from the start, they were ready to be stars with the video for Don't Walk Past. And there was Paul Humphrey. He was cutting this figure. I guess Brian Ferry might have been the biggest inspiration. Roxy Music played a big role inspiring this sound but I think when you talk about these

acts from the UK of the era that the music Blue Peter put out there was the greatest Toronto exponent of this kind of sound like if you hear this song on the radio in the context of all this other music of the time,

it's this song in particular, Don't Walk Past, which left that impression. We had the unusual situation where a member of this band, Paul Humphrey's musical sidekick, Chris Wardman, was a guest on Toronto Mic just a few days after Paul Humphrey died. Yeah, so there's more Paul Humphrey memorial, if you will, in that episode of Chris Wardman. But you keep calling the Toronto band, but I did play them on Pandemic Friday as a Markham band, so I don't know if that's controversial at all. Although Paul himself is a Toronto guy, so everybody else, I think, was Markham.

For what it's worth, which is not much, I guess. Well, they met originally at York University in the theatre program. Right. Dropped out to pursue this group. Right, Sam the Record Man's son is in this band. Jason Snyderman, who was still trying to make it as a musician on his own, like just a couple of years ago. But he could afford those indulgences.

Whereas Paul Humphrey, Blue Peter played like a triumphant show. It was one of those last day of school concerts At the Ontario Place Forum Tens of thousands of kids descending upon this place Filling up the lawn to see Blue Peter play live Late June 1984 And you just figured this band was destined for the big time. What happened?

I mean, how did Chris Wardman explain how the whole thing devolved? That the only member of the band who wanted to end the band was Paul Humphrey. So basically, he was done, wanted to do other things. It clearly sounded the way Chris put it, is that the rest of the band wanted to keep going and see if they could make it.

But when Paul decided to quit, that was it for Blue Peter. And that included working in live theater. He was a composer and a sound designer, but also a bartender at the Victory Cafe in the Annex. And a lot of people got to know him just as this personality behind the bar serving up drinks. I don't know if they even knew they had this history with Blue Peter, but he became this personality because the Victory Cafe was a place where a lot of artists and performers and musicians and I guess the elite of Bathurst and Bloor in Toronto would hang out. And there was Paul Humphrey, this Canadian music industry icon, working the bar for all those years.

A lot of tributes to somebody who, because the band had broken up over 35 years ago, you wouldn't think that they would be as fresh in the memory of as many people as they were. But I think that has a lot to do with these 80s retro radio stations, especially that song, Don't Walk Past, staying in rotation. I think the impression that they made with the video,

which was the, what, one and only independent Canadian music video of the era to make it onto any kind of rotation on MTV. But it's still, yeah, under the circumstances, really didn't get them beyond Southern Ontario and Blue Peter dissolved back in 1985. It's a long time ago now, but age 61.

Too young to lose Paul Humphrey. ¶¶ She said, I'm fabulously rich Come on, just let's go She kinda bit her lip Jeez, I don't know. But I can guarantee. I can guarantee. There'll be no knock on the door.

I can guarantee. I'm total broke. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm total broke That's what I'm here for I come from downtown Born ready for you Our wish, will, and determination It's Grace 2 Grace 2 by the Tragically Hip

played in honor of Bob Lanois, who died April 19th at age 73. After an eclectic career, a lot of it had to do with who his brother was, Daniel Lanois, music producer from Hamilton, Ontario, Grant Avenue Studios. And it was Daniel Lanois who perfected his production skills in The Hammer. At one point being visited there by Brian Eno. That's where they established their collaboration in Steel Town. And Bob was in the background all along, really,

because Daniel had him doing artwork and photography and filmmaking related to records he produced. And then why shouldn't he have been known to the tragically hip? have been known to the tragically hip. And that included directing this video for Grace 2. Do you remember this video? Yeah, of course. And I do know, of course, because I've had Mark Howard on the program,

that Mark Howard, who came out of the Lanois factory, if you will, of production, and he produces this hip album. This is Day for Night, right? Yes, because... Day for Night. Yeah, because on Saturday Night Live, he plays this in the nautical disaster. And Greasy Jungle was the other video that Bob Lanois directed.

Now, he worked, he made an album with another FOTM, Tom Wilson from Junkhouse. More of a Hamilton connection there. Mr. Hamilton. He made an album with another FOTM, Tom Wilson from Junkhouse. More of a Hamilton connection there. As a harmonica player. Finally got around to releasing music of his own. An album called Snake Road in 2006. One of the Daniel Landau productions he did the album photography for was Luscious Jackson. Going back 25 years.

And rough time for Bob Landau after he got a motorcycle accident a year before his brother Daniel did. Like both serious motorcycle accidents. Weird coincidence. And whereas Daniel recovered, and I think spending a lot of time living in Toronto in recent years, had an album

of his own this year for Bob Lanois. Bit of a rougher ride. And there you go. I guess a household name by association. Like their sister Jocelyn Lanwa

was in Martha and the Muffins. Wow. And that Grant Avenue studio is a stuff of legend because you can trace everything that went on there to U2 and the Joshua Tree. That's where the Lanois-Eno relationship was established. And eclectic, esoteric personality. eclectic, esoteric personality.

But one who will definitely be remembered. April 19th, Bob Lanois, dead at 73. Here comes Spiderman Here comes Dave Here comes Tars and Astroblade You've been up, you've been down You've been around this town You drink, you drown Listen to the new sound over and over and over again. Here comes John and here comes Wayne.

Here comes Chris on Astro Blade. Here's the body. Here comes Straps. Here comes Walt with Mickey Mouse. Here comes Summer and here comes Walt. Gotta thank FOTM's Scott Turner for putting this one on the radar. And it was a friend of his, Marcus Klink, who died in Germany of a heart attack in his 50s. Marcus Klink, who worked in Toronto as part of Quality Special Products.

It was in 1990. They moved in Toronto. He was put in charge of this record label that much like K-Tel International, was synonymous with selling records through commercials on TV, but also household products, things that you could buy in these proto-infomercials.

That's how quality built itself up as a company. But they pivoted to a newer side of the music industry because even though he was a head-banging German guy, it was Marcus Klink who was responsible for a lot of the Euro trash dance music sound that washed up on these shores. He's credited with bringing Too Unlimited to Canada. Wow.

And how that song. And they're still playing those jams at hockey games. You don't know if you've been to a hockey game in the last five years. Twilight Zone. It was him who was credited with discovering them. And then he made a friend. No Limits, don't forget. Oh, No Limit, No Limit.

Ready for this. No Limits and Twilight Zone, the big three. Marcus Klink found a friend. Radio DJ Chris Shepard. On a Friday night. Often imitated, never duplicated. Where's Shep at, do we know? Because Scott Turner can't find him,

so I don't know what hope I have of finding him. And you remember Chris Shepard started attaching his name to a whole bunch of albums. CD after CD after CD. The Techno Trip, Pirate Radio Sessions. This was Shep making the transition from the industrial sound on CFNY over to Energy 108 in the dance music scene. Right. And with Marcus Klink, based on the way Scott Turner told the story,

he's the one that told Chris Shepard, you can be a rock star yourself. And it started with putting together this trio called BKS. And here was Astroplane, which has like absolute nonsense lyrics, which I think live up to the spirit of the day. They've got like a shout out to Hedley Jones in there and the singer Simone Denny and Henny Becker, who was the B in BKS. This guy was like in his in his 60s and he was up there on stage playing at these raves along with Shep like it was it was a crucial part of the act and the appeal here where Chris Shepard became an industry of its own through quality records now we know where this story goes Don Cherry turned into a techno star

making music with BKS to sell the Rock'em Sock'em Hockey videos which were also a quality special product. And anyone who's paying attention to the Pandemic Fridays knows that we've kicked out that Don Cherry techno jam a few times. I know Stu Stone's a big fan.

What I'm trying to say is the recently deceased Marcus Klink was a massive inspiration when it came to the music scene in Toronto, Ontario, and Canada, that he discovered all this stuff. Now, you bring up the fact that Chris Shepard has been something of an enigma. He did some work in radio in the early 2000s. I remember when the Jack FM radio stations were brought on by Rogers as part of that retro format. Shep had some kind of nationally syndicated show, but this was after he was

done doing techno after the rave scene kind of trickled out. With Chris Shepard now, we have on record Chris Shepard making an appearance on the Humble and Fred show in the early days. Very early days.

Very early days of the podcast and sounded totally normal. Right. Like there was no schtick in the way that I remember Chris Shepard presenting himself. But along with that came this specious claim that he had become an academic and acquired multiple PhDs, even though there is no public record that I have ever been able to find of Chris Shepard getting these kinds of academic credentials. Is that even his real name? Well, I don't know. Ask Scott Turner.

Ask David Marsden. Maybe he's under his real name. Get one of these guys on the line and figure out the mystery of what happened to Shep. As far as I know, that's his real name. That's the guy. But from what I can ascertain, from what I remember from that fascinating appearance with the Humble and Fred show, because it's like, here's Chris Shepard. He's so elusive, enigmatic.

Where are we going to find this guy? Where's he hiding? It's just like a normal dude on the phone. Right. But from what I could tell in that interview, he might have like sat in on a lecture once, audited a course at the university, listened to somebody talk about like the physiology of sound or something. And I don't know, maybe he read a textbook and walked away from that and said,

this is intriguing enough to me. I might as well tell people where I've been. I've been busy getting not one, not two, but three PhDs. Go big or go home. When he's really like the whole time, just what? Been hiding out in Costa Rica? Costa Rica is what I heard.

Been watching his stocks, all the money he saved from being a DJ? Love Inc. was what BKS transitioned into. One of the guys from that act died. We did a memorial tribute to him, Brad Damon. And there was no comment from Shep around that period. He hasn't turned up on social media. He, I think, would turn up doing club gigs

still as DJ Dog Whistle, putting out some music just as a hobby, as a sideline. I wonder what it's going to take to get that Chris Shepard deep dive. Working on it.

On Toronto Mike. Like that is one of the great white whales. Working on it. That you're trying to get here. And we better get him before he's gone. And that digression, all because of Marcus Klink, dance music compilation expert. Don't forget also the Dance Mix CD.

Sure. Put out through Much Music. Yeah, Master T, was he the face of that franchise? Dance Mix. Ask David Kynes, a recent FOTM, who was at the helm of Much Music in those days. He's got all the t-shirts to show for it. I think it's his birthday.

Maybe it's his birthday today, David Kynes. I heard when he was on, for you talking with you about me, what am I trying to say? He mentioned that he couldn't get past a certain point in any 1236 episode. Oh, so he's not listening anymore. We're going to find out. We're going to find out. So David Kynes has made it this far. Happy birthday. Let us know. Well, that's it. Take to

Twitter and you'll have to tell me if you finally made good on your vow. I don't think he promised anything at all. The dance mix compilations spread to the United States. And Quality Records, remember this? They had a fake electric circus in the form of an infomercial that ran on Buffalo television.

And it had John Norris from MTV News, a guy who was, like, already too old for the job 25 years ago, and Liz West. Wow. FOTM Liz West. FOTM Liz West, who was co-hosting this dance party infomercial show. And I think there was a lot of money flying around. Like this Quality Records had a lot of money flying around like this quality records had a lot of success in licensing these songs from these from these uh little european uh record labels and uh

energy energy 108 was the frequency uh where a lot of these records broke i'm pretty sure two unlimited would have been would have been the biggest act of all. And the fact that you mentioned you can still hear them to this day. Sure, sure. A staple of all these sporting events. I think that's all I've got. Marcus Clank, rest in peace. Thank you. Life begins after school. That's when we bend all the rules. Time to hang with all my friends. We like to be together in a place where we belong. I'm 16, starting to find my way. Got a new job, gonna start at the mall today. Thank God I'm on my own for the first time.

Thank God I'm on my own for the first time. I'm 16. Life is sweet when you're growing up so fast. You got to make the good times last. I'm 16, 16 Phil Nero was a rock singer from Rochester, New York, who spent a lot of time in Toronto, decades in fact. After a battle with tongue cancer, he died at age 63. May 2nd, May 3rd, there was a GoFundMe.

He was dealing with a lot, and it was at the same time that he was working on a reunion album with a Buffalo band called Talis, which he was a singer for for a little while. Talis had a bass player named Billy Sheehan, who was recruited to play with David Lee Roth, the solo David Lee Roth. Crazy from the Heat. To replace Michael Anthony, the David Lee Roth band. Yes. The solo incarnation, however long that lasted.

And at the time, that was the end of Talis. And Phil Nero made friends in Toronto and crossed the border. And he moved north and worked in Toronto for all these years, including as a singer for Coney Hatch. I have booked on the program. What the hell is the guy's name? Who's the guy from Coney Hatch? Curran.

Andy Curran. Andy Curran, who also is general manager of the El Macombo as a day job. Andy Curran's in the calendar. which has yet to open to the public, but they were able to have

these private concerts last fall. The laws in Ontario allowed to have these shows, socially distanced concerts. And comedy shows. Don't forget Carla Collins, F-O-T-M, Carla Collins. And Coney Hatch have the distinction of recording a live album, just like the Rolling Stones, from the Al McConboy during this window of time. Oh, sorry.

They had like a few weeks where they could get away with doing something like this. And I think it's great that of all the bands out there, to be able to say that they made a live album in Toronto in 2020. I think that's an episode to look forward to. You know who's buddies with Curran is Banjo Dunk. So Banjo Dunk is good buddies with Andy Curran. And yeah, he's in the calendar, man. At one point then, if I've got the chronology correct,

he would have performed with Phil Narrow, who took over for a time as singer of Coney Hatch. Also, he worked with Peter Criss of Kiss, the drummer, Peter Criss of Kiss, the drummer, who was trying a solo comeback, hard luck guy singing about the hard luck woman. And I think he just wanted his old job back and Kiss reunited. And that was the end of Phil Narrow as Peter Criss doing vocals in his bar band. Phil Narrow also co-wrote three songs on the 1989 Body Rock album by FOTM Lee Aaron. Wow. Wow.

That's a big album. Wow. A lot of people who have been on this podcast. Wow. But nobody in future would have known this guy. I've got to remind you, and I don't believe in jinxes, so I can say this. No guest of this program has ever died

in nine years. And 850 whatever we're at now. So there you go. That's still true. Even though we've had some sick. Ted Wallachian was reported dead. Glad he's not in the memorial section of Ridley Funeral Home. Jim McKinney? Jim McKinney was, dead. Glad he's not in the memorial section of Ridley Funeral Home. Jim McKinney?

Jim McKinney was, yes. Glad he's not in this. I think that was on the same day, in fact. It was, here we're digressing. Poor Phil Nero. We'll get back to him. Well, yeah. Gordon Martineau put a tribute on Facebook to his old pal Howie, Jim McKinney.

Yeah. You know, what a wonderful man. I always remember the great times we had on the Air City Pulse News. And the assumption was that Jim McKinney had passed away. Because who just randomly posts an appreciation of their friend? People do that. Do they? All the time? Without clarifying at any point that he's still alive? I can that you got to... Do they all the time? Without clarifying at any point that he's still alive? I can tell you, though, because Peter Gross,

F-O-T-M, Peter Gross, is still very, very tight with McKinney. And, like, yeah, they talk, like, every single day about the ponies, et cetera. And rumors are also going around that Ted Walsh had passed away due to COVID-19. Right. And his news of him in hospital with COVID-19 came only like a day or so after we learned Bubba,

Clint Bubba O'Neill was in the hospital battling COVID-19. So it was touch and go for some FOTM. The Wallachian rumors were serious enough that they went on the morning show, Mike Ben Dixon and John Moore. To say he passed? Even though they fired the guy a few weeks ago. That's right.

But they didn't say he passed. No, they didn't say he passed? Even though they fired the guy a few weeks ago. That's right. But they didn't say he passed. No, they didn't say he passed. It was to clear up the fact that he had not. He's alive. That the rumors must have been circulating enough. Because the first rule of corporate Canadian broadcasting is you don't mention a guy who you just laid off from the radio station after 30 years on and off a few weeks ago. You know, you don't admit that he's alive at all. So the rumors must have been serious.

They must have been getting around. All this to say that we're still standing by to hear the first Toronto Mike guest. Well, guest of the podcast. Yeah, not have to, because you can, yes, listeners,. Well, Guest of the Podcast. Guest. Yeah, not after, because you can, yes, listeners, we lost Sheila earlier this year, but Guests of the Podcast, we've yet to lose one. All I'm saying is I hope it's not me.

I hope it's not you. Because then you're going to have to find somebody else to do the Ridley Funeral Home segment. Is this going to sound terrible? Let's hope it's Brian McFarlane in about 10 years. How's that? Is that okay? Can you die at 100 and that's okay?

You've had people who were booked as guests or you were talking to them or there are people about potentially coming on here. Oh, sure, yes. It never quite happened. Yeah, and then they passed away. That's happened a few times. They ended up dying along the way and didn't make it here,

which it's a message to everyone. I'm going to get killed by the umbrella, and not only will we have the first Toronto Mic guest to die, it will happen live on the microphone if this umbrella doesn't stop misbehaving around me. Nice try, Mike. And at this point in the show, it's a sunnier afternoon. Let me finish up then talking about Phil Narrow

because the theme song we heard from the animated series 16, which was about 16-year-olds working in a mall, definitely came after our time to care about any shows like these. 16-year-olds working in a mall. Definitely came after our time to care about any shows like these. I don't know if your kids would have been familiar with it. Ran on Teletoon and Nickelodeon. Dude, in the early days of Toronto Mike, I was hanging out at this place with a production company.

They still owe me $12,000, but that's okay. And there was a guy who was hanging out there who was like one of the key voices of 16. Like as I recall, fluffy or something like that. Christian Potenza. There you go.

There you go. Oh, okay. Keep going on about this. I'm just going to put the weight back on that umbrella so that it doesn't tip over, but now we should have no problems. All I'm trying to say is, here's a guy who was trying to make it on the rock and roll scene for so many years.

It was a stuff of legend that he had worked as a singer for a while with Talis and the Billy Sheehan Association. Not only David Lee Roth, but Billy Sheehan. Later with Mr. Big. Big hit song, To Be With You. What a jam. That was everywhere. Although I never liked it. I wonder this guy sitting around Phil Narrow thinking that could have been me.

Like that could have been me doing that song. Big in Japan. Right. Like Mr. Big turned out to be. like Mr. Big turned out to be. But he was proud of the fact that this was his biggest hit. The theme song he recorded for a Canadian cartoon, 16, Phil Narrow, Dead at 63. Pardon my ignorance, Mark, but I don't know Square Pegs, do I? What's Square Pegs?

This is the theme song to Square Pegs. Is this something I missed? Did I miss a good one? What is it, Square Pegs? Well, I'm old enough to have watched, I'm pretty sure, every episode of Square Pegs.

Okay, let me hear a little bit about this. You talk like you've got 15 years on me. I think you've got like a couple here on me. Square Pegs was on 1982-83. But you might have not been into the idea of watching a teenage sitcom, young Mike.

Probably too young. I was too young for that. You can reminisce like a madman about John Biner on Bizarre. I did watch a lot of Bizarre. Absolutely. And Benny Hill, but I was a little older then. Staying up a little later to watch Square Pegs might have been more like a sixth grader's preoccupation. Gotcha. Square Pegs, which was the first starring role for Sarah Jessica Parker.

Wow. She played one of the two awkward teenage girls who were at the high school. What was it? Weema Wee High School on Square Pegs. And at the time, I guess, yeah, I would have just been phasing into junior high.

I really identified with this show. And the whole idea of being a square peg. Because suddenly I was cast into school in a different part of town. No, not Mike Wilner yet, but kind of a bunch of intimidating kids who lived in the Forest Hill part of Toronto.

It's a tough hood. They seemed a little better at bullying. You know, all these years later, I calculated what the problem was. These kids tended to be the youngest in their families. And me and my friends tended to be the oldest. Like we were from more in North York. I guess our parents were younger.

But the kids that were the youngest in their families, they understood the language of bullying better than we did. You know what I mean? You grow up with big siblings around.

You've been on the receiving end of so much torment and torture, you're going to seize any opportunity you can. Turnabout is fair play when it comes to bullying in

school. We're talking about the early to mid-80s here when no one was policing this behavior. Oh, it was free range. Yeah, like anything could go. You could turn to a show like Square Pegs. Right. And at least you could relate to what Sarah Jessica Parker was going through.

And just a confirm. In terms of trying to fit in. Sarah Jessica Parker did not pass away. Who passed away from Square Pegs? The creator of Square Pegs, Anne Beetz. And this sitcom got a lot of attention because she had come from the first five years of Saturday Night Live. She was like the main sidekick behind the scenes of Gilda Radner. Wow.

And all the characters associated with Gilda. Sure. And Gilda Radner's livener. Wow. And all the characters associated with Gilda. Sure. And Gilda Radner's live show. Wow. And Square Pegs was seen as Anne Beatt's fulfilling her promise, I guess like a Tina Fey of the era. You know, here was somebody who was responsible for all this seminal comedy on SNL,

and they were going to bring it to primetime TV on CBS, and it was the sort of show that got a lot more critical acclaim. The number of actual viewers, the teenage cast, it seemed like there was a lot of drug use going on. That was also part of the problem, the behind-the-scenes drama of the show. And it turned out that CBS pulled the plug on the whole thing. I would imagine there's a Square Pegs box set out there to remember it all. Now, Ann Beetz was born in Buffalo, but I got her up here with these other Canadian deaths because she went to McGill University

and she credited the McGill Daily newspaper during her time there as where she established her comedy chops and she sent a bunch of clips off to National Lampoon magazine. That connected her with Michael O'Donohue and then Saturday Night Live that followed. But she was also in Toronto for a little while and connected with Rosie Schuster,

who was the wife of Lauren Michaels. And you can see where it would go from here. Like everything was destined to happen as far as being one of those people working in the office in those legendary years of Saturday Night Live. And that, I think, would have been more than enough to make her worthy of a mention. But it seemed like even to this day, she was still collaborating with Dan Aykroyd

on a Blues Brothers animated cartoon. It seemed like the kind of thing that was around a decade of development. And we would not have heard very much about her, but just a legendary comedy writer. Anne Beattie's dead April 7th at age 74. Love has gone, I've no strength to carry on Thought my world was upside down Man, you walked all into my life

Went to work to set things right What's the secret that you, that you use? You made me believe in magic. You know that I can be truly in love. You made me believe in magic. Your love's full of magic. It's in my life. Now, I'm filled with the... For the second year in a row in your backyard, we're going to talk about a member of the Bay City Rollers passing away. Except this was the biggest Bay City Roller of all. The lead singer of the group, Les McKeown.

You made me believe in magic. Bay City Rollers, huge blind spot for me. Huge. Q&A. You made me believe in magic. Bay City Rollers, huge blind spot for me. Huge. I'm trying to decipher why, and I think it was because even if they were still around, by the time you got into the late 70s, early 80s, they were already passing. It was a big burnout.

By the time I got to Top 40 Radio. For the Bay City Rollers. But Bay City Rollers, who created a big teenage riot outside the Chum Building at 1331 Yonge Street and in Nathan Phillips Square in 1976. And they had then a soft spot for Toronto,

this Scottish band of teenage boys who hit pay dirt in the Toronto marketplace to the point where they kept on coming back. And in fact, in March 2020, Les McKeown was doing like a tour around southern Ontario. He was playing all these suburban theaters in the 905. You know those theaters that were all bought with money from the Ontario Lottery Corporation, lottery corporation where they where they built all these they built all these playhouses to make it look like lotteries were doing some social good that's why you go to any of the any of these

places burlington ontario you know there'll be like a professional theater in the middle of town right and uh les mckeown was doing a theater of these places. And guess what happened? In the middle of his Southern Ontario tour, COVID-19. Taken off the road. That was the end of that. And went back home. Died at home at age 65 on April 20th, 2021. 65 sounds really young to me when I hear it now. We're getting up there.

I guess we're getting up there. Last year, it was another guy from the Bay City Rollers who died, like a filling guitarist, Ian Mitchell. And, you know, we mentioned Liz West, and she was actually one of those people who screamed about the Bay City Rollers in a Toronto Star article. She was at the Toronto Star protesting that Peter Goddard wrote a bad review. That's funny.

Second mention of FOTM, Liz West. Oh, big one here coming up. When I look back at everything I've done, I know you must have cried a river of tears. You were there when I was feeling low, to walk me through my darkest fears. So when the sun goes down and the night's more colder, I will be there looking over your shoulder. And the people of love, the strong of the emotion. And the strong of the love, the people of the emotion. Tawny Catan. It's too bad she had to die. But when it comes to talking about obituaries on Toronto Mic'd,

I feel like this one was made for us. I'd say if you got the AZ shot, you're feeling the loss of Tani Katayan right now. That's what I would say. I mean, my wife never heard of her. And I was like, you know, there's seven years difference. Your wife thinks you are absolutely insane. With the preoccupations that you bring to the table.

The number of fun facts I drop on her on the daily. I think she's the luckiest woman in the world. I don't know if she'd agree with that sentiment, though. But she, but Tonic, I mean, this was. By the way, that's why you're having a great marriage. Because you've got this podcast in which you talk about everything that bores your wife. No, you're absolutely right.

I'll come off of Pandemic Friday and I'll be like, oh, you won't believe this fun fact that the lead singer of Filter is the fucking brother of the T-1000 in Terminator 2. And she'll be like, whatever. She's like, whatever.

Take it to Eric Alper's Twitter account. He'd be happy to hear it. But Tawny, like, and I know she was in the rat video first, but I remember her from the white snake videos. And I remember her on top of the car. And in my primary school, we were all talking about Tawny Katayan. Like, it's a big deal to us. Tawny Katayan was not a member of white snake.

No. But she might as well have been in the band like you you have a situation here maybe not like yoko ono or linda mccartney but you know the lead singer's muse became an integral part of the act right and uh and how did this happen? I think it was because originally it was a different model who was hired to be in the White Snake Still of the Night video. Really? And what happened? She didn't show up.

Is that right? Those cars. Somebody else was supposed to be doing calisthenics on them. Claudia Schiffer. Yes. She was the one who originally got that gig. Is that right? To be the White Snake Woman.

What a big fucking, that's amazing. But I don't know. She wouldn't get out of bed for more than $10,000. Even back then. And Claudia Schiffer was only like 16, 17 years old at the time wow Claudia Schiffer

I thought this was because she was dating that guy in Rat so Tawny was in the Rat video I think that that got her on the radar like it made her

a familiar figure that she was in the Rat video back for more she was on the cover of the Rat album out out of the cellar. And at the time, she was dating the guy from Rat, Robin Crosby, who ended up dying of AIDS.

Oh. Combined with a heroin overdose and everything. It's a deadly combo. Rat didn't quite catch on in the way White Snake did. White Snake were kind of a big deal. Yeah. And it was because here was this guy, here was this guy, David Coverdale, uh,

who had, who had moved on from, from deep purple. It was kind of like a dollar store version of Robert plant. Right. Uh, doing this like dirty blues based rock and roll in the late 70s. Very British, heavy metal sound.

Popular with a certain generation of dirtbags. And was very much into writing songs that sounded like they were commissioned for strip clubs. He got big into those double entendre lyrics. The Breakthrough Whitesnake album was called Slide It In

in 1984. So what happened was John Kalodner, legendary A&R guy, Geffen Records, he saw Whitesnake were slogging it out and he saw some potential there for David Coverdale. And it got him to refashion himself

as an American corporate rocker. A lot of those big Whitesnake songs on their 1987 album were re-recordings of tracks that Whitesnake had done before, including Here I Go Again. Which was the big one. That would have been a song that at that time was already five years old. And they did like a glossed-up Hollywood version of it.

Claudia Schiffer, supposed to be in that video, didn't make it to the scene. And there was Tawny Katayan on call. Well, it worked so well that they kept on calling Tawny Katayan to appear in video after video for Whitesnake again. And what else could have happened but her and David Coverdale becoming a couple? I mean, you had to manifest in real life what the teenage boys were seeing on the screen. Near Tawny Catan, maybe people remembered her from Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks. She was in a horror movie called Witch Board, but the greatest role in her life

turned out to be David Coverdale's girlfriend and later on wife. So yeah, here I go again. Still of the Night. That was a bit more of a harder edge song. Is This Love? That would have been the big power ballad played all the time in Toronto on Chum FM.

And that came time for the follow-up. And the song we heard there, The Deeper the Love, which was the fifth Whitesnake video. Wow. With Tawny Katayan in there. You could see by 1989, 1990, maybe the formula was getting a little bit thin. And the idea of this power couple being whisked around in a limousine,

I mean, you could imagine the life that they were living. Being the spouse of David Coverdale, no longer just a low-rent Robert Plant impersonator, but a guy who no less than Jimmy Page wanted to work with and make an album because his singer wasn't in the mood to show up. But things went south after that because the power ballad,

the deeper the love, you know, a song, they were ready to ride straight to number one, stalled halfway up the charts. I think Geffen Records at that point moved on to Nelson, Gunnar and Matthew Nelson.

Right. Love and affection. And then Nirvana and the grunge era got in the way. But it was a nice ride there for a little while for Whitesnake with Tawny Catan along for the ride. Oh, remember they brought in Steve Vai, speaking of people who play with David Lee Roth.

Like they hired him to be the guitar sidekick to David Coverdale. So it was like on one hand you had Tawny Katayan doing the splits on the hood of a car. But then you would have Steve Vai in the middle of a song with a blistering guitar solo. Trying to appeal to every kind of rock and roll audience at once. It wasn't working. Going nowhere. The marriage broke up. Tawny Katayan then got married for a second time to Chuck Finley.

Pitcher. A pitcher. Yes. For what? California Angels? Yeah, that sounds right. Anaheim Angels? What were they called at the time?

California Angels, I think, back then. And a marriage that produced a couple of daughters, but it didn't go so well. And this included a situation where Tawny Katayin's mugshot made the rounds because she was charged with domestic violence. And Chuck Finley filing for divorce. And subsequently, she was busted for cocaine in a rehab program. And a sign of the times in the mid to late 2000s, she became like a reality TV star, right?

Perfect cast member for Dr. Drew and Celebrity Rehab. I mean, she had, to her credit, it's like an episode of Seinfeld. They gave her a part in the new WKRP. She was going to be like the next Lonnie Anderson. She hosted the show America's Funniest People And was a guest on an episode of Married with Children Like this is kind of the resume that you would expect

From somebody who is most famous For doing the splits in a White Snake music video Or five And I'm not sure even if they announced a cause of death you know, white snake music video or five. Um, and, uh, I'm not sure even if they announced a cause of death, they did not, but you assume that she was having a rough ride towards the end.

Uh, look, she had a dream. She had a more interesting life than most. And we lost Tawny Katayan May 7th at age 59. going to make me lose my cool. Up in here, up in here. If I gots to bring it to you cowards, then it's going to be quick. All your men that been to jail before, suck my dick. And all them other cats you run with, get done with, done quick.

How the fuck you gonna poke the dog with some bum shit? Then go to gun click. Now one, one shit, all over some dumb shit. Ain't that some shit? And it gives your mommy of a strip club. Cause every time you come around, it's like, I just gotta get my dick sucked. DMX has died. You might as well just play like the unvarnished version of the song.

No reason to rewrite history here. This is the way the guy rapped. And I think that was a big part of the appeal of DMX, particularly with suburban white kids. And then when he died at age 50 on April 9th, I don't know, did you think that DMX was that big of a star? I think it's a fact that he made songs like these that resonated with a certain kind of suburban America.

You know, that people bought a lot of DMX CDs back in the day, maybe downloaded them off Napster a little later on. He had the two in a row, I remember. He had maybe the same calendar year. He put out these two albums, and I know they sold really well. And I was listening to Howard Stern at the time. I still remember you know there's a certain skit which i cannot name that you know they would satirize and they play all the time and

dmx seemed to have a moment but it didn't feel like a particularly like long peak uh imperial period for the great dmx but like this jam i know my boy who's 19 now, this was a jam I remember, I don't know, years ago that he would just sort of break into this reframe, party up, this song is called. But yeah, he's in the video too. I don't know if you're going to mention it, but he's in that video for Ajax band. Oh, Sum 41.

He rides it on the ATV. And the guy from Sum 41, Derek Webley, is giving interviews. I don't know, 20th anniversary reissue or whatever. And it's GQ magazine. Like, this is the only thing I want to talk about. Like, how did DMX end up in this video that you were making? It turns out he was in Toronto shooting Exit Wounds.

Right. Trying to pivot to being a movie star. And uh you know dmx didn't know who the hell some 41 were dmx didn't even know who barack obama was when he was the president there was an interview this is the the kind of character i i guess uh the real deal like this is this is uh this is what dm DMX was all about. Earl Simmons, one of those guys, you know, genuinely from the streets. You know, there are so many of these, like, gangster rap types who, you know, turns out really had, like, a middle-class upbringing and were just playing a role.

We'll get to one of those in a moment. But Earl Simmons was the real deal. And we're just playing a role. We'll get to one of those in a moment. But Earl Simmons was the real deal. You know, like, grew up in poverty in Yonkers, New York. And I guess among all the rappers out there, there was something about this voice. Something about his persona, his personality, Def Jam Records got him into the studio. And as you said, put out two, three albums, rapid fire, one after another, striking while the iron was hot.

And he definitely could use the money because he had 15 kids. Wow. With nine different women. He wins. Wow. Yeah, that's even more than you, Mike. That's even more than me.

Yeah. Wow. And look, I mean, a whole bunch of bankruptcies. You know, you find out like between 2010 and 2015, he earned $2.3 million from song royalties. But he was still broke.

Like, he couldn't. Well, we didn't have that many kids. He couldn't get it together. That's expensive, the kids. That's expensive. And, like, whatever. Big, long rap sheet. I mean, you know, not to mention, like, all those drug charges.

You know, his house got raided because they got a call about animal cruelty going on inside there. And there he was living in Arizona, and there was suspicion that he was mistreating his pit bulls on the property. So there we go. DMX, huh? He fit in a lot of life in those 50 years. Black Rob. Do you remember this song? No. I remember Whoa.

Not only that, I think this song taught me the correct spelling of Whoa. How do you spell Whoa? Whoa. W-H-O-A. Oh, okay. You got it right. Yeah, yeah. I'm good at that.

And you were channeling Joey Lawrence there. Whoa. Exactly. Black Rob, who signed up Bad boy records with uh with puff daddy uh died at age 52 on on on april 17th i mean this was not the biggest hit but i do remember it as i guess like dmx like right around the right around the turn of the millennium. And also a life that went sideways and derailed whatever success that he was having, sent to prison for seven years because of some jewelry that he got caught with,

stolen from a hotel, and got out May 2010. And that was it. Whoa, Black Rob. Shimmy shimmy coco pop Oui oui chocolate crossover Si mi coco might go pow Now it's about time that I clear this So pardon me miss, but I'd like for you to hear this If you kiss me then I'll kiss you back

You see I feel real good inside and it's just from your nearness There's no need for you to fear this Kiss me, I'll kiss you back Well you look kinda cute to me I think we can achieve this Plus you act like you need this Kiss me and I'll kiss you back Yeah, real fly

Money D's not buying it Quit denying it, you're better off trying it Freak me girl and I'll freak you back Just like the Whitesnake song that we heard, I go for the track that represented the end of the momentum rather than the beginning. And in the case of Digital Underground, I don't know that it lasted very long,

but based on a Pandemic Friday, you got very sentimental about the death of Shock G in Digital Underground. Explain yourself, Mike. Yeah, we did that. I guess the first Pandemic Friday after Shock G passed away, I had Bingo Bob Ouellette on the program with me to talk about. We both have these memories of sex packets.

He went deeper. I really loved Do what you like and i love the 12 inch version of do what you like by digital underground which was the first digital underground ever heard and of course then i picked up that album which i quite liked it had the big top 40 hit humpty dance on it which was kind of like a silly kind of parody thing but i i really dug these guys and of course you first hear Tupac on a digital underground... Yeah, well that's what I was saying about privileged theater kids who were pretending to be gangsta rappers,

and I guess the evidence of this was the fact that Tupac, before he was on the streets, he was like a background dancer for the digital underground in this goofy rap act, which maybe clashed with the later character

that he was putting on. And, of course, Tupac didn't live long enough, really, for him to be effectively interrogated about how genuine his rapper personality was. I got to say, I mean, we're talking about Shock G, Humpty Hump did it, 57 on April 22nd. And that's three rappers in a row who at least didn't die until their 50s. So, you know, we've gone through so many rappers, obituaries, you know, these guys that were dead dead at 19, 20, 21.

Who would actually have. Records moving up the charts. At the time that they died. Maybe with long careers ahead of them. That were. That were cut down. Like at the youngest age imaginable. For one reason or another, including Pop Smoke,

who has what might be my favorite radio hit of the year, this power ballad. Maybe we'll bring that on another episode. That song by Pop Smoke, like it's very sentimental because you realize that, you know, this guy died at age 21. And he has a hit record out now as if none of this ever happened. Like, he's emoting from beyond the grave. Shock G, however, his hit-making days came to an end quite a while ago.

Even if there's always, I think, money to be made on the hip-hop nostalgia circuit. You know why? Because you don't need a lot of special effects, right? You just show up with your microphone. And suddenly you can entertain the crowd of middle-aged white people who remember the Humpty dance. What was the story of Humpty Hump? They constructed a whole narrative around the fact that this guy's nose had burned off at Burger King. He was working at Burger King?

The oil in the fryer, he fell into it. His nose fell into it. And I remember this narrative they invented for Humpty Hump. Because, of course, Humpty Hump is Shock G with, like, glasses and a fake nose. Like, yeah, the Gojo Marks thing, whatever. And, yeah, I mean, early in, I think, yeah, it was fun stuff here. You've got to take this up with FOT, a maestro fresh west. He's on Friday. Friday.

Make this up with FOTM Maestro Fresh West. He's on Friday. Friday. Coming up soon. When did they decide that rappers no longer needed to have that much of a shtick? Right? Like, you had Maestro with his tuxedo. Right. You had Shock G with his big fake nose that fell into the French fry machine.

Right. Yeah. Like, when did they decide that you didn't have to make this much effort anymore and in the case of digital underground um after they uh ran out the clock on that sex packets record uh there was a follow-up called sons of the p yep which uh which were just like got a bunch of George Clinton Parliament fungadelic records and just started rapping over them.

Sure. Yes. Yes. But Shock G was a good rap. I liked his flow and it was fun. I thought it was fun the way they'd incorporate

Humpty Hump into the mix. So it was just a fun time. Early 90s stuff. And the other follow-up single was called No Nose Job. That's right. And I guess that continued the narrative of what was it with this schnoz in the middle of his face?

I guess trying to dispute the allegations that Shock G wasn't real. I don't know. Shock G of Digital Underground fond fondly remembered, dead at 57. I thought I'd leave you with a letter or a fiery speech Like when an actor makes an exit at the end of a play And I've been dying for hours Trying to fill up all the holes with some sense I'd like to know why you gave up and you threw it away I'd like to give you all the reasons and what everything meant

Well, I could tell you goodbye or maybe see you around With just a touch of a sarcastic thanks We started out with a bang and at the top of the world Thank you. I feel like I was competing here for airtime as far as picking a Jim Steinman jam that wouldn't overlap with anybody else's on this show. You did it, man, because I don't even know this one. Completely foreign to me. You recognize that this is a Jim Steinman song.

I thought you'd go with Ravishing from Bonnie Tyler. Is that who it is? I thought, because that's a Bonnie Tyler song that was Hulk Hogan's theme. Yes. It was recycled, repurposed after Bonnie Tyler recorded it at the time that she did another Jim Steinman song, Total Eclipse of the Heart. I mean, where to begin on this guy who died on April 19th at age 73? Of course, it all begins with Meatloaf and Bad Out of Hell. We've discussed here on multiple episodes, including with FOTM Ben Rayner,

how Meatloaf was my first love. Right. As far as rock stars were concerned, that Bad to Hell album. And the fact that you, what's that Meatloaf song? The baseball one? Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Paradise by the Dashboard Light, yes. Only the most famous Meatloaf song of all.

Right. Which you kicked out on one Pandemic Friday about baseball songs. Yes. Not too long ago. And that was what? A few days before Jim Steinman died? Well, you know, the same thing happened with Blue Peter

because I kicked out Don't Walk Past when we did Ontario Jams, Ontario bands that are not from Toronto. So, yeah, like maybe there's a bit of a pandemic Friday jinx going on here. I loved Meatloaf's Bad Out of Hell. And this is at the time when it was like still a current album. Right. It was a small child at the time.

I would not have understood double entendres of what was going on in that song. Right. And everybody was standing by waiting for the follow-up. Bad Out of Hell owed all its success to Chum FM in Toronto. That was, as program director, whenever he was at the time, Warren Cosford, we'll never stop reminding people, he was the one who dug Bad Out of Hell,

like, out of obscurity, and put it on the air in Toronto. Oh, really? I love that, by the way. It was this album that was being ignored. Even though it was produced by Todd Rundgren and whatever, it wasn't happening. And Chum FM was the first station

to give it airtime. See, I didn't know that history. I do know that I, as a kid, also absolutely loved Batted of Hell. I loved the album playthrough and I loved it all. Just thought it was just so fun and big. And that's all Jim Steinem. It's like a Broadway musical.

How Jim Steinman turned into this infamous figure was the fact that there was a fight about writing a sequel to Battle of Hell that went on for something like 17 years. At one point, he had a bunch of songs, and I don't know what happened. He was feuding with Meatloaf, and Jim Steinman goes off and he records the album on his own, under his own name. Bad for Good. And he leaves Meatloaf in the lurch, trying to undermine him while waiting for this thing to happen.

And as a result, Meatloaf was given some leftovers. And those showed up on an album called Dead Ringer. But the big follow-up that everybody's waiting for from Meatloaf, like it was three or four years, everybody's hanging around like there wasn't that much interest in Meatloaf anymore. He did all right in Europe. And it turned out that Jim Steinman managed to successfully undermine his protege by giving his songs to other artists. Total eclipse of the heart.

Could have been a Meatloaf song, but it went instead to Bonnie Tyler. Making love out of nothing at all. Air supply. At the same time that Bonnie Tyler had number one hit in America, there was air supply right behind her at number two. And that song from Barry Manilow, Read Em and Weep, was one that Meatloaf had recorded. Nobody cared. But with Barry Manilow managed to turn that around.

And I mean, even though at that point, Barry Manilow was becoming something of a joke, it was like one of his last great hurrahs in the Barry Manilow catalog. Streets of Fire, that movie that's come up here from time to time for its soundtrack. I want to say Norm Willner, I want to say, is a big fan of that movie.

Jim Steinman was involved with that. Footloose, Holding Out for a Hero, the Bonnie Tyler song on Footloose. Wow. And then his association with the World Wrestling Federation. 1987, he hooked up with the Sisters of Mercy.

Right. We're talking about like a British goth band, and this might have seemed like strange bedfellows, but you could imagine that they were into the pomp and circumstance of Jim Steinman. It sounded like he was doing okay on his own, but there waiting in the wings was the idea that Meatloaf could always finally get around to making Bad Out of Hell Part 2. And Jim Steinman was recruited to finally make that sequel

that they had spent all that time waiting for, that it took from 1978 to 1993 to get around to it. I went to the Meatloaf concert and Maple Leaf Gardens. Part of me having to do everything I could to live up to my childhood expectations of being in the midst of Meatloaf. I remember I sat way up there in the press box at Maple Leaf Gardens and I watched his Meatloaf concert by myself. Maple Leaf Gardens, and I watched his Meatloaf concert by myself.

But who came out on stage to do a little rap before a song? The most elusive person of all, Jim Steinman, on stage for the one and only time, as far as I could tell, on that like, appearing at a large concert with Meatloaf. And I sensed that it related to the fact that they had their big success in Toronto. And Jim Steinman himself wanted to make it to the show at Maple Leaf Gardens. And that's where he appeared on stage.

You had It's All Coming Back to Me Now, the Celine Dion song, another one that followed that exact same formula. You could say that Jim Steinman only had one song that was recorded over and over again in different connotations. And then another Toronto-Canadian connection, when the Bat Out of Hell musical was mounted. That was done with the backing of Bell Media and Randy Lennox from Bell. I know he was involved in the production of that.

And so inevitably as he got into musical theater, as these veteran rock and roll people tended to do. I mean, there was a Bat Out of Hell 3 along the way. I don't think anybody heard that. I don't remember number three. Even me, a child meatloaf fanatic. I don't think I've ever gotten around to hearing that one. And the Bat Out of Hell musical,

And the Bat Out of Hell musical, which opened in Manchester, England, with some Bell Media money. That was a way of honoring the songs of Jim Steinman. But here's the thing. He had a stroke in 2004. Another one four years before he died. He died of kidney failure, April 19th, age 73. And all those songwriting royalties in the bank couldn't help him there. That's the reality of life, and the reality of life includes death. Am I making any sense?

Jim Stein. Over and over I tried to prove my love to you Over and over What more can I do? Over and over My friend says I'm a fool But over, over and over, I'll be a fool for you

Cause you've got Personality Walk with personality Talk with personality Smile with personality Charm with personality Love with personality, charm with personality, love with personality, and plus you got a pretty heart. So over and over and over, oh I'll be a fool for you. What more can I do? Cause you've got Personality Walk with personality

Talk with personality Smile with personality Charm with personality Love with personality And plus you've got a red big heart So over and over And over and over Oh, I'll be a fool for you Over and over Now over and over and over. Oh, I'll be a fool for you.

Over and over and over. Over and over and over. What more can I do? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lloyd Price. Breaking through here to May 2021 when he died at age 88. Personality. This is the kind of song I associate with, with Dawn Daynard playing the oldies on CHFI when they would bring Dawn into

voice track, like same 17 songs every week on Saturday night. And personality was way up there as a number one hit. I mean, you couldn't, couldn't get much more, much more 1958 than this. 1959, okay. Well, good on Lloyd.

I wasn't alive. Good on Lloyd for getting to 88. That's a nice age, so congrats to Lloyd for that. I know I'm sure you'll talk about Stagger Lee, but I guess that's the big one. We came up on those Remember the Times. We did a number remember when staggered lee the anniversary of uh it going to number one but i just want to say uh uh in this memorial section i just want to say i started the day with four pairs of headphones that were part of the tmds studio four headphones i broke two okay

i'm on so okay so the first one broke when I got up quickly and it ripped that part and it's completely dead. And then the second pair of headphones, uh, it's only working on the right side. And I, at some point I gave up, but I'm like,

I can't do this anymore. And I'm now, I went down and got the pair. So now I don't know, Roddy, I don't know if you're listening, uh, Jay and Roddy who are coming over tomorrow,

one of you should bring a pair of headphones. I'm running out of headphones. But not only that, I feel this episode has given me good practice in talking to myself for longer periods of time than I would like as suddenly the chair is vacant. It's called vamping. I think we're doing all right for a backyard episode here in what is still the first part of May.

But if anybody can drop off headphones you don't use, let me know. I'm in desperate need for tomorrow. I need a pair of headphones, so I'm going to have to put that together quickly. But Lloyd Price, yes, Stagger Lee, which I think is about a murder, and I think it was controversial for the time,

if I remember correctly. Something about Stagger Lee was controversial. You know that Lloyd Price worked for Don King, the boxing promoter. He was part of that whole When We Were Kings thing. The Rumble in the Jungle. That he was there making it happen.

Oh, yeah. As far as promoting fights. Working in that whole business. Now I do remember reading, but I only read about this after Lloyd Price passed away. And I was reading about that. But yeah, other than that, I think he did well with his money. And I think that explains partly how he made it to 88. Like he was a successful entrepreneur across the board and like owned a lot of housing all around New York, two construction companies that Lloyd Price was involved in starting up,

and he ran a Southern-style food company. There was such a thing as Lloyd Price's Soulful and Smooth Grits. Hmm. That you could eat some grits with personality. Kiss my grits. There was a Lloyd Price Energy Bar. And Laudy Miss Claudy. Oh, yeah, yeah.

I heard that one. Another signature song. Maybe the first rock and roll song, right? You know, now I'm remembering. Little Stevie of the E Street Band. I think he gives credit to that jam you just mentioned there as being, like, the first rock song. Like, he says that's the first, you know,

we give a lot of credit to, like, the same cats, like Little Richard or Jerry Lewis or Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry or whatever or Bill Haley. Like, these guys, we always say, you know, they were there for the start of rock and roll. But apparently Lloyd Price was right there with that jam right there. If you go to Kenner, Louisiana, his hometown,

there's a Lloyd Price was right there with that jam right there. If you go to Kenner, Louisiana, his hometown, there's a Lloyd Price Avenue, and they celebrate Lloyd Price Day. And he was still performing. He was on, what's that HBO show, Treme? Treme. Treme. Yeah, which I like. That's a David Simon show. The guy who did The Wire.

Treme. Treme. What is Treme? Treme. You know, that's a New Orleans the word comes from something in New Orleans, but somebody give me a second to think about it.

Who came, somebody kicked out the jams recently and paid great. Oh, you know who it was? It was Mike Hogan. So if anyone heard Mike Hogan kick out the jams, we discussed in depth that show, Treme, and the music, that musical style, that New Orleans jazz, Treme.

Yeah. Lloyd Price. Yeah, complications from diabetes did him in. But made it to age 88 on May 3rd, walking and talking with personality. Words to live by. They're creepy and they're kooky. Mysterious and spooky.

They're all together ooky, the Addams Family. The house is a museum, when people come to see them, they really are a scream, the Addams Family. Neat. Sweet. Cousin It, from the Addams Family. What? Well, not Cousin It. Cousin It.

I mean, you know Cousin It? Like what the character of Cousin It looked like? Yeah, like it was a thing. Like, am I got the right guy? It was just like a mop or something? I think it's what a lot of people will look like after they've gone eight months without a haircut.

Although I just got one. I don't know if you noticed. Right down to the floor. With the bowler hat on. That was Felix Silla. Age 84.

And I think one of the secret celebrities of America, because nobody would have known the name Felix Silla, but it's like, hey, Cousin It died of pancreatic cancer. This was announced in a co-star of the other big American TV show he appeared in. Oh, I was going to say Munsters, but I have no idea what other show he appeared in. Buck Rogers in the 25th century with Gil Gerard. Okay, now Felix Silla, of course, do that character. You don't have hair down the floor if you're

any taller than like four feet. Right. Although Eric Alper's working on it. He came to America with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. He was a trapeze artist who went to Hollywood

as a stuntman. What was his name again? Success as a little person, Felix Silla. Okay. And, you know, the Addams Family was, like, based on cartoons from Charles Addams, A-D-D-A-M-S. But Cousin It was, like, invented for the TV show. And I think, like, in all the subsequent adaptations of The Addams Family, they kept the Cousin It character.

And not only that, Felix Sillo was a useful guy on call for Sid and Marty Kroft, including the show H.R HR Puffin Stuff. Oh, I'm going to bring that down for a moment if you don't mind here. There we go. HR Puffin Stuff, who's your friend when things get rough? HR Puffin Stuff, can't do a little because he can't do enough.

Once upon a summertime, just a dream from yesterday, © BF-WATCH TV 2021 across the sea But the boat belonged to a cookie or witch who had in mind the flute to snitch Witchy Poo from H.R. Puffinstuff Billy Hayes She made it to age 96 Died on April 29th Wilhelmina W. Witchy Poo part of Sid and Marty Croft died on April 29th.

Wilhelmina W. Witchypoo, part of Sid and Marty Croft in their world of HR puffing stuff. She was also part of the Banana Splits show. Again, like one of those personalities who would show up on this weird children's television, the 60s, 70s, into the 80s. And just like Cousin It, even if you didn't know the name Billy Hayes, there's a whole generation familiar with Witchy Poo.

Even if I'm drawing a blank. Not to be confused with FOTM Bill Hayes, who's still with us. Father of John Derringer. I would hope so. No, I'm sorry, brother of John Derringer and father of Brian Hayes. Still with us. And John Derringer, also someone who I feel if he wants to live a long life has got to somehow figure out how to appear on

Toronto Mike. There's a point where you've asked a few times and you stop asking because how many times should you get a no before you stop asking? So there's a whole whack of people out there like John Derringer where I just stopped asking them because I took a hint. I know some people say you can't take a hint but usually the third time uh like i took a hint with bookie and i took a hint with bobcat and i've taken a hint

with uh john derringer but he knows how to reach me if he wants to come on Toronto Man. Two out of three of those guys are still alive. I think I was going to mention Rusty Young from Poco. Yeah, I only had to do some cutting, only trying to I'm trying to keep it two and a half and now I'm just hoping it's under three. But yeah, go ahead. What did you want to say there?

I don't have the jam anymore, but who died from Poco? There was a story to tell. Okay, well go ahead, but who died from Poco? I thought there was a story to tell. Okay, well, go ahead. About the singer from Poco. We can get around to that next month. Okay, hold on to that one, because you've got to keep something. We're almost halfway down May here.

Okay, here's another jam for you, though. And you that want to be healed, put your hand against mine. If you have a child that's sick, press it against my hand on the television screen. I believe in going by the word of God. And he said, if two would agree on any one thing, touching heaven, it shall be done. You're one, I'm two, and they shall lay hands on the sick. And God said, I will get them well. Are you ready?

Put your hand against mine and let's let it be a point of contact and touch heaven now. In the name of Jesus, I command the diabetes to leave you. I command the cancer to leave your body. I thought this was the band Genesis. It says Genesis. What were you expecting? I was expecting to hear like the band Genesis. This is not what I expected.

It's a YouTube video with Ernest Angely, the televangelist. Because I break into hives with this stuff. Now listen to this. The Lord told me that I was to go on the television. I was lying on the bed and the bed began to go around. I had the sensation like I was lying on the bed and the bed began to go around and I had the sensation like I was on a merry-go-round. Then the furniture joined in and then I was in the stars. There were stars everywhere, above me, below me, to the left of me, to the right of me.

Millions and millions of stars and the Lord said, the stars are the souls that you will win for me. The Lord actually talks to me, you know. I hear what's being said, and he said to me, get me $18 million by the weekend. And the angel of the Lord stands by my side and speaks into my ear. It's a beautiful thing, and I hear what's being said. It's a marvelous, marvelous experience. I never thought such a thing could happen in the name of Jesus. The Lord spoke to me.

He said, stretch forth. Tell the people to put their hands against yours, and I will give you $18 million by the weekend. Touch the screen. Touch the screen. Just see the face on the TV screen. Come on, watch you every Sunday. Oh, yeah. Okay, there we had, courtesy of YouTube,

a juxtaposition of Phil Collins doing an imitation of Ernest Angley after there was a clip of the actual guy who died at age 99 here in May 2021.

May 99. That's good. Almost 100 years old. Wow. It would have been 100 in August. And Ernest Angley was a notorious enough character on TV that Genesis,

in I think what turned out to be the last video hit song that Genesis in, I think, what turned out to be, like, the last video hit song that Genesis had, Jesus, He Knows Me. Remember this one? It's from 1991, 92, that Phil Collins did this song, made this video, inspired by watching Ernest Angely on Sunday morning TV from his Grace Cathedral in Springfield Township, Ohio.

Well, all that praying must have did him well. Like, 99 years old. Maybe I should take some notes here. Well, he certainly figured out the racket of asking for donations by buying time on TV, and this included

later in his career claiming that Jesus Christ can heal HIV and AIDS. I don't think that's true. I don't believe that's true. I don't believe that's true. Also, he had a church restaurant

where he had volunteers working for him who, legally speaking, turned out to be more like slaves than people helping out the church. And there was a murderer at the restaurant with one male staffer killing

a teenage girl that doesn't help and in the tradition of all these great televangelist personalities sexual abuse allegations for Ernest Angley involving genital touching and naked massage, it was alleged, from a young pastor. And Ernest Angley, also notorious enough that Robin Williams also did an Ernest Angley parody

as part of his stand-up act. But look, he hung around for a while. He was still doing TV shows into his 90s. Couldn't take it anymore, age 99. Yellowbird. Do you know why we're ending with Yellowbird? Because Prince Philip was once asked, what's your favorite song? Turned out to be this one. Yellow Bird.

Flying high in the clear blue sky. I guess April 2021, as far as the universe was concerned, I mean, was there a bigger death than the husband of the queen? No. You would say not only was he the oldest, he was also the most famous of all. I mean, look, it's a sneak peek of what will happen when Queen Elizabeth isn't with us anymore. Like the BBC, they shifted into this morning mode, even on the rock music stations. And people were complaining, wondering, like, what is this?

You need to have, like, 48 hours of low-key programming just because the Queen's husband passed away at almost almost 100 years old that was a stuff controversy but at the same time i think prince philip was remembered himself uh as being a bit of a goofball the duke of edinburgh edinburgh edinburgh edinburgh i think so i watched the crown that's my uh expertise on the subject the crown um you know like you could have a big listicle all all the baffle gab that came out of the mouth of prince philip he said the quiet parts out loud right he was like opening uh i don't know unveiling something gander newfoundland or whatever. I declare this thing open, whatever it is. And then another visit he said, we don't come here for our health, you know.

And that he was there alongside with the Queen, but he was good for the quips. And good for all the kids and grandkids and great-grandkids that he had. So, good, funny man. Prince Philip, dead at 99, of old age.

That's the way you want to go. That'll get you. And to be your official cause. If he had lived to 100, you know what would have happened. You would have got a letter from the queen. That's what happens when you're in the Commonwealth and you live to 100. You get a letter from the queen that's what you have that's what happens when you're in the commonwealth and you live to 100 you get a letter from the queen now he's up there in heaven rapping with dmx black rob rush limbaugh shock g larry flint they're happy to have him quick

question uh since we're like almost halfway done may like did, did you cover like all of April and the first half of the first 11 days of May? Mike, details, details. Let's just say I curate my death list based on what I think will be good to talk about, bringing the real talk. I mean, my wish, you know, you left me on the note, by the next time we meet, we'll be at least half vaccinated.

That's exactly what happened. What's your prediction for the next 1236 episode of Toronto Mike? Anything, Mike? It'll be warmer than today. That's my prediction. Because we had a day where it looked like it was going to rain, and it did rain like a couple of drops, and then it got sunny. And now it looks like it might rain again.

So I feel like, I don't know. It's a weird Toronto day. Typical like me. The casualties of this episode of Toronto Mike include two pairs of headphones. I need a headphone distributor to sponsor the program. This is desperate needs. I have two people in my backyard tomorrow and I'm down to two headphones. I got to figure this shit out quickly.

A backyard umbrella? How are we ending things? Well, I need more weight, I think, on that bass. It was too windy today for that, but I'll work on that. But do another great appearance. I'm just happy to have you back here. I burned out one phone battery. I lost the power of my computer, but we made it to the end,

and I think, with your corrections, accident-free. And that brings us to the end of our 846th show. Five years of 1236 episodes. This is a Colin James shout-out. Shout-out to Colin James. Five years of Mark Weisblot on Toronto Mike. Wow. You can follow me on Twitter.

I'm at Toronto Mike. Mark is at 1236. That's 1236. Sign up at 1236.ca. It's starting to rain. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palm of Pasta is at Palm of Pasta. StickerU is at StickerU. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley

FH. Mimico Mike, he's not on Twitter. He's on Instagram, at Majeski Group Home. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.